Make your own War Horse: Instructions

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Create your own puppet horse and learn how to make it move and bring it to life. Designed by original Joey puppeteer Toby Olié. Inspired by War Horse’s astonishing life–sized horse puppets, created by the internationally renowned Handspring Puppet Company.

You will need:

– For introduction and reference look at pictures of the completed War Horse puppets (from warhorseonstage.co.uk) and images, both still and moving, of real horses

– 1 template (3 pages) printed onto A3 paper per group– 3 sheets of A3 cardboard (thick enough to stand up

straight but not so thick that it hurts your hands to cut) per group

– At least 1 glue stick per group– A small plasticine ball per group– Some string cut into approximate lengths

4 x 20cm + 1 x 60cm per group– 1 pair of scissors per person– A sharp pencil per person– Some tape– Some A4 paper

Make your own WarHorseInstructions (Allow 2 hours to make your horse)

Make your own War Horse: Instructions

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Step by Step

– Get your group into groups of three – so that when it comes to manipulating the puppet you have a ‘head’, a ‘heart’ and a ‘hind’.

– Stick template sheets 1, 2 and 3 to the pieces of A3 card and cut around the solid lines (not the dotted ones). Also cut around all the pieces on template 4 of mane, tail and ears.

– Put a ball of plasticine behind the horse where there is a dot and use the pencil to carefully push a hole through the card (work in pairs to stay safe and try not to fold the cardboard while you’re doing it).

– Position the body section with the slots facing downwards, then take the shoulder and hind sections and slide them into the slots in the body.

– Take one of the short pieces of string (approx 20cm) and thread it through the 2 leg holes and then the corresponding hole on the shoulder or haunch (big legs back, small legs front) – make sure the hooves are facing the right way!

– Tie a tight knot in the string with enough room to get your finger between the leg and the body, you want the legs to be able to move freely forwards and backwards – otherwise your horse won’t be able to walk, trot and gallop!

– Repeat until all the legs are in place.

– Next take the head and fold along the dotted lines – tuck the tabs inside and glue or tape into place to make the nose shape.

– Take the long piece of string (approx 60 cm) and thread it through the hole in the head and the two holes in the body – have two of the group hold the body up so you can see how long the piece of string needs to be to form a proper neck before tying the knot – your horse will need to be able to reach down to the ground when it wants to graze in the grass.

– Take the ears and use glue to pinch them together at the bottom to give them shape. Attach them to the sides of the head. The position of a horse’s ears show how it is feeling, so you can choose what mood your horse is in as you attach them. If the ears are facing forward, the horse is happy, contented or relaxed and if they are facing backwards the horse is upset, angry or fearful.

– Take each of the strands of mane, fold the square ends back on themselves over the top string of the horse’s neck, and secure with glue.

– Next take all of the tail strands together and tape them into a bunch, next stick this to the back end of the horse.

– When it’s done, you can paint your horse: Make it Joey by choosing a rusty brown or perhaps paint it black for Topthorn. Then you can draw or paint on details like hooves and nostrils and for eyes you could use beads, buttons or even buy some goggly eyes for a comic touch!

– Now you are ready to make your puppet move. Visit warhorseonstage.co.uk/education to learn how to make your horse stand, walk and trot like a real horse with original Joey puppeteer Toby Olié.

Make your own WarHorse

Make your own

Designed by Toby Olié

1. Chest and Head

HeadShoulders

WarHorse

Make your own

Designed by Toby Olié

2. Back legs and hind

Back legs

Hind

WarHorse

Make your own

Designed by Toby Olié

3. Front legs and body

Body

Front legs

WarHorse

Make your own

Designed by Toby Olié

4. Ears, mane and tail

Ears

Mane

Tail

WarHorse