I remember that special Christmas morning well as a little boy... when I woke up excited and ran downstairs to the lounge, thinking, will it or won’t it be there. But sure enough, there it stood in all its majestic splendour – the rocking horse with its full flowing mane, that magical twinkle in its eye as the light caught it.

I was so excited; I couldn’t wait to ride off on some great adventure in my thoughts. Even today, whenever I finish crafting a rocking horse, that feeling is still with me and I wonder what lovely adventure other children will go on...

At Alexanders Wooden Rocking Horses & Rocking Toys our traditional rocking horses are all individually hand-made from the finest hard woods. They are hand carved, gessoed then painted. We use real horse hair, glass eyes (for that twinkle), all leather tack, polished leather, metal or antique brass stirrups.

We do four sizes:

• A small horse on swing-safety stand or bow rockers
• A medium horse on swing-safety stand or bow rockers
• A large horse on swing-safety stand only
• An extra large horse for adults on swing-safety stand only

The timber we use for painting our rocking horse is Tulipwood. For natural wood horses, we use Cherry, English Oak, Mahogany (if available), North American Walnut and Maple. All of the hardwoods that we use come from eco-friendly tree plantations. The cost of the finished horse is dependent on the size and the timber used. We offer individual brass plaques, realistic bridles, saddles and stirrup straps – all in leather (light or dark tan).