This horse has been placed on the verandah of their home. It appears to be mounted on the traditional bow rocker; this form of rocker could damage wooden floors. A later development was the safety rocker where the horse was mounted on metal bars slung from a stationary stand.

Rocking horses in this elaborate, skin covered form, typical of German manufacture at the time, were usually the preserve of wealthy families and became family heirlooms. Cheaper wooden horses were also available.

Toy horses in various forms have been a popular and enduring child's toy. In the simplest form they were hobby horses: simply a stick for the child to 'ride' or more elaborately with a carved wooden head added to give it realism and perhaps wheels at the end of the stick.

Fawdry, Kenneth. Pollock's history of English dolls & toys, London [etc.]: Benn, 1979

Mullins, Patricia. The rocking horse: a history of moving toy horses, [London]: New Cavendish Books, 1992

Victoria and Albert Museum: Museum of Childhood. Collections. Toy horses

State Library of South Australia: Mortlock Wing exhibitions. To be a child August 2004-