The ancestors of toy rocking horses May be the wooden horses on wheels of the middle ages, On which knights would practice their jousting skills. Child-sized wooden horses on bow-shaped rockers Emerged in England and germany in the 1700s, When queen victoria famously had dapple-gray rocking horses Made for her children. This rocking-horse company in the u.K. Handcrafts antique reproductions and originals. Some have
traditional bow rockers, But most glide back and forth on a safety stand. The horses are made of durable hardwoods, Such as oak, maple, and tulipwood.
After cutting off knots and other defects, Workers run each piece through a ripsaw, Slicing off the rough and discolored wood Directly under the bar. Then they cut the pieces into 12-inch-wide blocks, And with a planer, slice off a thin layer of wood. This makes the surfaces nice and smooth. These are the blocks With which they'll construct the horse's main body. To make the legs, an artisan Lays a template on an as-yet-unplaned piece of wood And traces it. Then he cuts along the trace line with a band saw And runs the leg through the planer. Each leg has a protruding piece on top called a tenon That fits into a slot called a mortise beneath the main body.
To build the body, they roll glue onto the body blocks And assemble one to the other, Building a large rectangular box with a hole at the center. This hole reduces the horse's weight And relieves structural stress. In some models, the hole Also serves as a secret locking compartment. After clamping the assembly and letting it set for 24 hours, They coat each leg tenon with glue And insert it into a mortise. After rough-carving the body, A highly skilled craftsman Outlines the head features in pencil -- Cheekbones, nostrils, eyes, teeth. Then he begins the meticulous task Of carving the horse to completion, Hitting a mallet against a u-shaped gouge.
This painstaking carving process takes 2 to 3 days. Now, after inserting a glass eye, He rough-files the whole horse Using a rasp to remove all the gouge marks. This takes another few hours. Then he smoothes the entire surface With an electric sander four times over, Using progressively finer sandpapers. He does the final sanding touch-ups by hand. The wood is now ready to be either stained Or painted to the customer's specifications. If it's the latter, The artist first applies a coat of water-based primer, Then, for this client's custom order, A coat of light-blue paint that turns gray when varnished.
Once the background color dries, he hand-stipples a pattern. After the surface is varnished and waxed, He dresses the horse in a suede saddle blanket. He uses brass tacks to affix it along the leather trim. Next, he nails the leather saddle in place. He squeezes globs of glue Into a slot running down the horse's neck And inserts the mane, a weft of genuine horsehair. Then he nails it in place. Now he applies glue to the tail hole and fits a tail,
Also made of real horsehair. Now they begin constructing the safety stand, On which the rocking horse will glide. To make the posts, They turn cylindrical blocks of wood on a lathe. Then they assemble the posts to the other parts of the stand And stain the wood.
They apply two coats of varnish And let the stand dry overnight. They install the stand's stained and varnished gliders And mount the horse. They drill a hole through each hoof and glider, Then join them with a nut and bolt. The gliders connect to the front and back of the frame With plated steel swing irons. The angle at which the irons are set Ensures a continuous smooth glide. So even though these rocking horses Are built to withstand the weight of two adults, Riding them is child's play.
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