Sprout Rocking Horses

Rocking horses – Myth and Legend

Interestingly enough the history of the rocking horse stems right back to the middle ages, and when we look back we see that they were a far cry from being the adorable play thing that queen Victoria assigned her royal approval to in 1851 . No, the rocking horse has noble roots having once been a training tool for knights and warriors who wished to practice sword fighting and jousting.

The Joy of Rocking Horses Inspired the World

It was in the early 18th century that the rocking horse lent its inspiration to German and British toy makers whose hand carved rocking horse designs not only shone brighter than anybody else’s, but have remained the basis for all rocking horses that are made and collected world wide today.

The Traditional Victorian Rocking Horse Becomes Complete

It was an American innovation back in 1877 that did away with the traditional image of a bow stand on rocking horses. The american swing iron design lent its self more favourably towards the notion of safety and convenience. The English quickly adopted the swing iron concept, seeing its great potential. For a start, bowed rocking horses stand an extra metre or so long than the static swing design. A British patent was awarded to famous British rocking horse maker Herbert Haddon in 1880. Rapidly the safety or swing stand became the standard on all rockin horse design as it is today.

What Makes Sprout Rocking Horses So Special? Here at Sprout we are proud to present you with our Somerset made traditional rocking horses that are produced using Victorian techniques and top quality materials. Every rocking horse is hand carved, and carefully designed in our Somerset workshop so that every horse is unique. All of our rocking horses are lovingly decorated using real horse’s hair, real horse accessories and top quality finishes.