Introduction: The Haunted Rocking Horse

The Haunted Rocking Horse is a prop you can make with a rocking horse, a wiper motor, and just a few bits of hardware.

This is an easy prop, and with all the parts, takes less than 2 hours to assemble.

Step 1: Gather Your Parts

To put together the Haunted Rocking Horse, you will need:.

  1. Rocking Horse (surprise!)
  2. A Wiper Motor. We got ours from Monster Guts
  3. Ball Arm for Wiper Motor with hardware to hold it in place
  4. A sheet of 2' x 2' 1/2" thickness plywood (you can use thicker, depending on the weight of your horse. Because you are attaching the wiper motor directly to the platform, its best to use at least 1/2" plywood
  5. Four 2x4 pieces cut into 6" lengths
  6. Eight 2 1/2" wood screws
  7. Four 1/4" x 1" machine screws
  8. Four locking washers (for the machine screws)
  9. Four regular washers (for the machine screws)
  10. Four nuts (for the machine screws)
  11. 214 or 217 1/2" eye hook
  12. A length of 20 lb fishing line or better.

Tools:

Power drill with assorted bits at least have a 1/4" bit handy, though you'll want finder bits as well

Wrench for securing the machine screws

Step 2: Assemble the Platform

Position your four blocks on the platform, drawing an outline around each with a pencil.

Then put the blocks under the platform, and screw them in using the wood screws, using the pencil outlines as guides

Step 3: Measure the Rotation of the Wiper Arm

Measure the distance of the ball joint on the wiper motor from its lowest to its highest point. This will tell you how far the horse can rock.

Pick a spot on the rocking horse that can move that distance. You can see from the picture above that the back of the leg on the horse was the best spot.

You may have to drill a pilot hole for the eye hook.

Position the horse on the platform, and drill a small hole where the string will come up to connect with the eye hook.

Step 4: Add the Wiper Motor

Attach the L Brackets to the wiper motor.

Turn the platform over, and position the wiper motor so the ball joint is in line with the hole.

Mark the holes for the machine screws with a pencil

Use a 1/4" drill bit, drill holes for the screws and secure the wiper motor to the platform

Tie one end of your fishing line to the ball joint of the wiper motor. Thread the fishing line through the hole of the platform and tie to the wiper motor.

Plug in the wiper motor and your horse should rock!