Rocking horse

Rocking horse

:"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, [ [http://www.vam.ac.uk/moc/collections/toys/traditional_toys/rocking_horses/index.html Toy Horses] (from the V&A Museum of Childhood website)] though some conflicting sources note medieval manuscripts including references to carved rocking horses, presumably of the toy kind.

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." [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/roadshow/tips/rocking_horses/index.html Galloping for Rocking Horses?] " (from the Antiques Roadshow website of PBS)]

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. [ [http://therockinghorseguy.com The Rocking Horse Guy] (from a private website)]

A common play on words is the phrase "as rare as rocking horse shit", meaning something that is very rare, because of course, rocking horses cannot defecate.

ee also

*Hobby horse

References

External links

* [http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/happytrails.html Happy Trails] (rocking horse article from the Smithsonian website)
* [http://www.therockinghorseman.co.uk The Rocking Horse Man] : Builder and restorer of traditional wooden rocking horses
* [http://www.bestpricetoys.com/Rocking-Horse-Kids-Rocking-Horses/ Rocking Horses] : Purchase children's rocking horses


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • rocking horse — rocking horses N COUNT A rocking horse is a toy horse which a child can sit on and which can be made to rock backwards and forwards …   English dictionary

  • Rocking-horse — Rock ing horse , n. The figure of a horse, mounted upon rockers, for children to ride. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • rocking horse — n a wooden horse for children that moves backwards and forwards when you sit on it …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • rocking horse — rocking ,horse noun count a toy horse that has two curved pieces of wood under it, so that a child can sit on it and make it move backward and forward …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • rocking horse — ► NOUN ▪ a model of a horse mounted on rockers or springs for a child to ride on …   English terms dictionary

  • rocking horse — n. a toy horse mounted on rockers or springs and big enough for a child to ride …   English World dictionary

  • rocking horse — noun a child s plaything consisting of an imitation horse mounted on rockers; the child straddles it and pretends to ride • Syn: ↑hobby, ↑hobbyhorse • Hypernyms: ↑plaything, ↑toy • Part Meronyms: ↑rocker * * * noun …   Useful english dictionary

  • Rocking Horse — Infobox Film name = Rocking Horse (Susetz) writer = Yaky Yosha, Yoel Kaminski, Shmulik Kraus and Yoram Kaniuk starring = Shmulik Kraus Gdalia Besser Arik Lavie Miriam Bernstein Coen Josie Katz Levana Finkelstein director = Yaky Yosha producer =… …   Wikipedia

  • rocking horse — UK / US noun [countable] Word forms rocking horse : singular rocking horse plural rocking horses a toy horse that has two curved pieces of wood under it, so that a child can sit on it and make it move backwards and forwards …   English dictionary

  • rocking horse — /ˈrɒkɪŋ hɔs/ (say roking haws) noun 1. a toy horse, as of wood, mounted on rockers, on which children play. –phrase 2. rare as rocking horse shit, Colloquial (taboo) extremely rare …  

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