DAD FINALLY FINISHED DESIGNING AND BUILDING CONOR'S FIRST ROCKING HORSE

I finally finished Conor's rocking horse 4 days before Christmas. It took about a month to create having to work on it only on evenings when I wasn't too tired from work and an occasional Sunday when Conor was sleeping. One Sunday I worked all day when Valerie kept Conor occupied so that I could finish the horse on time.

It was a long standing dream I had to build my first child a rocking horse for his first Christmas. I chose Spanish cedar as the wood simply based on what was available at the nearby hardwood store in Cambridge. It was 13' long, 2 inches thick and 7 1/2 inches wide. I couldn't believe I needed all but one foot of it to make a little wooden horse for a 14 month old child. But with every cut of the spanish cedar, the aroma was intoxicating. And I never enjoyed sanding so much knowing that Conor would never get a splinter in his hand if I took the time to sand it correctly. There are no nails or screws in the horse. Instead, I used mortise, tenon and dowel construction. The same kind of construction that's been used in building since as early as 2500 BC in ancient Egypt.

I took my wife into the basement to see it first as I put the finishing touch, his tail, on the horse. When she saw it sitting on the workbench completed, she looked at me and cried. I have to say it feels real good to have a skill that allows me to create something of worth to my boy using my own two hands and a skill I learned 23 years ago.

Here is the horse sitting under the Christmas tree before Conor saw it.

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