rocking horse restoration

Are you fortunate enough to own an old rocking horse? Lucky you! As leading rocking horse restorers, we offer you a low-cost collection and return service in most of the country. If your rocking horse has seen better days and requires restoration, our antique rocking horse restoration team restore rocking horses sympathetically to former glories. Rocking horse restoration covers a wide spectrum of repairs including the comprehensive restoration of a barely recognisable horse.

rocking horse restorers

Part of the skill of the rocking horse restorer lies in assessing the appropriate extent and style of restoration. Our rocking horse restorers have decades of experience of restoring rocking horses and can usually identify the original rocking horse maker and approximate date of making and so recommend the appropriate restoration of a wooden or fibreglass rocking horse.

rocking horse identification

Commercial rocking horse making in Britain dates back over two centuries, so the work of many different makers is to be found today. All rocking horses are valuable: some potentially have great financial value, others have more sentimental value. Identifying your rocking horse may be an important part of the process of determining the appropriate restoration and repairs for him or her by our antique rocking horse restorers.

rocking horse repair

The extent of the necessary repair varies, but a new mane and tail are usually required, as is a replacement saddle and bridle. In the case of a painted dapple grey, it is common to see cracks, chips and damage in the gesso (the plaster-like substance that was used to coat and protect the wood) and this may indicate that full structural rocking horse repairs need to be undertaken by our experienced rocking horse restorers.

antique rocking horse restoration

You may own a more contemporary Leeway, Haddon Rockers, Pegasus or Ayres rocking horse or may be lucky enough to own a rocking horse made during the golden age of rocking horse making, such as those by F.H. Ayres, G&J Lines, Wilson & Son, Lines Brothers, or J.R. Smith. These horses are the most valuable, but they are often in a poor state of repair. Fear not! No rocking horse is so dilapidated that it is beyond restoration!

collecting and returning your rocking horse

Our main rocking horse restoration activities concentrate on London and South-East England, South-West England, the East Midlands, West Midlands and the North-West, including Manchester, Cheshire etc. We offer a low-cost collection and return service throughout this area. In addition, we are usually able to offer specialist rocking horse renovation in most areas of England, Scotland and Wales.

restoration horse restoration cost

We aim to provide you with an accurate quotation to repair and renovate your horse. In certain circumstances, this may not be possible, but we are pleased to offer no-obligation estimates that will give a close indication of the rocking horse restoration cost. If you can provide digital photos and the height of the horse (on the stand) from the floor to the top of the head, that will be most helpful.

rocking horse experts

A note of caution: we have seen many many rocking horses, including some potentially valuable antique rocking horses, which have been utterly ruined by poor restoration. When you entrust your rocking horse to us, you are entrusting him or her to experienced professional rocking horse restorers. Please don't settle for less. Please read some of our rocking horse restoration testimonials from our happy customers.

Recent restorations include a G & J Lines horse in Sussex, a J.R. Smith rocking horse restoration for Cambridge, an Ayres rocking horse in Nottinghamshire and a Baby Carriages rocking horse in Cheshire. Our rocking horse restorers recently renovated a Lines Brothers Sportiboy from Surrey and a Collinson from Oxford. Another Lines rocking horse in Bristol has been thoroughly repaired. There is usually a Pegasus of Crewe in the workshop, and now is no exception with a current horse from Southampton in the workshop.

We are expert restorers of hide-covered horses. Those include the wheeled pull-along horses, mostly of German origin. They were usually filled with straw and/or wood shavings, and a rudimentary wooden skelton was covered with pony skin. A wooden platform was sometimes mounted on bow rockers but could be detached relatively easily. Other German companies, particularly Bauer & Krause, produced skin-covered rocking horses on safety stands with horsehair manes and tails.

We specialise in historically accurate, authentic restoration and conservation. Our expertise extends to fibreglass rocking horses including Haddon rocking horse restoration.

At the time of writing, rocking horses in the workshops currently include examples from Surrey, Essex, London, Wirral, Warwickshire, Oxford, Lancashire, West Sussex, South Wales, Dorset, Manchester, Worcestershire, Cheshire, Edinburgh, Dundee, Cardiff and the Portsmouth/Southampton area of Hampshire. In addition, horses from Somerset, Northamptonshire and Leicestershire are amongst those waiting patiently for collection!

For vegans and those who prefer to avoid the use of products derived from animals, we are often able to provide a specialist rocking horse restoration that avoids the use of leather and horsehair. Please contact us for further details.