This Horse is not Pine...pine is too soft.its definitely a hard wood.....this is probably Oak...judging by the colour of the wood at its broken ear...as for the depth of carving...this is not an issue...the relief is enough to make out the finer details of its mane face,eye,s, and anyway if the carving was too deep, then dainty little fingers of children might have got stuck,...No this is a really nice object...and over here in UK,there is a following...and at £135 approx, i,d pay that all day long....very nice I like it a lot...