You can get the get water based polyurethanne in the same finishes as
regular oil based polyurethane. I use a lot of Benjamin Moore product
but don't recall if I used Ben Moore or Sherwin Williams coatings on
the rocking horse. I bought the polyurethane in pint cans to avoid
having a lot of leftover material. Consequently, I threw the small
quantitiy of polyurethane that I had remaining out. No doubt either
source will have the water based version available. BTW, unlike oil
based polyurethane, the water based product is somewhat milky looking
in the can but dries absolutely clear.