Ride your hobbyhorse/Get on your hobbyhorse and ride

The other day while reading Balzac, Jenny stopped to ask me what a hobby-horse is. "Is it actually a toy horse that you ride on?" she asked. I said I was pretty sure it was, but I did an image search just to make sure. Boy am I glad I did. It sure brought back memories.

For starters, there was this lovely portrait the court painter did of my cousin and I back in my pre-tweens.


For those of you who haven't enjoyed such a fortunate childhood as mine, I purloined the following paragraph from a helpful website dedicated entirely to hobby-horse history.

Rocking horses first appeared in Europe in the mid-seventeenth century. In the United States, most horse toys were simple wood, painted or unpainted. This rocker seems to be a particularly elaborate model and was, perhaps, imported. In addition to having a showy horsehair mane and tail, it is covered with animal hide, sports a decorated bridle, and its base is elaborately stenciled and painted to imitate the grain of expensive hardwood. Although at this time some goods were mass produced, this toy was handmade. Hobbyhorses were popular because children could imitate the equestrian skills they were expected to have as adults.


Unfortunately members of my family did not always go on to develop the equestrian skills we were expected to have as adults. My uncle Toby, for example.


In all honesty, I think there was something like this on my Grandpa's farm growing up, probably something he built himself.


I found one of these in our carriage house the other day, but unfortunately there is no trace of the magic ring. If anyone can tell me what all eleven of Blaze's famous sayings are, I'd be much obliged.