spring horse

English

Spring horse (type of rocking horse)

Spring horses (playground equipment)

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Noun

spring horse (plural spring horses)

1. A type of rocking horse that stands on a flat surface and moves by means of springs which attach the horse figure to its framework.
   • 1869 May 29, “Hudston v. The Midland Railway Company”, in The Law Times Reports, volume 20, page 526:

     A child's toy called a "spring horse," being 44 in. in length, and 78 lbs. in weight, carried home by a first-class traveller on the company's line, as a present for his child, is not "personal luggage" of the traveller which he is entitled to have carried free of charge under the above regulation.

   • 1959 November 23, “Spring Horse (advertisement)”, in Billboard, page 77:

     The original spring horse in a de luxe model with copper base that offers the body-building benefits of rocking action.

   • 2023, Bill Bennington, Blind Date:

     When she was two, she got a spring horse for Christmas which she called her quarter horse.

2. A piece of playground equipment consisting of a sturdy spring on which is mounted a figure, usually of a horse, on which a child sits and rocks.
   • 2012, Alex L. Tavares, Decency, page 143:

     She saw other parts of a playground: a merry-go-round with rusted bars and one side resting on the ground, a spring horse bent over completely with the head busted in, and a splintered seesaw warped in the middle so that both ends sagged.

   • 2014, Shradha Anand, “The Playground”, in Go Kids World Around, page 20:

     I want to ride fast. I want to ride slow. I will ride a spring horse.

   • 2014, Rebecca Rissman, Parks, page 20:

     The photos on this page show different pieces of playground equipment, including monkey bars, rings, a spring horse, and a tyre swing.

3. A trestle on which is mounted a metal plate that is held down at both ends and attached by a screw in the center that adjusts the tension of the plate, used for making or repairing springs.
   • 1916 October, L.T. Armstrong, “Spring Making and Repairing”, in The Blacksmith & Wheelwright, volume 74, number 4, page 355:

     To obtain satisfactory results, particularly with automobile springs, a spring horse, such as illustrated at Fig. 1, will be of value.

   • 1939 December 8, Dill Maney, “Vocational: Blacksmith and Welding”, in The Indian Leader, volume 43, number 7, page 6:

     Ed LeClaire finished a settee for the "Shack,", Joe Grayson made a spring horse for Mr. Dodd, Mose Tepiew put a railing around the motor at the disposal plant.

4. A racehorse that performs best on soft ground such as occurs in the spring.
   • 1903 April 1, “The World of Sport”, in The Sketch, volume 41, page 416:

     I am beginning to fancy that Sceptre is not a spring horse .

   • 2013, David Atkinson, Mug Punting, page 68:

     Against the choice is a slight doubt about the going which will probably be on the soft side and some old bollocks about him being a spring horse. This is plainly nonsense. He's only 7 and hasn't been racing that long. Out of his eight wins up to this point, four were in November and December.

   • 2018, Hugh Cahill, Winners:

     He liked good ground – didn't enjoy heavy ground at all – he was very much a spring horse.