Pretty Girl: rocking horse repair

what a great re-build , kate .

and leaving that note for the next repair person ,
is so sweet .

your birds look happy too .
well done !

-- david - only thru kindness can this world be whole . If we don't succeed we run the risk of failure. Dan Quayle

She is a real beauty! I love to think of the far away places she has traveled in the imaginations of her riders. Wonderful rebuild project. You treated Pretty Girl with respect.

I also love that you left the note inside. Someday someone will find it and feel the connection. I used to leave messages or information about current events and prices on the backs of toilet tanks I installed. It was a tradition passed down to me from my dad who had found a similar message on a wall of a remodel he worked on as a young man.

Kate, thanks for sharing this restore – you did a great job! I enjoyed looking around your website, too. You do beautiful work!

-- Robb

Splendid job and well worth doing.

-- Martyn -- Boxologist, Pattern Juggler and Candyman of the visually challenging. http://www.theartofboxes.com

Thanks everyone for your comments. I like to think some day in a few generations someone will open her up again and fine my note. Until then she will get lots of loving, I’m sure.

-- Kate, http://www.wooden-box-maker.com

Extremely well done. I love the leather ears and will incorporate this idea on the future horses I make. Carved ears take a lot of time because you have to insert pieces of wood to get the correct grain direction and the subsequent glue joint can fail when the children hang onto them.

Did you find any objects inside? After a horse ages and the tail is pulled out, kids push things inside. I have found erasers, coins, etc. It can really help date a horse. Do you know who made this horse?

Finally, what did you use for the mane?

A rocking horse is pure magic. You have brought this one back to life and have respected the original craftsman by repairing the things that matter to a kid (mane, ears, structural integrity) and not “fixing” things that don’t (finish or replacing the eyes with new ones). The man who made this would recognize it and smile.

-- Ray, Phoenix, Maryland

Nice job Kate It’ll be loved for many years to come I’m sure, it’s great to see them given a new lease of life
Trevor

-- God created wood that we may create. Trevor East Yorkshire UK