Traditional Origami Horse

The horse is one of those origami subjects that instantly reads as "a horse" the moment the legs splay out—no ambiguity, just a proud little creature standing on your desk. What makes this traditional version fun is that it leans on the bird base you may already know, then adds a clever scissor cut and a pair of reverse folds to carve out the legs and lift the head. It's a step up from the easy animals, but every move is a technique worth having in your repertoire. Pour a coffee, grab a 20 cm square, and let's build ourselves a paper steed.

This page is for anyone who wants to fold a traditional origami horse.

The origami horse is based on the bird base. One distinctive feature is that you will need to use scissors to cut along a guide line. You will also apply both the inside reverse-fold and the outside reverse-fold.

Before working on this model, you need to know what the valley-fold and mountain-fold are. If you know these two folding techniques, then you will have no problem making the origami horse.

If you are ready, then let’s get started.

You may use any kind of paper to fold the origami horse. It is a little easier if the front and back sides of the paper are slightly different in texture or color.

Make sure the paper you use is a square (all sides equal and all angles 90 degrees). The paper I am using here is a 20cm x 20cm square, a good size for those who are not experienced in paper folding. Once you are familiar with this model, you can try smaller paper.

This is the front side of the paper.