Topic: Grampa's rocking horse project

[Patty S]

LaRelle salvaged a rocking horse from load that a friend of hers was taking to the dump last week.  Since it appears to have been homemade & is a nice, sturdy piece of work, she thought it was worth restoring, so she brought it to me. 

Since Grampa is between jobs, I put it on his work bench, thinking that maybe he'd want to fix it, cuz I'm too busy in the gardens these days, & it's just the right size for Lil'... who will be coming in 3 weeks, to spend the summer with us!   Today, he cleared some space in the garage & located the tools he needed, & has gotten it all cleaned up & ready to paint.
     

The body & the rockers were made with fir, but the horse stood on plywood platforms, which didn't look very good at all, so he replaced them.  He also sanded it all down, cuz the wood had some slivery spots where it had been damaged.   (I forgot to take a "before" pic.)    
     

The eyes (I don't know what they had been) were missing & the mane & tail (which had been made of hemp strands, I think), were old & brittle, with most of them missing.  Quite a bit of it had been put together with dowels, & as the pic below shows, the mane & tail were embedded with doweling as well.  I haven't figured out what to replace the mane & tail with & am open to suggestions.  (Should be cleanable.)
     
It had been stained, but I think we're going to paint it, cuz I'm sure it'll get a lot of use within the next few years, & it'll be easier to wash.

[patches]

Hey, Patty, that looks like a very well-built rocking horse and should be good for plenty of grandkids!!!   

[Bonnie]

Great find. I can hardly wait to see the finished project.

[Dianna]

by Patty S:

I haven't figured out what to replace the mane & tail with & am open to suggestions.  (Should be cleanable.)

Yarn could be washed....

[sunsoaker]

It had been stained, but I think we're going to paint it, cuz I'm sure it'll get a lot of use within the next few years, & it'll be easier to wash.

How about macrame yarn/rope or whatever it is they macrame with.  I have a hanging macrame 3-tier shelf that is not your typical yarn that's pretty durable (and I'm sure washable). You could even do braids for the mane/tail.

[Triss]

Well that sure is a beautiful horse... I like the idea of macrame rope for the main and tail, it holds up really well and also comes in many colors these days.

But the better part of that news is that Lil will be spending the summer with you!  Is that the entire summer???

[Patty S]

Gosh, I got so busy with a looongg  list of things to do, to get ready for the girls arrival from Maui - & a wedding - & babysitting the new baby - & getting gardens planted - & substituting, so I didn't get a chance to get back here to post a response to the sugestions for the mane & tail... but I did see them. (Thanx.)

LaRelle & Shelly & I have been batting ideas back & forth for the past 6 weeks ...about what to use for the hair, & whether or not to make it into a circus horse, with bright, primary colors, or a "real" horse.  We finally decided that it should be a "real" horse, & to restain rather than paint it, cuz some of the wood grain is so nice.  We decided to use doll hair, which is a non-porous poly product, so it can be washed if need be.

Grampa stained him & cut the dowels to hold the hair in, but he only does detail work on paper, so I put the mane & tail on, & found some wiggle eyes in the craft cabinet that were almost the same size as the recessed holes where the original eyes had been.  I didn't like the little gap that was left though, so I also used the doll hair for "eyelashes".   Then, I didn't like how bug-eyed the horse looked with those wiggle eyes, so I dug out my box of naugahide remnants & made him some eyelids. Then, he got a pair of ears.

With a whole box of various colors of naugahide in front of me, I decided that he'd look better with a saddle... since horses don't have backs that are shaped like bicycle seats! Since there was also some green naugahide in the box, I took the rockers off & installed some "pasture grass" for him to stand on!
     

Lil' fell in love with that horse, the minute they got here... even though it didn't have any hair & hadn't been painted or stained, & she was on it all the time.
     

Once it was finished, she didn't show any reaction at all, to the horse's makeover!  
     
She just walked in, climbed on & rode away!
     

[Triss]

That is just adorable Patty.  It turned out really nice and boy does she look like she is having a load of fun!

[Dianna]

Patty, are you trying to give Lil' subliminal messages by giving that horse red hair?

Y'all did a great job with the whole project.

[patches]

Patty, it looks like you all did a beautiful job on the horse!     Well, I guess Lil' now has a wonderful new toy to play with when she's at your house. 

[Bonnie]

Nice looking kid you got there, Patty. The horse looks pretty darn good too.

[Patty S]

Thanx, guys.  It was a fun project for us.  We're sure enjoying HER enjoying it, although having it fixed up nice apparently doesnt make a bit of difference to her!  

It's interesting that the day she got here, she could barely swing her foot up high enough to get on it, but now, almost 3 weeks later, she pops right into the saddle with no effort!  I don't think she's going to be very anxious to give it up when she gets too big for it... which will happen all too soon, I'm afraid.

Dianna, the package says the hair is "brown"!   I don't know what happened to our little red-headed baby.  I guess she outgrew it, cuz she's definitely a blond now!