Toy Stick Horse

When all the batteries are dead, what ruffian wouldn't want to terrorize the neighborhood on his trusty steed? Now your little cowpokes can have hours of fun on their own little pony.

Find an old piece of scrap wood, mine was cedar left over from a fence project, that's about 8" square. I liked this one because the knot went all the way through giving him eyes on both sides of his head.

Draw a rough horse head shape and cut it out.

Take a back saw or table saw and carefully square off one side of an old broom handle. You may also want to cut down the handle fit your little rancher.

Sand, stain or paint to match your preferred breed. If you've got expensive wood and knots are scarce, you could paint an eye or glue on a big "wiggly" eye from the craft store.

Attach the head to the stick. I pre-drilled the holes and used 2" long brass screws.

Ears were cut out of black vinyl material using a rounded pyramid shape, folding the wider bottom over to create the 3-d effect and help them stand up. Use a staple gun to attach them to the head.

Be creative with the ears and play around with different shapes and locations. They can give your horse quite a unique personality.

The mane is three pieces of yarn braided with 4" strands half hitched in the middle of the main braid at every turn. This is the most time consuming part but makes it less likely to be pulled out by rough riders.

Mane color and length are again at your discretion (or lack of patience).

Staple the finished shag rug type mane along the horse's back. It also helps to cover the screw heads in the broomstick.

The final step is the bridle. I used a leather shoelace and 1/2" finishing nails to hold it in place while creating the look of a real tack. Small keyrings really add to the look.

Put on your best duds and hit the trail!