Trying to think of something interesting to say about sanding...The photo shows the left hoof rail, worn down by the feet of Zaphod's riders. It's much more worn than the right rail, as rocking horses, like real ones, are traditionally mounted from the left. It's why rocking horses' manes fall to the right, so they don't get in the way.
I believe most of the wear was done in Zaphod's early years, when he wasn't called Zaphod and had his original head. Children had fewer toys at the end of the nineteenth century, and no television or computers. Any child lucky enough to own a rocking horse probably played with it a lot.
Strange to think of those long-ago Victorian children.
(You can see there's still traces of the red paint. Grrr.)
4 comments:
Nice photo. What grade of sandpaper are you using. Do you rub back-forth or in circles? With the grain or at angles to it? So much to know about sanding. I'm sure it builds character and muscles, and, if the movies are to be believed, you will soon be a martial arts expert.
At the moment it's coarse, grade 80, but I'll be moving on to finer grades. Mostly I rub with the grain.
I can't wait to get to the next stage.
I had no idea that horses--rocking or otherwise--are usually mounted from the left. Makes me wonder what horse chiropractors say about what that does to a horse's vertebral column. And I also had no idea that the rocking horse's mane usually falls to the right. Very interesting tidbits. I feel for you doing all that sanding. I don't like sanding until the last, satiny part.
Mary
I'd never thought about the poor horses' backs. I suppose a good rider springs lightly into the saddle?
Old rocking horses often have a lean to the left.
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