Rocking horse

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This article is about the child's toy. For the Alannah Myles album, see Rockinghorse.

A rocking horse is a child's toy, usually shaped like a horse and mounted on rockers similar to a rocking chair.

Predecessors of the rocking horse may be seen in the rocking cradle, the tilting seats used during the Middle Ages for jousting practice as well as the wheeled hobby horse. The toy in its current form did not appear before the 17th century,^[1] though some conflicting sources note medieval manuscripts including references to carved rocking horses, presumably of the toy kind.^[2]

From the 1800s onward rocking horses became more commonly considered as child's toy. Mostly built by hobby woodcrafters, and ranging from relatively crude to finely ornamented and the toys of future kings, it was not until the late 19th century that the production became industrialised.^[2]

In 2006, the Guinness Book of World Records certified Cindy and Les Hartness of California as having the largest hand-carved wooden rocking horse on record. This rocking horse was built in 2000 and is 7 feet 8 inches tall and weighs 1,200 pounds. It can be seen at renaissance faires, where up to 4 adults can ride it together at one time.^[3]

[edit] See also

• Hobby horse

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Happy Trails (rocking horse article from the Smithsonian website)
• The Rocking Horse Man: Builder and restorer of traditional wooden rocking horses

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rocking horses