I remember this episode very well, even though I was only seven years old when it aired, because of subsequent events (scarred for life!).
The reason for the horse growing and terrorizing the couple was fully explained in the story; in enough detail, at least, that a seven-year-old could understand it: The horse was originally one of a pair of toy horses. At some point, its mate was broken and thrown away, and the remaining horse got bigger and bigger, and terrorized people, because it was so upset that its mate was lost.
It wasn't that intelligent, however, so if you showed it its reflection in a mirror, it thought its mate had returned, and it calmed down and shrunk to its original size. The couple discovered this accidentally: the horse was chasing them through the house, and it stopped and began to shrink when they stepped in front of a large mirror. The horse had been kept in the mirrored box, so it would think that its mate was always with it and it would stay calm.
Wow, I'm actually tearing up a little as I'm writing this.
So, the subsequent event: Shortly after we had watched the program, my babysitter accidentally (I'm sure) knocked over and broke one of a set of two wooden horse sculptures that my parents kept on our coffee table. She pretended I(!) had broken it, and waved the other one around saying that it was coming after me because I broke its mate! I was completely terrified. I stayed awake until my parents got home and insisted that they repair the horse that night. They glued the head back on, and peace was restored.
The reason for the horse growing and terrorizing the couple was fully explained in the story; in enough detail, at least, that a seven-year-old could understand it: The horse was originally one of a pair of toy horses. At some point, its mate was broken and thrown away, and the remaining horse got bigger and bigger, and terrorized people, because it was so upset that its mate was lost.
It wasn't that intelligent, however, so if you showed it its reflection in a mirror, it thought its mate had returned, and it calmed down and shrunk to its original size. The couple discovered this accidentally: the horse was chasing them through the house, and it stopped and began to shrink when they stepped in front of a large mirror. The horse had been kept in the mirrored box, so it would think that its mate was always with it and it would stay calm.
Wow, I'm actually tearing up a little as I'm writing this.
So, the subsequent event: Shortly after we had watched the program, my babysitter accidentally (I'm sure) knocked over and broke one of a set of two wooden horse sculptures that my parents kept on our coffee table. She pretended I(!) had broken it, and waved the other one around saying that it was coming after me because I broke its mate! I was completely terrified. I stayed awake until my parents got home and insisted that they repair the horse that night. They glued the head back on, and peace was restored.