He is a very remarkable-looking horse with his funny round head and stiff legs and tail, though not more remarkable than the little man who rides him. Both are made simply of buckeyes and slender twigs. The head and body of the horse and of the man are buckeyes. The neck, ears, tail, and legs of the horse are smooth, straight twigs; the neck, arms, and legs of the man are also twigs.
The Buckeye Horse
When you make a horse let the light-colored part of the buckeye be his face. This part usually has a dark spot on it which looks like an eye. You will see it in [Fig. 121]. He will have only one eye unless you put in another with lead-pencil or pen and ink, but very frequently horses are blind in one eye, so it will not matter whether he has two eyes or one.
Stick two short pieces of twigs in the head for ears and a longer twig for the neck. You will have to sharpen the ends of the twigs to a point so that they will go in easily. The neck twig will need sharpening at both ends.
Before putting the head on the body of the horse, which should be as large a buckeye as you can find, push in four twigs for the legs. The front legs must slant forward, the hind legs slant backward. This will make him stand firmly. Then choose a slender twig for the tail, and split it several times at one end to show that it has hair on it, as in [Fig. 121]. Fasten the tail on and then push in the neck twig. This finishes the horse.
Fig.121 - He is a remarkable looking Horse.
The Buckeye Man
For the body of the man who sits astride the horse, choose a buckeye which is rather flat on one side. A round buckeye will roll off. Find a small buckeye for the man's head and give him a twig neck ([Fig. 122]). Do not make his twig arms stand out straight at his sides; push them in slantingly so that he will hold them out in front. Put his twig legs in far apart and slant them a little forward.