From Business to Craft, From Craft to Heirloom
We're Jamie and Emma Torr, and we create every Australian Rocking Horse together in our workshop in Tamworth, NSW.
Over the years, we've owned and operated automotive businesses and later built and ran an online personalised name labels business. While those ventures were rewarding, the pull toward working with timber and creating physical, lasting pieces never really left.
What began as a personal passion for woodworking gradually became something more meaningful — a desire to create heirloom pieces that would be loved in childhood and valued long after those early years had passed. Australian Rocking Horses grew from that desire, bringing together craftsmanship, family, and the idea of creating something worth passing down.
A Small Workshop, Built on Care
Every rocking horse is made by hand, from shaping and assembly through to finishing and final detailing. There is no outsourcing and no production line — just careful, time-intensive work in our Tamworth workshop.
Jamie is responsible for the design, carving, and construction of each horse, shaping every component by hand and ensuring the strength and balance needed for both safety and longevity.
Emma completes the final fit-out of each piece, carefully assembling and finishing the saddle, reins, mane, and tail to ensure every detail is secure, comfortable, and beautifully presented.
We approach each build as something we would be proud to give to our own family.
Australian Timbers and Traditional Details
We work with a range of Australian timbers, selecting each piece based on grain, stability, and how it will perform over decades of use. Every horse is shaped, assembled, and finished by hand, then completed with traditional materials including genuine leather tack, glass eyes, and real horse hair for the mane and tail.
These materials are chosen not only for their authenticity, but for the way they age gracefully over time, developing character rather than wearing out — helping each horse become part of a family's story.
Designed for Childhood, Built for a Lifetime
Our goal is simple — to create rocking horses that feel timeless, honest, and enduring. Each piece is designed to be loved in childhood and appreciated as a keepsake in years to come, becoming part of family stories and memories that continue long after the first ride.
Some families choose to include a time capsule inside the horse during its making — a small collection of letters, photos, or keepsakes sealed within the body. One day, perhaps during restoration many decades from now, that story may be discovered by a future generation. It's a quiet way of passing family history forward.
For us, that idea — of something made today carrying meaning far into the future — is at the heart of what Australian Rocking Horses is all about.