Ella is 2½ years old and what made it all worthwhile was seeing how excited and pleased she was when she saw the horse and sat on it. The best part was when she finally got down, without any prompting she walked over to me and gave me a big hug.

Donna, the horse has a 1 inch diameter 9 inch long oak dowel fastened underneath the horse just behind the front legs for her feet. There is also a handle the runs through the horse's head. You just can't see them very well in the picture that I posted.
You were right Patty, the smiles made it worthwhile but the hug was the best part.