What are the Names of Carousel Horses?

A little known fact about the carousel is that there are different names for different styles of carousel horses! Merry-go-round operators in the UK use these names when discussing the fairground ride with one-another, such as during maintenance, sales, business acquisitions, networking and more.

Carousel horses with three or all four of their feet touching the floor are called 'standing figures.' Horses their front feet in the air and their back feet on the floor are 'prancers'. Those with all their hooves in the air are 'jumpers', and these also move up and down.

Best of all, some carousel horses even have their own special names! For instance, below you can see Stevie the carousel horse.

Standing Figures

As you can see below, this Standing Figure has three of its feet on the ground.

Prancers

As the below carousel horse as two hooves in the air, it is called a Prancer.

Jumpers

This merry-go-round horse has all four feet in the air and is thus a jumper. It moves up and down on the pole.

Find out more fascinating facts about carousels in our FAQs!