We recently had the pleasure of receiving photos of Clista’s great grandchild, Brooke’s first Christmas. Brooke is the granddaughter of Clista’s son Todd, and they all live in northern Virginia. In the mix was a photo of a wonderful rocking horse which Todd had hand made for her. I immediately recognized it as something special.

Todd and his wife, Debbie had decided to buy a really nice rocking horse for Brooke’s first Christmas and began an on-line search for a suitable candidate. There were lots of imported horses that were mass produced and suspect in the durability department. On the other end of the rocking horse spectrum were the hand-crafted “bespoke” models priced in the $300 to $500 range.

At this point two factors led to Todd’s decision to make his own rocking horse. The first one concerned Todd’s reluctance to spend money. There was no way that he was going to shell out that kind of bucks for a wooden toy, “bespoke” or not.  Secondly, he happens to be an expert wood worker and knew he could create a better horse than those on line.

The result is a perfectly beautiful piece of American folk art. Brooke’s horse is made of high grade solid maple and is lovingly hand finished.  It is joined and glued together in such a manner that it will probably be rocking along when the world ends. Brooke will enjoy riding it for a while and will treasure it for the rest of her life. It is truly a gift that will keep on giving.

I have convinced Todd to draw up the plans to reproduce his horse and offer it for sale on our on-line store. If you think you might have an interest in making a similar horse for your children or grandchildren e-mail me at tom@cap-consult.com and I’ll urge him to complete the plans.