My advice to you is --

get a used one off Craigslist so that the buy doesn't feel as bad or borrow one from someone who doesn't need it right now.

Kids go in and out and in and out of phases all the time. Sometimes they won't like a toy and will in a month then shun it again for months only to play with it obsessively for another. As they grow, they find new "uses" for old toys. A simple thing like a stick can turn into many things at every stage.

If your inlaws buy a rocking horse and your child stops using it, store it and cycle it back in at some point. I cycle (rotate) toys, and it's fun.

I can't comment on how often a child might use it, but I can say that I definitely have fond memories of mine from my childhood, and it wasn't anything more than the very plainest wooden version. Granted, my brother and I were very lucky to have had a large upstairs playroom where our multitude of toys were kept, but I know that if I have the space for it to at least live in a corner that I'll have one for my kids. The only caveat to that is that the more I think about it, the horse may have belonged to my father as a child, so maybe that contributed to my using it so much.

I bought this one from babyhalfoff,
http://hoohobbers.com/rocking_horses.html
I could absolutely do without the bright primary colours, but the other features won out. Folds to 3.5", SOLD!

Our daughter was afraid of her rocking horse and would not go near it for the whole year it was in her room. We gave it away and got her a Rody for Christmas, which she loves. It takes up less space and she bounces on it all the time!

Both of mine use their rocking horse [shared] that my eldest received when she was one. A gift from the Grandparents. I was somewhat skeptical about it's use also...but I must say, I am surprised how much they climb on it -- and rock that thing across the carpeted room.

Further, they have play cowboy hats from a nephew's birthday party, they sometimes recruit the rocker into their dress-up pretend play shenanigans.

Newest, my daughter has been rocking her babies, and my son his stuffed animals. And as they continue to grow and interact with the rocking horse, I have even caught them standing sideways on its rails..rocking out with abandon, to my dismay!

what about getting the one from your in-laws?
I also remember loving mine, and my parents still have it. I expect we'll use it for our little one too (due in Feb).

We have a wooden rocking airplane ( from PBK), rocking sheep (that reminds me of my homeland), ride on train (from PBK) and Rody all parked in our family room for most of the day.

All of the children love them a lot. They are used for play, footstools, step stools and card table surfaces. Our oldest two are 11 and 9 years old and well over five feet tall and are so used to the 'toys' being used as furniture and a perch they aren't even aware they are laying on them.

My youngest daughter who is two and her best friend - also two ride on their horses and race each other across the carpet. When we arrive at their house the wooden horses are the first toy they gravitate towards.

Since the first three items are made from varnished wood, have held up well and are of good quality I plan on one day saving them for the grandchildren. So yes, for our family the answer is they are well loved, used and valued and worth the price. Plus a nice addition to our family room.

Your in-laws seem really generous - so why not take them up on the offer. It could be much worse and you could be wondering what to do with a pile of recalled plastic junk......

My parents got our son a rocking horse when he was one. They got it in Ohio at an Amish furniture store - so needless to say it is a beautifully handcrafted piece.

He is almost three and continues to play with/on it. I say let them get her one but maybe you can set some guidelines to not end up with junk?

My son was gifted a hand-me-down horse when he was about one, and it mostly sat even though we had a lot of kids in and out of the house all the time. On the other hand, I remember playing on one as a child but I think it was one of those seventies ones with a frame and springs that was more fun and less pretty to look at.

My 4 and 6 year-old girls still play with their rocking horse. I would like to get it out of the living room, but I know how much they would miss it. I've been amazed at how much it has been used.

I gave my daughter my old one when she turned one. She's 4.5 now and still rides on it. It's solid wood and has a few broken spots that my husband needs to fix (yay Army movers) but she rides on it anyway! I'd say if it's a quality piece, go for it!

As a former child: I loved the hell out of my rocking horse at my nana's house. Definitely one of my favorite toys.

I'm a nanny for two boys who have joint ownership of the rocking horse and the biggest problem with it isn't that it goes neglected, but rather that it gets *dragged all over the house.*

So, yes, if she liked it somewhere else, she will probably use it at home as well.

I had a tiny rocking chair from my childhood- and the kids love it. We had to get another one so they both had one. They will rock and play, or rock and watch a show, or rock their babies.

My in-laws had a rocking horse made for both their grandchildren -- my 17mo daughter and her 7mo cousin. That was the big gift this Christmas, and I thought it was great. Handmade by a friend of theirs, made of wood gathered on their farm, has the kid's name carved into it. A real heirloom piece, and beautiful.

BUT... so far, she hasn't been that interested in playing with it. The first couple of days, she wanted to rock over and over, but now she's just walking past it. I'm sure she'll go back to it when she gets a little older. It's a great toy to have, but if I had really limited space I would have had a hard time with this gift.

My parents bought our children a large plush rocking horse - the colours are beautiful, and fit in very well with their playroom. My children are 2 and 4 now, and it is ridden EVERY DAY. My kids love to hop on their trampoline, and then ride their 'pony' and pretend they are cowboys, or in a circus or a knight fighting a dragon, any number of things. I would have never thought my children would play with it, but they LOVE their horse. I don't have any urgency to get rid of it, but it will be passed on to some other family in a few years when interest wanes, I'm sure. I do cycle toys too, usually, but this has become such a regular piece of furniture for them it would be missed too much!

We got a wooden horse with yarn mane and tail at a yard sale for $4... my 19 month old daughter loves it. One of her first words was "rock" and she loves to say it while rocking on the horse. She also has my old wooden childrens rocking chair that she also loves. Both are in the living room and used every single day. Well worth the investment!

My mom got a plastic one for my son. He uses oh so often...most of the time it sits in the garage........

our two year old son has the rocking horse that you have pictured and loves it.

My brother in law made a really nice rocking horse for my boys who are nearly 5 & 2.5.... They were 3 and 1 when they got it. Both love love love it, but it did take the younger a while to get used to it. I say get it!

Both of my kids were crazy about the our rocking horse until around 2.5. Since then it's a once and while thing (usually when they are playing cowboys). But until then it was a multiple time a day toy.

I'd get it (sooner than later), and rotate it when your girl stops showing intrest. Pull it out a few months later and she'll love it again!

There's also the delightful Ikea rocking moose: http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/40085455