Who put the rocking horses on a log? We're not sure who did it first, but we know someone who keeps doing it

It’s the mystery of the decade: why do the horses cross the log?

You know what I’m talking about. The ever-growing collection of rocking horses on not just one, but now two, fallen logs, visible from the Kings Highway near the foot of the Clyde.

The first is said to have appeared around October 2020 after the ‘Black Summer’ bushfires, but no one is sure who put it there or why.

Some say it’s a roadside memorial to honour a young child, or perhaps a prank by university students on break. Others say that it’s a play on a ‘zebra crossing’.

Truth is, the source of the mystery is unknown – but then we met Rob.

Rob (who wishes to withhold his last name) and his wife have split their time 50/50 between Canberra and a house in Dalmeny, near Narooma, since he retired a few years ago.

He can’t remember exactly when he first spotted the rocking horses, except that numbers seemed to grow with every trip.

“We’d have a look every trip and sometimes there’d be a new addition and it just became a bit of an attraction – it was fun to watch it grow,” he says.

So Rob decided to join in.

“I’ve been sourcing rocking horses from either Facebook Marketplace or, if I’m ever at the tip, I’ll duck into The Green Shed and see what they’ve got,” he says.

“Every time I come home with another one, my wife rolls her eyes. But she has a bit of fun as well.”

The first log was fairly congested when he came to it, so Rob started his collection on another fallen log further down the road and at a location where it’s safer to pull up.

“It’s an easy enough trek through the scrub, and I haven’t encountered a snake yet,” he says.

There are now “about a dozen” horses on the second log, not all of them from Rob. And not all of them horses. Over December, a T-Rex and Santa Claus cut-out appeared too.

“I’d probably prefer it stay horses, but look, I don’t really mind – if they get a kick out of it, so be it.”

Over the months, he’s had a few passing motorists sound a friendly honk, even if not everyone is a fan. Like Pooh Bear’s Corner further up the road, the rocking horse display does have its critics.

“I’ve got friends who don’t like the rocking horses – they think it’s a bit trashy and detracts from the environment, but I just laugh at them,” he says.

“I think if people can get enjoyment with their kids by putting something there and seeing if it’s still there the next time they make the trip, it’s just a bit of fun. I’ve got friends of the family who will sometimes ring and ask if I’ve been out there again.”

Rob ultimately acknowledges the mystery person who started it all.

“I’ve just piggybacked off the first log – that’s the key to the whole story.”

Original Article published by James Coleman on Riotact.