Horses, horses: rocking horses

What is the appeal of rocking horses? Why, even now, do I look at a rocking horse, any rocking horse—old or new (but preferably old)—with complete and utter awe?

A rocking horse is usually made of wood, with a figure of a horse attached to curved pieces of wood that enable the horse to rock back and forth, controlled by the child on the horse, who holds its neck or reins to “ride” it. The curved rocker (like a rocking chair) is one form of rocking horse base (where the contraption has contact with the ground), but another was devised for safety. It is the framed rocking horse in which the horse hangs in a rigid frame via straps or steel rods. The frame does not move – only the horse within the frame moves.

Part of the appeal is the beauty of the carpentry and artisanship required to make the rocking horse, but for others it is in the likeness of a real horse, with its mane, tail, and facial features. Some even have leather saddles and metal stirrups. However, psychologists think part of the appeal is in the actual movement of the rocking horse when children ride them. The repetitive and rhythmic self-rocking is believed to provide a soothing effect.

British novelist David Herbert Lawrence (1885-1930) wrote a short story called The Rocking-Horse Winner in 1926, which was made into a film in 1949. It is about a woman who lamented that she never had any luck in her life. She has three children, a boy and two girls. The boy, Paul, vowed to find this elusive “luck” that his mother kept mentioning. When his sisters played with their dolls, Paul would sit on the large rocking-horse, charging at such a frenzy that it made the girls quite scared. He would ride on his journey to luck. He knew the horse could take him to the place where luck lived, if only he forced it to. So he would ride furiously, hoping to “get there.” When he finishes riding he knew the winner of the next race (at the real racetrack), telling his uncle Oscar and the gardener Bassett. Both men place bets on Paul’s predictions—and win. But this tale does not have a happy ending.

The National Musuem of Australia in Canberra held an exhibition entitled Spirited: Australia’s Horse Story from September 2014 to 9 March 2015. In the exhibition was a toy wooden rocking horse (shown in the photograph) owned by Andrew Gibson who grew up at Burrungurroolong station near Goulbourn in New South Wales during the 1920s. He eventually became a veterinarian attending to farm animals in the region. The rocking horse (circa 1929) has elliptical wheels for easier rocking, which was quite an advanced technique at the time. Even today, rocking horses are rarely made with inner elliptical wheels, and instead retain the simple curved wooden rocker.

The framed rocking horse (photographed) shows the pre-loved horse recently purchased by my sister’s family. The wooden horse is in a wooden frame joined by steel rods. Retired wood machinist, Arthur Young, constructed this rocking horse (circa unknown).