He still has several designs that are big enough for a child to ride. However, he has since downsized his creations to a more manageable dimension for those who may wish only to add their color and charm to a room's decor.

Although he has created other animals, to date all the Riesing's rockers have been horses. He has created so many horses because of his admiration for those beautiful Victorian rockers and the wonderful carousel creations.

Riesing comments, "Although my art is a departure in process and materials, I nonetheless feel a relationship to those past artists. I like to think I am continuing in that same tradition and merely contemporizing." Each Riesing horse is researched and represents a specific breed and use. They are completely handmade and carry the Rocking R brand burned into the wood.

The rocking horses are constructed and assembled using a number of very different woods: pine, ply and balsa. They are sawed, filed and hammered; nailed, glued and filled; sculpted, primed and painted.

The wood in Riesing's art is all but invisible. Unless told, you might not guess they were made of wood at all. When their bodies are finished, they are adorned with leather and fabric, vinyl and ribbon, metal and rope.

His basic design had painted features on flat surfaces. Materials today allow Riesing to create dimensional faces and ears to imbue each animal with a life-like appearance and personality. As his technique improved, so did the body forms. Riesing explains, "The horse rockers have evolved to a much more natural-flowing feeling with forms originating from within, rather than being added on."

"I use any material that helps me bring about the realization of my aesthetic," remarks Riesing. "That aesthetic is not a process but a result. I am merely interested in creating objects that I think are interesting as objects."

Riesing continues, "I sincerely hope people find in my work something that brings a smile, and perhaps reminds them of another day when they had a horse that rocked."