Hacienda Casino (Horse and Rider) Neon Sign

The Hacienda Horse and Rider sign features a thirty-foot-tall fiberglass cowboy astride a bucking bronco, illuminated by thousands of neon lights. Originally mounted on a steel pole outside the Hacienda Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in nineteen sixty-seven, it greeted drivers entering the city from the south. The cowboy swings a neon lasso in a continuous loop, a mechanical detail that required constant maintenance. The sign now hangs on Fremont Street, a relic of the era when casinos used giant kinetic advertisements.