How to Build a Rocking Horse for Outdoors

By The Mother Earth News Editors
Published on November 1, 1982
article image
Adobe Stock/suwit

Give your children outdoor activity by using this easy horse diagram, pattern, and step-by-step instructions for how to build a rocking horse for outdoors. Your tots can ride the range till sunset if you spend a few dollars and an hour or two building an outdoor rocking horse and playset, including rocking horse diagram, pattern and instructions. (See the rocking horse diagram.)

Although many toys found on store shelves today are downright clever, the cost of that ingenuity sometimes shines through all too brightly. Don’t be discouraged, though, because — even in a world of alkaline batteries and high-impact plastic–there’s still room for an honest-to-gosh old-fashioned hobbyhorse . . . a plaything that won’t set you back more than a few bucks but is sure to thrill your tiny ones.

This stallion’s bounce comes not from curved inch feet inch , as is the case with rocking horses, but from a junked automobile leaf spring, the likes of which are littering scrapyards across the nation. It doesn’t matter what sort of vehicle “donates” your spring, of course, as long as it’s in one piece and measures at least 4 feet from eye to eye — but do try to find one with at least one rubber end bushing intact, since this will help dampen the shock of each bouncing stroke.

Material List

  • Besides the main leaf, you’ll need a piece of 3/4 inch plywood measuring 31-inch-by-33-inch and another that’s 7- inch-by-11-1/2 inch
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