Model project, #3

Time for primer! Ah that's much better. However now I could painfully see everywhere that this poor little horse needed to be sanded. I didn't do a great job adding the epoxy, so now I had to sand the edges to get it to blend in better.



Unfortunately I thought he looked too muleish with his new ears and profile, so I broke off the tip of one ear. Now I have to rebuild that. Oh well, I still have to add more epoxy to his rear to fill that hole.



Now I am back to a multi-layered horse again. But he's so much smoother!



*Update, in the process of trying to get his tail down to a more realistic 'tailbone' size, I lopped it off. So I built him a new one out of wire and added epoxy to it.

Model project, #2

Well as you can see in the last photos on post #1 with this model, the epoxy on the neck was a little rough. I posted some pics on a model horse messageboard asking for tips. I got some! The cocked hind leg needed to be further under the body. So I reheated and moved it under a tad more.





After making some more subtle changes and doing some sanding it got to the point where it was very hard for me to tell what on earth was going on with all those layers.

Riding is a GO

I have just been doing a horrible job at keeping up with this blog lately. The GOOD news is that YES I have been getting out for a ride once a week. It's not much, but it's something. My friend Ruth has been kind enough to trailer us out with her to Bennington Lake most weekends.

Yesterday was my first time riding Sinwaan around the property where he now resides. It was incredibly windy. He acted up a bit. Typical barn-sourness. We worked and worked and worked. Walking and trotting back and forth and all around. He started sweating on his shoulders and behind his ears. Since it was so windy I thought I had better put a cooler on him and walk him around until he was dry so he wouldn't cramp up or catch a chill. I took him to the other paddock and walked him around and then let him graze for about half an hour. He loved that.

Model project, #1

This doesn't really belong in Sinwaan's blog but I wasn't sure where else to put it. I am working on a model horse currently for a "Secret Santa" partner. It sounded like fun, so I signed up, and now here I am trying to do a portrait model. Yikes! I looked online for a week trying to find the right "body" horse to build on. I did not have any luck. I remembered that my mom had a model that might work so I stopped by tonight and bought it from her. This model was included in a "body box" of multiple models that needed to be repainted. Someone had even gone an extra step and added a new mane and 'feathers' to this one.

Well the mane was on the wrong side of the neck for my portrait model, so it had to come off. It's been awhile since I ran a dremel. Have to admit it was kind of fun.

The feathers had to come off too because they were positioned way too high on the rear legs. This model I am portraying does have some light feathers so I will have to add them back on with epoxy once I get it cleaned up. I also cut the tail away from the body while I was at it. I drilled out the ears and nostrils and even the mouth to some degree.

Then I heated the horse up with a heat gun so I could reposition parts of him. I wanted to bring the head & neck down a little to a more relaxed position. I also bent his back leg so it looked like he had that rear foot cocked and resting.

As you can see, the heat gun was not kind to him, it really changed his neck and now he does not look very realistic! I also moved his ears just a bit so they look a little more floppy, like a lazy gelding expression.

I added epoxy now and sculpted his neck. I was happy with it at the time, but looking at this photo and how the light/shadows are catching it, looks like I need to do some more work on the muscles to make it more realistic. I built up his head, making it more roman-nosed. I added feathers to all four feet and fixed the ear-tip that was missing. I had a wretched time with the tail and the mane, but I think the mane will be ok. The tail kept falling (gravity) as I had the model on it's side working on adding detail to the mane. By the time I got to it, the epoxy was hardening and would not stick together very well. So I am going to have to start over on that next time!

All in all it was a satisfying evening's work! I have a very limited amount of time to get this model done. Wish me luck!

Trail course and new digs

Sinwaan and I participated in the second Detour Ranch fun day hosted by the Blue Mountain Rider's ladies club. Even more work went into the trail course this year, it was really amazing!


After that Sinwaan was delivered to his new home and settled right in with no problems.

Will add more details later. :)

Catching up

Well I haven't been keeping up very well on here. I last rode on the 12th. Levi came out to the barn and rode Ginger the pony on the 13th and Sinwaan had a visit from the farrier on the 15th (long overdue). I had hoped and wished and dreamed of trailering out for a ride on the 19th but after Boston Terrier Meet-Up the weather was a bit windy and damp, and the trailer I would have borrowed did not make it back to town until 6 pm. (It is getting dark now about 7 pm)

The ride on the 12th was....interesting. We rode around again in the fields surrounding the barn. More so in the "scary" field near the snapping crackling power lines. We did a bit of side-passing. Sinwaan was trying to walk around sideways anyway so I thought it best to direct the energy and make him work a little on minding. He had a good spook when the horses in the pasture next to us took off running. Overall he was not very well behaved, as is typical lately. I can't wait to ride on a trail!

One of the other boarders told me about some lessons that are happening out there, I may try to join one if possible. They are on Sundays when Matt is busy filming so it may not work out, but it's something I would like to try and schedule in at some point this winter. I have never had a lesson on Sinwaan and feel it would benefit both of us (and it's something to do on one of those dreary winter days)

I am planning a ride with Ruth at the lake next weekend. She has a new (young) horse so we're hoping they get along so we can boogie. Even if it's a slow ride, at least it will be a change of scenery!! :)

Barn time

I think I forgot to blog the past couple times I have been out to the barn. Last weekend my brother was in town and I did not make it out. (But I did the weekend before) This affected my overall attitude for the day more than I realized it would have. Wow. So I made sure to get out there today as soon as the kids went down for their nap.

Had a chat with Cindy when I first got there, then pulled Sinwaan out and started grooming. He wasn't too bad but his feet were fairly packed. His frog really shed as I was picking out his feet. Saw a little black and white in one hoof (the one with the shed frog) but it didn't smell too bad and the other three hooves looked normal. So I tacked up and out we went. He stood nicely for me to mount up and walked fine to the field. Then the fun began, as it always does now.

I sometimes feel like I am on an Lipizzaner stallion, trotting in place although without all the hair and properly arched neck. Nay, Sinwaan has his head up in the air, dancing around like a moron, not watching where he's putting his feet. He stops, tries to eat and I don't allow it since he isn't behaving and we aren't on a trail ride training for endurance anyway! He could take a lesson or two from Ernie's horse Spot, who can eat on the fly without breaking stride. He walks sideways without me asking for a sidepass. Needless to say it is a test of my own horsemanship - will he buck for real today and will I stay on?

I think he is just full of beans. We used to go out on a straight road and after a short warm-up walk he could trot until he tired. Now I make him walk until he behaves and sometimes that takes a while. I think it is driving him a little nuts. He wants to GO for once in his life and I am telling him NO. At least for now. I too ache for the open road, a destination, instead of circles in a field.

He spooked pretty good at...what? I didn't see anything...not really like him. Maybe the mailbox? Or the sound of a water sprayer hitting a pole? He acted like the shadows of the leafy trees were going to get him. Who is this horse? I steadied him with my voice but twice had to give a quick pop for really acting up. Once we moved up to trotting he did better, finally a place to channel his enthusiasm. But he stumbled twice and then I thought he was a little off. Felt like the same hoof that shed the frog. Not knowing enough about the natural hoof I decided to call it safe and call it a day, not wanting to add to injury if that was indeed the case. By then he was doing reasonably well - it is important to me to end on a good note. All he really wants is to be done so he can EAT anyway.

He is due for a trim again, starting to chip a little. I have not felt that I am out enough to have him shod, although it would be nice to not have to worry about taking to the gravel roads and getting more miles for my time out there. I used his boots once this year, but they were fairly time consuming to get OFF, and I don't always have much extra time right now.

Ah well...at least I am back in the saddle, trying though it may be.