Welcome to Ponyhenge—a Massive, Mysterious, and Ever-Growing Graveyard for Rocking Horses in Massachusetts

Ponyhenge is significantly less ancient than the English rock monument from which its name derives. The roadside rocking horse graveyard in Lincoln, Massachusetts, only dates back 12 or so years. But like Stonehenge, its creation and purpose are shrouded in mystery.

According to Atlas Obscura, toy horses started appearing in the small New England town in 2010. First there was one: a toy horse discarded in a field on the side of Old Sudbury Road. Jimmy Pingeon and Elizabeth Graver, who own the pasture and live next door, told the Boston Globe in 2015 that the prop was leftover from a Headless Horseman display they had set up for Halloween. They thought a kid might find it and play it with, but they never imagined the horse would inspire a local landmark that lives on more than a decade later.

After the first equine seed was planted, other horse toys began showing up randomly in the area. Soon a herd of rocking horses, hobby horses, and horse models filled the clearing. Dozens of ponies litter the space at any given time. You can see what it looks like in the video below.

The crowd-sourced art installation is constantly changing. Sometimes the horses are arranged in a circle like their stone counterpart across the Atlantic, and sometimes they're lined up side by side as if preparing to race. The COVID-19 pandemic inspired someone to outfit the ponies with surgical masks, and the 2020 election attracted political signs with horse-related puns.

Though Ponyhenge sits on private property, visitors are welcome as long as they act respectfully. One couple even got married at the site in March 2020.

To get there, follow Route 117 west to Old Sudbury Road and drive down the street for about half a mile. The rocking horse graveyard will be on your left. (You can also plug the address 39 Old Sudbury Road, Lincoln, MA into your GPS for directions.) Even if you've been there before, the attraction is worth a repeat visit—you never know what Ponyhenge will look like on any given day.

[h/t Atlas Obscura]