Instructions for Painting a Rocking Horse

Paint the entire rocking horse with the base color of your choice unless you wish to use the wood's natural color as the predominant base color. The base color may be black, brown or white if you wish to use colors of actual horses, or use any color, such as blue, pink or red, if you want a more colorful horse. Apply an even coat of the base color over the entire horse with a 3-inch paintbrush, and let the paint dry completely. Apply a second coat of the base color over the entire horse. If the wood shows through any locations afterward, a third coat may be necessary. Let the paint dry completely between each coat. Rinse the paintbrush thoroughly after you are done painting, and allow the brush to dry.

Paint an eye on each side of the rocking horse's head between the ears and mouth. This task can be done by painting only a black circle for each eye if you desire few details or by painting a white oval containing a brown circle that fills most of the oval. Make each eye as equal in shape and location to the other eye as possible.

Paint other features and details on the horse's face with an artist's flat paintbrush. Paint a black circle on each side of the snout, near the snout's end, for the nostrils. Paint a solid, colored line that loops around the snout's entire circumference about 1/4 of the distance from the end of the snout to the top of the snout. This line is part of the bridle and should be about 3/4 inch to 1 inch long. Using the same color, paint a perpendicular line on each side of the snout that leads upward from the first line. Make the perpendicular lines disappear at the horse's mane to the rear of its ears.

Personalize the rocking horse with the name of the child who will receive the horse. This task can be done on the saddle if no room is on the side of the rocking base. Those areas also can be used to paint design elements or shapes such as horseshoes, hearts and stars.

Coat the rocking horse with a coat of clear polyurethane. Apply an even coat over the entire horse using the 3-inch paintbrush. Allow the polyurethane to dry, and then apply a second coat of clear polyurethane. The polyurethane will protect the paint from chipping and rubbing off.