The Skin Horse and Becoming Real

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand." - from The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

I accepted this restoration project despite that it is not taxidermy as I couldn’t help but think of my favorite childhood story. This skin horse was loved and ridden by children and it showed. Its mane had become brittle and bald, its seams were showing, the harness was broken, and its tail was loose and thin. This horse is a pull along style with wooden legs mounted on a wooden platform with wheels. The body was stuffed with wood shavings (seen through the seams).

Skin horses were a version of stuffies- first appearing in the late sixteenth century. In the nineteenth century, most of the skin horses were crafted in Germany although they were also produced in France, Spain, and Switzerland. A lot of these horses were imported into the United States. The horses came equipped with removable saddles, harnesses, and bridles so children could practice and play with getting their horse ready. Children were drawn to toys that were made from animal leather because they felt more like the “real thing”. These toys fell out of production with the second World War and the creation of plush toys.

The goal for this piece was to restore it to look like a complete piece. I found a maker of horse mane and tails in the UK for those replacements. The old mane was completely removed and replaced. The original tail was kept and added to for thickness and volume. I was able to adjust the leather ears to being alert again instead of turned inward. The broken harness was the trickiest part. I matched the leather color and created an extension to complete the harness. Although the tiny horse already had lots of charm from being loved through the years, its fantasy was renewed with these updates.  

One of the reasons I enjoy repair and restoration work is the window into a different time period. How often do we overlook the old or out of date technology? Being able to work on these pieces is a privilege. They each are their own little time capsules waiting to be admired. I love seeing what a state-of-the-art toy was for the 19th century- appreciating that children would have loved and played with this horse as much as my nieces love and play with their toy horses today, or as much as I did with our hobby horse “Shimmer”.

I have always loved the story of How Toys Become Real. As a child, your love for your toy and your imagination were validated. As an adult, the story has even more symbolism and it still makes me weep. How can I not identify with the Skin Horse after 8 months of cancer treatment? I am bald, with loose joints, and very shabby. Still, I am loved and I am becoming a new version of myself although I must be patient, as it will not happen all at once.