My daughter, like many little girls, is into unicorns big-time these days, and has a growing collection. So this wasn't much of a surprise when I asked her what she wanted to build this year.
I first looked at rocking horses, but they're all in an odd (for a car) splayed-legs pose, and I was afraid to attempt a fully-carved, "realistic" horse. I also looked at carousel horses, which have better legs, but are still fully-carved. Trying to think of a way to "get away" with a more primitive (so easier-to-make) horse, I thought of the Trojan Horse. That reminded me of the two-story-tall Trojan Horse "toy" that makes the entrance of the F.A.O. Schwarz toy store in the Caesar's Mall in Las Vegas.
I found pictures of the original design for it, but since it was, again, fully-carved, I had to simplify it.
I based my proportions on the F.A.O. horse, but made the head bigger, 'cuz that makes it cuter. The hardest part was the neck-to-body joint, and then the neck-to-head joint. I just faked those until they worked.
The only problem with the F.A.O. design is that it's standing stock-still -- all four feet planted on the ground. I thought it need to look a little more "alive", since it's supposed to be moving, and I thought of Leonardo's planned (and recently (finally) built) Equestrian statue. I took the lifted front leg from him, but didn't think it would be strong enough if I lifted the back leg, too.
To build the parts, we glued the paper plan onto the balsa wood, and my daughter cut (way) outside the lines with a coping saw. Then we brought it to the line on the disk sander, which is a little scary for her, but not very dangerous at slow speeds. That way she got to do a lot of the work.
We left our version "wood colored" (clear lacquer) to help get the Trojan Horse idea across. The "dirt" is actually crushed walnut shells for use in terrariums. The unicorn is just screwed down to the base from the underside, so after the race it can join the rest of her collection.