Recently we went on a weekend trip with close
friends to St. Joseph and Boonville, Mo. It was just a relaxing weekend
trip, not meant to be anything special, just kick back with good friends and
enjoy each others company. We visited a number of interesting places like
the Glore Physiatric Museum, Clydesdale Breeding Farm and The Pony Express
Museum.
I have a faint memory of rocking back and forth
holding the reigns or handles by the horses head but I have a much more vivid
memory of the springs attached to the front and back which allowed the horse to
rock. Specifically, what I remember is how the springs would pinch your
fingers giving you blood blisters when you grabbed them by mistake.
Sometime the springs could pinch the skin on the back of your legs if you
riding like a maniac. That was the most tender part of my leg.
There weren't enough bad words in my vocabulary at that time to describe
the pain. It didn't take long for a kid to realize to beware of the badass
springs. Even knowing that I would still ride the horse and invariably
get my finger or leg pinched every so often. Let's call it my badge of
honor given to you by the rocking horse. If you rode with the right amount of
gusto you could make it hop across the floor but if you rode with great gusto
you could tip the horse over which usually resulted in spring pinch. A double whammy sprawled on the floor from
tipping over and a spring pinch. Oh,
Mother of God that would hurt like hell.
Sometimes lessons learned by experience make a much bigger impression
than those learned from someone’s sage advice.
The rocking horse my kids rode had some improvements but it still had the four springs that would pinch but not with the enthusiasm of my red rocking horse. They learned just like me to keep their hands away from the springs. Nowadays the rocking horses are more subdued and they have the springs covered for child's safety, that's an improvement but I'm sure they won't remember riding their rocking horse as vividly as I have, unless of course the horse has a built in GPS and IPod docking station. Giddy up! Hi Ho Silver! or Text me Later!
While at the Pony Express Museum I stumbled upon a
wooden red rocking horse. So why is that special, there are many
different kinds of rocking horses for kids, we bought one 30 years ago for our
kids but it was plastic and whinnied when it rocked back and forth as long as
the batteries were good. The red rocking horse caught my eye and brought
back forgotten memories because I had on exactly like the one in the museum.
It didn't look as realistic as the plastic horse we bought our kids and
didn't have any whinny sound but it still made me smile and laugh a little so
it was special to me.
I have a faint memory of rocking back and forth
holding the reigns or handles by the horses head but I have a much more vivid
memory of the springs attached to the front and back which allowed the horse to
rock. Specifically, what I remember is how the springs would pinch your
fingers giving you blood blisters when you grabbed them by mistake.
Sometime the springs could pinch the skin on the back of your legs if you
riding like a maniac. That was the most tender part of my leg.
There weren't enough bad words in my vocabulary at that time to describe
the pain. It didn't take long for a kid to realize to beware of the badass
springs. Even knowing that I would still ride the horse and invariably
get my finger or leg pinched every so often. Let's call it my badge of
honor given to you by the rocking horse. If you rode with the right amount of
gusto you could make it hop across the floor but if you rode with great gusto
you could tip the horse over which usually resulted in spring pinch. A double whammy sprawled on the floor from
tipping over and a spring pinch. Oh,
Mother of God that would hurt like hell.
Sometimes lessons learned by experience make a much bigger impression
than those learned from someone’s sage advice.The rocking horse my kids rode had some improvements but it still had the four springs that would pinch but not with the enthusiasm of my red rocking horse. They learned just like me to keep their hands away from the springs. Nowadays the rocking horses are more subdued and they have the springs covered for child's safety, that's an improvement but I'm sure they won't remember riding their rocking horse as vividly as I have, unless of course the horse has a built in GPS and IPod docking station. Giddy up! Hi Ho Silver! or Text me Later!
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