You've likely long outgrown your rocking horse from childhood. When you're a horse-loving kid, one of your favorite toys is most often a rocking horse. Maybe you had a traditional wooden rocking horse, or maybe you were lucky to have one of those molded plastic horses on springs.
Even though you may consider yourself to be too old to own such a toy at this point of your life, when you see these amazing rocking horses, you're sure to put one on your Christmas list.
Meet the most realistic rocking horses that you will ever see. These horses are true works of art, and they're sculpted by Phil Henry. Henry has worked with horses for over 40 years, and has trained and shown Appaloosas, Paints, and Quarter Horses.
When he retired from his job in the telecommunications industry, Henry began taking on projects. He'd always done equestrian-related art projects, but set his sights on restoring a 100-year-old rocking horse for his daughter. The rocking horse restoration a success, Henry next set out to restore a coin-operated ride. The ride featured Trigger, Roy Rodgers' famous mount.
It was after completing these two projects that Henry decided to create these incredible rocking horses. He read horse-related books and watched movies to research for the project while coming up with the overall design.
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Henry worked off of a photograph, which he enlarged to size - the rocking horses are about half the size of a real horse. Henry used a grid system to help accurately transfer the pattern to the lumber that he would be working with.
These rocking horses are crafted from bass and poplar woods, which are the types of wood used in carousel horses.
The legs, head, and neck are created from solid pieces of wood, while the horse's body is hollow to help reduce its weight. The pieces are carved, laminated together, sanded, painted, and mounted on a base which gives the horse its gliding, rocking motion.
To date, Henry has completed a Western Pleasure and a Hunter Under Saddle model. Each rocking horse comes with its own set of tack.
Henry is now open to taking custom orders, meaning he can design and paint the horse to resemble that very special horse in your life. The horses cost $3,500, plus shipping.
Want to order one of these incredible rocking horses for your own? You can contact Henry through his website.
Get ready to feel like a kid again on your trusty rocking horse!
Tell us what you think in the comments below!
All images via: Facebook/Phil Henry
This post was originally published on November 25, 2016. We wanted to resurrect it from our archives because we love the story and Phil Henry's work. Hope you enjoy!
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