Rocking Horse with Yellow Halter

Unidentified · ca. 1900

Rocking horses have been around for centuries, but they took the form we recognize in the early nineteenth century. The earliest ones were hand-carved with leather saddles and reigns, real hair manes and tails, and metal stirrups. After the Civil War, many companies mass-produced wooden horses with new “rocking” mechanisms, which stopped the toy from moving across the room. Demand fell for rocking horses by the mid-twentieth century, but they have recently enjoyed a revival in interest.