When I was little all of my friends could braid hair, but I could not, but I wanted to learn. My mom showed me how to braid once, but I needed to practice before I could claim that I could also braid hair. So I practiced on my wooden rocking horse’s tail.
The rocking horse was made out of oak with a wood finish by the Amish in Arthur, Illinois. It was not very detailed, meaning there were no eyes and mouth or hooves attached to the oak rocker. It was just horse shaped with a flat back for a seat. There were three rungs between the two rockers that the whole structure was attached to. At each end of the rungs there were oak screw hole buttons covering the screws. In the neck of the rocking horse there were two handles. One handle on each side of the neck, so that the rider could hold on while rocking. The horse’s mane and tail was made out of undyed wool yarn. The longer I had the horse the more the yarn started to take on a slight yellow hue from dirt and age. When the rocking horse was given to me both the mane and the tail were firmly attached to the horse. However after a while the mane remained firmly attached to the rocking horse’s neck, but the tail would come out of the rocking horse’s tailbone. 
I came to enjoy the fact that the horses tail would come off of it. I would attach the tail to clipboards and practice braiding while watching television or talking to my family. I also liked that it came off because then when I would dust the horse. The pledge and orange oil would not get in the yarn of the tail like it did in the yarn of the mane.
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