Rocking-horse Tradition

In aristocratic families, children were taught to ride horses from birth. Wooden horses were invented in order not to injure a child, a safe way to learn horse riding. According to many sources, this toy appeared in the fifth century BC among the ancient Greeks. Rocking horses were created according to a single scheme - made of wood, with mandatory imitation of a saddle and a horse, only curved “sledge runners” were added to the hooves. The master could decorate such a fun toy according to financial abilities of a family. For example, with a neat through-carved work like this one resembling Slavic-style embroidery. This sample represents a rocking-horse of the first half of the 19th century.
Today the tradition of such a toy has come to almost every home. You can often find modern materials instead of wood: plastic, upholstery and decorations made of colored fabric. However, wood still remains to be a classical material.
The photo was taken while visting Federal State Budget Institution of Culture “State Memorial Historical-Literary and Natural-Landscape Museum-Reserve of A. S. Pushkin Mikhailovskoye” (The Pushkin Museum-Reserve). Photographing allowed. Pushkinskie Gory, Pskov region, Russia