tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76020458309313626862024-03-13T02:55:22.363-06:00Wilsons' Wild OnesGunDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02965363044411500380noreply@blogger.comBlogger461125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7602045830931362686.post-29725662586319407852022-12-01T10:44:00.003-07:002022-12-01T10:44:49.406-07:00Bill's Memorial Service<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiOwYwm3dU50_bOo5dL1uw7Fd8KDAlXqhN68bqumOCP7sfg3GzS79CkZKneeQNBu1-WV67glsI6lAUfuKwFrUYJlS0c-UfkTY4QCqnmTO8yEg_4K9eLlRZGSggHymTXI_183ZmitZKxVwOPSuaXgvtWz6hmms66sb2Pu1cz4Wph7m3MMSyIt0Zhtz-/s640/IMGA0355.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiOwYwm3dU50_bOo5dL1uw7Fd8KDAlXqhN68bqumOCP7sfg3GzS79CkZKneeQNBu1-WV67glsI6lAUfuKwFrUYJlS0c-UfkTY4QCqnmTO8yEg_4K9eLlRZGSggHymTXI_183ZmitZKxVwOPSuaXgvtWz6hmms66sb2Pu1cz4Wph7m3MMSyIt0Zhtz-/w400-h300/IMGA0355.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taken at Bill and Juanita's 20th Anniversary trip to Yellowstone</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p>We are having an in-person memorial for Bill, but he touched so many people worldwide, we wanted to be able to Zoom it as well. The Allenspark Community Church has been kind enough to set it up for us.</p><p>Bill's service is scheduled for tomorrow, December 2 at 2:00 p.m. MST. If you'd like to join us virtually, the information is below.</p><blockquote style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" type="cite"><div dir="ltr" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; color: #500050; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #0433ff;">Topic: Bill Martin Memorial Service</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: #500050; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #0433ff;">Time: Dec 2, 2022 01:30 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: #500050; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #0433ff;"><br aria-hidden="true" /></span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: #500050; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #0433ff;">Join Zoom Meeting</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: #500050; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #0433ff;"><a data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0" href="https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88634081098?pwd=OVJhWVZSZVZRWk8wYklCOXR1dS9XUT09" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88634081098?pwd=OVJhWVZSZVZRWk8wYklCOXR1dS9XUT09</a></span></div><div style="border: 0px; 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color: #500050; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #0433ff;"> +1 646 558 8656 US (New York)</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: #500050; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #0433ff;">Meeting ID: 886 3408 1098</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: #500050; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #0433ff;">Passcode: 836848</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: #500050; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #0433ff;">Find your local number: <a data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="1" href="https://us02web.zoom.us/u/ktRN8sGVw" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">https://us02web.zoom.us/u/ktRN8sGVw</a></span></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote>GunDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02965363044411500380noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7602045830931362686.post-59929502379681983692021-05-08T08:00:00.082-06:002021-05-08T08:00:00.248-06:00Finishing Touches<p> This, for me, was the hardest part. </p><p>I worked so hard to make the armor *just so* and it was incredibly beautiful to look at. I was so proud of how it turned out.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtRYTPgGf4HLmWKj1YCIlE1I0YFhYAPDUr5-NNI92bd5O74We120GHqvqLGKm9LZchtpPTRhQoBTJuGjM35itXR8dpk2TmEHUKAQZFX1Z_mkEGU7C_smOWtxZCpVNxjMT5-6wBgynl6CM/s2048/2021-03-29+06.54.39.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtRYTPgGf4HLmWKj1YCIlE1I0YFhYAPDUr5-NNI92bd5O74We120GHqvqLGKm9LZchtpPTRhQoBTJuGjM35itXR8dpk2TmEHUKAQZFX1Z_mkEGU7C_smOWtxZCpVNxjMT5-6wBgynl6CM/w400-h300/2021-03-29+06.54.39.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>A big part of me wanted them to stay pristine and beautiful. But Skeeter is supposed to be my War Mare, so we needed to do some battle wearing. Jay is the expert here, after painting his Boba Fett rifle, so I acquiesced to his experience and let him lead the way.</p><p>It was actually pretty simple. He sprayed a thin coat of black paint on the armor, then I wiped it down with a paper towel soaked in 90% isopropyl alcohol. With his artistic eye, he could see which areas needed a light sanding as well.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdsE0p79kmrPHQpfGmdII-stefJ5l5i39EeuoUJByHaOWRXt5HkxYa93MTBQPQuDShjnisDzs_Zv8EgEjG5rufZi3ED0ZIHQFXYyemYwaYuPB1kHN4VTM4pGl_xawvkXZUmoqe7gUDOt4/s2048/2021-03-30+18.47.40.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdsE0p79kmrPHQpfGmdII-stefJ5l5i39EeuoUJByHaOWRXt5HkxYa93MTBQPQuDShjnisDzs_Zv8EgEjG5rufZi3ED0ZIHQFXYyemYwaYuPB1kHN4VTM4pGl_xawvkXZUmoqe7gUDOt4/w300-h400/2021-03-30+18.47.40.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2T6f8_m0cVANK_cpkAfskH12I3yZ0o8HqAqbIhiDCn_xGKfn_X6prfPjmHuHq3Jkd3VM5d6AamPzolezEQxqkMTF2OX0pnVfl3xDa-kDjnsMeBdBl6mBwdYHv2h0BYlh6BWzntznxmd0/s2048/2021-03-30+18.50.28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2T6f8_m0cVANK_cpkAfskH12I3yZ0o8HqAqbIhiDCn_xGKfn_X6prfPjmHuHq3Jkd3VM5d6AamPzolezEQxqkMTF2OX0pnVfl3xDa-kDjnsMeBdBl6mBwdYHv2h0BYlh6BWzntznxmd0/w300-h400/2021-03-30+18.50.28.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p>As much as I loved the pristine armor, this final step really added depth and made it look far more realistic. It's still a trip to pick up a piece of armor and have it weight mere ounces instead of what i looks like it should weigh.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_THQlBb_hMUJvobbnuXED7XEKT1uGwZdUMk1J_ui1PUNoT7vGftDsL6nlfwunQnSype_Vytn5TvdnCgK2iU0RCViLhns4MQ92xYrMemrtotqxVdFX3kswd2N4dnIwAtskmqTqfsMqnFk/s2048/2021-03-30+19.06.35.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_THQlBb_hMUJvobbnuXED7XEKT1uGwZdUMk1J_ui1PUNoT7vGftDsL6nlfwunQnSype_Vytn5TvdnCgK2iU0RCViLhns4MQ92xYrMemrtotqxVdFX3kswd2N4dnIwAtskmqTqfsMqnFk/w400-h300/2021-03-30+19.06.35.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>I met my deadline of completing the barding, but didn't get a chance to try it on Skeeter until a few days later, in the beginning of April.</p><p>There are some adjustments to be made. First, I didn't take into account that the breast collar would need to bend (yes, Mom, I did recall you saying that <i>after</i> I attached everything as it was laying flat), so the center piece's attachment points needed to be moved.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw2b2CLe16EvS5TG-Niml2LfUcveST8RUXbZURD1iMUBkJWGBvd0Cp7WFJZzAcCGOh_q7gOnPpm-vd1rjyLBvcsx5LAKRntcOhF3c37R-MDFYmVFitOpbtwHh3M20QIFhqW0QvhBgZ4GA/s2048/2021-04-01+18.05.34.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw2b2CLe16EvS5TG-Niml2LfUcveST8RUXbZURD1iMUBkJWGBvd0Cp7WFJZzAcCGOh_q7gOnPpm-vd1rjyLBvcsx5LAKRntcOhF3c37R-MDFYmVFitOpbtwHh3M20QIFhqW0QvhBgZ4GA/w300-h400/2021-04-01+18.05.34.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><p>Easy enough. I just took a marker and marked where I needed to move the velcro dots to and made the change that evening.</p><p>I did get it to kind of hold up for half a second for another picture, so we can see what it'll look like when correct.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgofsaOdBbHM4DUSIW1RWz70vVyeTF4Uli0B8eUn3WqH3noFlT767uWNTQvpnumyEWZP9BmxkK0UyyVpYN5vLLeRl8Pqyg-002dBg0F6zgJ9tg1sWPa8BZF7gOS_V1yUO9wH5EUee2IBgo/s2048/2021-04-01+18.05.44.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgofsaOdBbHM4DUSIW1RWz70vVyeTF4Uli0B8eUn3WqH3noFlT767uWNTQvpnumyEWZP9BmxkK0UyyVpYN5vLLeRl8Pqyg-002dBg0F6zgJ9tg1sWPa8BZF7gOS_V1yUO9wH5EUee2IBgo/w300-h400/2021-04-01+18.05.44.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p>I'm kind of lukewarm about the leg guards after putting them on her. Not sure if I like them or not. I'll still put the straps on and see whether or not I like them as the time comes closer.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpK0CinIxEvLIBRpZ21-lpDOa87XZZ3fDT0M8OfXLnEvuOgCjCh7EWbpPHedLfY1uN5_pocth2EVJU2prd4f-c_mP3dXYKtkuCxam1pwNc2hndZhx579M0JgvGpYceadYcLURH8JJj7vw/s2048/2021-04-01+18.08.21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpK0CinIxEvLIBRpZ21-lpDOa87XZZ3fDT0M8OfXLnEvuOgCjCh7EWbpPHedLfY1uN5_pocth2EVJU2prd4f-c_mP3dXYKtkuCxam1pwNc2hndZhx579M0JgvGpYceadYcLURH8JJj7vw/w400-h300/2021-04-01+18.08.21.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meh. I think I like the thought better than the execution.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The one item I was looking really forward to trying on was the chanfron, but the dots and the bridle weren't playing nicely together. The best I could eventually do was mark where I needed to glue the dots. I think the adhesive on the dots just didn't want to stick to the biothane and it kept popping off. I took the chanfron and the bridle into the house and used tacky glue to attach the dots. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten back out there to stick it back on her face. I decided against having the chanfron sit flush on her face, because she hates a sweaty face, which means I'll still have to rig a strap or two to attach the chanfron to the browband, but that should be fairly easy.</p><p>After we were done playing dress up, I let her inspect her barding. She was not impressed, though she wore it very well.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMHvVmNG6mywD0qe-ym7xPERnhGzL1lm2Ixv4QJOEV_MbeNNFXl4g7kNavKnECZakGY6b4DkVpY-dIgUPeDxEv5DEdAgpa63SJolIpecdT-kCzX7Cnx-4Yksiuqjfvv0x0ISqLBQTBmww/s2048/2021-04-01+18.10.46.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMHvVmNG6mywD0qe-ym7xPERnhGzL1lm2Ixv4QJOEV_MbeNNFXl4g7kNavKnECZakGY6b4DkVpY-dIgUPeDxEv5DEdAgpa63SJolIpecdT-kCzX7Cnx-4Yksiuqjfvv0x0ISqLBQTBmww/s320/2021-04-01+18.10.46.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Now it's time to get started on my armor, and that's far more intimidating. </p>GunDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02965363044411500380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7602045830931362686.post-51087968052737872612021-05-07T08:00:00.005-06:002021-05-07T08:00:00.249-06:00Leg guards<p>After I finished her chanfron, I decided I liked the pattern so well that I used the same type of layout for her leg guards. While Antiope's horse didn't have leg guards, I kinda felt like Skeeter needed them. I <i>really</i> felt like she needed them after I realized how much I loved her face guard.</p><p>Skeets has been a rock star with me doing weird things to her. As with everything else, I was kind of flying by the seat of my pants and trying stuff just to see if it would work. I'd intended to make a proper pattern for her leg guards by covering her lower legs with plastic wrap, then using painter's tape over it to draw the pattern on, then cut it off, take it inside and make the pattern from there.</p><p>My head was spinning trying to keep all of the steps in order and wondering if she'd stand nicely for all of that. In the middle of the night, it dawned on me that I could just try to use one of the pre-cut sheets of foam I had and wrap it around her leg. Much, much better idea. I took one of the sheets, wrapped it around her leg and decided it was going to be perfect. Or, perfect enough.</p><p>The next obstacle I had to overcome was how to shape them to her. The videos I've watched showed heating the foam, wrapping around the limb, and securing it to cool. I didn't want to wrap hot foam around Skeeter's leg, so I looked around the house until I found something I thought would work.</p><p>Turns out a spray can of Lysol was just about the right size. I heated up the foam and wrapped it around the Lysol until it cooled. My first attempt didn't go so well; I'm guessing that I didn't heat the foam enough. My second attempt was slightly better, but then the painter's tape didn't want to stick to the warm foam. Back to the drawing board. As I was looking around for something to wrap around the foam, I remembered I had a roll of vet wrap. Yay! Problem solved!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNle2BwWnryjIYQSVXb36jEKV6Md33gI3bXHsR9etHa2pthNjnyV0N-9JsmR2NS6TRBZMkUFJTI6LkrXM6_tLOHujGBD-2mrmQHK66WmVslSelXqk4eSG0zt_6763qzn_vfD0vVRstotM/s2048/2021-03-12+09.54.35.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNle2BwWnryjIYQSVXb36jEKV6Md33gI3bXHsR9etHa2pthNjnyV0N-9JsmR2NS6TRBZMkUFJTI6LkrXM6_tLOHujGBD-2mrmQHK66WmVslSelXqk4eSG0zt_6763qzn_vfD0vVRstotM/w300-h400/2021-03-12+09.54.35.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Because the foam I used was rather flimsy, I knew it wouldn't hold it's shape if I tried to glue on the leather if it hadn't been pre-formed. A quick stop on YouTube showed me I could boil the leather for a few minutes, then wrap it around the can to hold it's shape. Since the vet wrap finally worked on the base of the leg guards, I did the same for the leather as it dried. It worked beautifully!</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUhviZKK6H-pB49hTQ17GxGi_ATMlLFJNOE_ldMsug4iUTYFdZYe92SRMer-62WgRTXg5IGhDNQGpHAdLHsCMQJy43ymxocEUWD7qJt5ImwjGJxnWjA0_7niYBq-Ww4KunPporKnvd3l0/s2048/2021-03-13+11.22.36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUhviZKK6H-pB49hTQ17GxGi_ATMlLFJNOE_ldMsug4iUTYFdZYe92SRMer-62WgRTXg5IGhDNQGpHAdLHsCMQJy43ymxocEUWD7qJt5ImwjGJxnWjA0_7niYBq-Ww4KunPporKnvd3l0/w300-h400/2021-03-13+11.22.36.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p>While the leather dried, I patterned and cut the armor layers. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8qOZhGTp9qxVuALqXVAdCafo7Awx7Q21gfGvpyaqWvYotK2I7pviyXAq5E7kXS3-HAX34pBpTsiAoizuOzSzRvYLSg4ULlNki_bTPi6hDQurzhOL9FaCEQt77BhiAjjoNs_OXhsMYV6A/s2048/2021-03-14+16.30.13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8qOZhGTp9qxVuALqXVAdCafo7Awx7Q21gfGvpyaqWvYotK2I7pviyXAq5E7kXS3-HAX34pBpTsiAoizuOzSzRvYLSg4ULlNki_bTPi6hDQurzhOL9FaCEQt77BhiAjjoNs_OXhsMYV6A/w300-h400/2021-03-14+16.30.13.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKDi6MC-wGGntL-Z46z1e99lZjEp45tNeHu7N7K_kXnVY-tVOJFbVaQFaSBctFtt8D9Yi_SZh5YN9ZFVKro82J2AardQ2msgVzIl44qnB1PtpogA-NIH8C510uYTAnPZ0yIHjgSbYoNx4/s2048/2021-03-14+16.30.29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKDi6MC-wGGntL-Z46z1e99lZjEp45tNeHu7N7K_kXnVY-tVOJFbVaQFaSBctFtt8D9Yi_SZh5YN9ZFVKro82J2AardQ2msgVzIl44qnB1PtpogA-NIH8C510uYTAnPZ0yIHjgSbYoNx4/w300-h400/2021-03-14+16.30.29.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p>Once I was satisfied with them, I painted them. While the paint was drying, I glued the leather to the bases. Turns out that I didn't quite get my bases rolled square, so each one has one edge that higher than the other. Rather than messing with them again, I decided that I'd just use the higher side to determine which leg it would go on. The higher side would go on the outside of the leg for more protection. You might call it lazy to not start over, I call it, well, lazy.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizPSxvJvSJuWFh6hPw2fPu8kpsvmjDeAWpgAOLCZeViyBXaK2qy-fKdVJok450NdB_94ppjkoL4NRebXZBfIVV5JVZnfTGSx6Wk0cz2pDD69_ESacdOLSsmJM8lzOyPgRuYZZA-nYx5e0/s2048/2021-03-14+16.31.06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizPSxvJvSJuWFh6hPw2fPu8kpsvmjDeAWpgAOLCZeViyBXaK2qy-fKdVJok450NdB_94ppjkoL4NRebXZBfIVV5JVZnfTGSx6Wk0cz2pDD69_ESacdOLSsmJM8lzOyPgRuYZZA-nYx5e0/w300-h400/2021-03-14+16.31.06.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The lopsidedness is not visible in the picture, but it exists.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>With the layers painted and dried, I set about riveting them together. I thought it would make it easier to glue them onto the base as one unit.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhljlk4zmOCD9nklhEQHaXwntPCTDMXexjZwG94yuUKemEbULXUTMzpPnzZK4bq9KnJpS43T5u4hxGaY0QGKicuHKNnROeJQLmLuSHBe-n-p4L_AzpP55q4JYYETDgJZWIvDJ29hU6-obQ/s2048/2021-03-27+15.59.45.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhljlk4zmOCD9nklhEQHaXwntPCTDMXexjZwG94yuUKemEbULXUTMzpPnzZK4bq9KnJpS43T5u4hxGaY0QGKicuHKNnROeJQLmLuSHBe-n-p4L_AzpP55q4JYYETDgJZWIvDJ29hU6-obQ/s320/2021-03-27+15.59.45.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixj8wk-QdEV0bGjSDz7K4R4FkHoB4tJulbFOaY2pxlMQoORckSIivonmA4M_90JQf3ayOTCHAdNIBfBSXg992Zl3g5BPf2L4DS8QT7LG41s70J4_j0GFr-wDgUyxqPMWRWXmKDKLZ3EP4/s2048/2021-03-27+16.08.13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixj8wk-QdEV0bGjSDz7K4R4FkHoB4tJulbFOaY2pxlMQoORckSIivonmA4M_90JQf3ayOTCHAdNIBfBSXg992Zl3g5BPf2L4DS8QT7LG41s70J4_j0GFr-wDgUyxqPMWRWXmKDKLZ3EP4/w300-h400/2021-03-27+16.08.13.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh00ox8p_eMlJve0w4DCjxpWF13Syg6nxEO2Vdx2M7X9UR9aMVaIb4U8i-heV2Fao-65y3IgXUebaD9YgwtwgN7QrqGlfp3IaF1uR3VFe-UxZUh-_tgA9v2oIT5XQZz8AATIVT6cPWhyphenhyphenf4/s2048/2021-03-27+16.25.50.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh00ox8p_eMlJve0w4DCjxpWF13Syg6nxEO2Vdx2M7X9UR9aMVaIb4U8i-heV2Fao-65y3IgXUebaD9YgwtwgN7QrqGlfp3IaF1uR3VFe-UxZUh-_tgA9v2oIT5XQZz8AATIVT6cPWhyphenhyphenf4/w300-h400/2021-03-27+16.25.50.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p>It was a good thought to rivet them all together first. It was wrong, and I'm very thankful Jay was home to give me an extra set of hands, but it was a good thought. Sometimes I just have to learn the hard way. With minimal (for me) cussing, we were able to wrap the layers around the base. You know that vet wrap that came in so handy earlier? Yeah, that stuff? I stupidly threw it away after I glued the leather to the base. So back to the painter's tape we went.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh24zJrYO1nk4GNguUhhjVVenUpmMiyLd9BO5Zlt2ZzZZUdkLBRLc5n2efaB-cRAowEASl_9Fa03wwLEm_eOgP7c3uhA7OUBsVTPSG2Exnl55weFWd1hBhA01xH5EWlpg8q9fg7DqyJ80Y/s2048/2021-03-27+16.30.10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh24zJrYO1nk4GNguUhhjVVenUpmMiyLd9BO5Zlt2ZzZZUdkLBRLc5n2efaB-cRAowEASl_9Fa03wwLEm_eOgP7c3uhA7OUBsVTPSG2Exnl55weFWd1hBhA01xH5EWlpg8q9fg7DqyJ80Y/w300-h400/2021-03-27+16.30.10.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbwJT0s07pPk9HqnGt8BpveS-SxsjXgNigPqvAzVk8rSR-C2csIQ9f-fY4oQcqU2zUccqtRhzQr8eFkl9ihU_CN3TstXK37xLH6bwTzRBS2zn856m1JKHhRzlbzsF5KCaJu_oA3pgFNHA/s2048/2021-03-27+17.00.06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbwJT0s07pPk9HqnGt8BpveS-SxsjXgNigPqvAzVk8rSR-C2csIQ9f-fY4oQcqU2zUccqtRhzQr8eFkl9ihU_CN3TstXK37xLH6bwTzRBS2zn856m1JKHhRzlbzsF5KCaJu_oA3pgFNHA/w300-h400/2021-03-27+17.00.06.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p>This time, I didn't wrap them around the Lysol can, I just trusted the formed base and leather would help it hold it shape, which it did for the most part.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgljg_-gRAe9P1sBdZxPdjt_vF9iFxUHUtLCvpdYoSozRUK4E1LAlA9EbLFsyfJXgEFPjmadKu8XT506RgUFTP0fuGhy49i2Z1g2Ubc6EYS8Iy_tCE-jnEkvDI-b3bHZm20-jQbHoWDWG0/s2048/2021-03-28+09.50.36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgljg_-gRAe9P1sBdZxPdjt_vF9iFxUHUtLCvpdYoSozRUK4E1LAlA9EbLFsyfJXgEFPjmadKu8XT506RgUFTP0fuGhy49i2Z1g2Ubc6EYS8Iy_tCE-jnEkvDI-b3bHZm20-jQbHoWDWG0/w300-h400/2021-03-28+09.50.36.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><p>I think the lopsidedness is a bit more apparent here, but you have to look for it. I had to do some trimming with the craft knife on the sides, because I didn't cut the layers quite as long as I should have, but I was trying to use up left-over foam. Since what I had to trim off is on the back side, no one will notice and I don't want them to wrap completely around her lower leg anyway.</p><p>Next, now that all of the barding is made, we have to battle wear it. I'm not going to lie - I like the look of pristine armor, but that isn't the point, so I'm going to take a deep breath and have Jay help me with the next step.</p>GunDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02965363044411500380noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7602045830931362686.post-91511496788999381472021-05-06T13:21:00.001-06:002021-05-06T13:36:58.165-06:00Back to the Drawing Board<p>I love Skeeter's <a href="https://gundiva-talesfromthetrail.blogspot.com/2021/03/chanfron-completion.html">chanfron</a> so much that I decided I didn't like the breast collar I'd originally done. I wanted the breast collar to echo the chanfron, so I scrapped all of the work I'd done previously and started over.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7WtTzvcDaGDSJSxM7eUTtEdx3A0OhXXKVqOtroPkqCJKkuNN5Vu1rkcb_XIhV6o5e9OHwqF1C0mX5-B1j7lNc6yDwvvUO9_tTv29VZQKoMpTiIdqrdghtF0y4FsDWGDenWFq1XAk4TVE/s2048/2021-03-27+17.16.21.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7WtTzvcDaGDSJSxM7eUTtEdx3A0OhXXKVqOtroPkqCJKkuNN5Vu1rkcb_XIhV6o5e9OHwqF1C0mX5-B1j7lNc6yDwvvUO9_tTv29VZQKoMpTiIdqrdghtF0y4FsDWGDenWFq1XAk4TVE/w300-h400/2021-03-27+17.16.21.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I needed my inspirational pencil to get started.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>It took some measuring and math to decide what I needed to cut, but I finally got it figured.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiLcGQvKgxPruX7h5MJFjIOcdJqkFpsoipMB0auCRJTVRapS6LbRcSGuUpBuRjo_X-5PC4l-cqXeM7ER3t0P2Am75SWnxHvXLZ7TE1-d6fiBwl26dax5wB-CBt5-LP0r9D8jzktkM2ebs/s2048/2021-03-27+18.29.16.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiLcGQvKgxPruX7h5MJFjIOcdJqkFpsoipMB0auCRJTVRapS6LbRcSGuUpBuRjo_X-5PC4l-cqXeM7ER3t0P2Am75SWnxHvXLZ7TE1-d6fiBwl26dax5wB-CBt5-LP0r9D8jzktkM2ebs/w300-h400/2021-03-27+18.29.16.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p>It was incredibly tedious work, but I finally cut out enough pieces to form both sides of the breast collar and laid them out. I had a super helper by the name of Pongo, who decided he had to inspect my work.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQG89_3npmyc1QM9hsrV5vKwcYUq8-2WuXhoXF25OqnJL4xCSKsn1Gt7vnP5DtQHAn7I3h4LLVrpiep0htoQlavBEJmgtUic4_ZFYa48akBv-X3WTQ0xg4E2nTn6kiWUBM3-IDEOetAaE/s2048/2021-03-27+19.17.49.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQG89_3npmyc1QM9hsrV5vKwcYUq8-2WuXhoXF25OqnJL4xCSKsn1Gt7vnP5DtQHAn7I3h4LLVrpiep0htoQlavBEJmgtUic4_ZFYa48akBv-X3WTQ0xg4E2nTn6kiWUBM3-IDEOetAaE/w400-h300/2021-03-27+19.17.49.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEZP2ThJuCdd9-vGXTheZvOVAXF5txh4ZQztsaRcCFR4gyAxpCHa9pTAGRAvWCznsPVORt2kkmELKHFvBH3ksoI4HohA2VmMXevLlLuZ_QHpwEyE8Zvm6StY_l5wrUs4kq_n79LNe1H_w/s2048/2021-03-27+19.17.55.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEZP2ThJuCdd9-vGXTheZvOVAXF5txh4ZQztsaRcCFR4gyAxpCHa9pTAGRAvWCznsPVORt2kkmELKHFvBH3ksoI4HohA2VmMXevLlLuZ_QHpwEyE8Zvm6StY_l5wrUs4kq_n79LNe1H_w/w400-h300/2021-03-27+19.17.55.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwO8WtD-ohtG1NE1xi4v98iMoeDz5rRGa4d5dD9WEDFwYR3fTesx0VO__Z3Nc_3Fhpy7pvFdT2Jr41N0kBWZ6BSxK5xMwXimRWANxopUixvF8gQVbJJAEunk_Gf3I7AewjxVcbNk7uyOk/s2048/2021-03-27+19.18.02.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwO8WtD-ohtG1NE1xi4v98iMoeDz5rRGa4d5dD9WEDFwYR3fTesx0VO__Z3Nc_3Fhpy7pvFdT2Jr41N0kBWZ6BSxK5xMwXimRWANxopUixvF8gQVbJJAEunk_Gf3I7AewjxVcbNk7uyOk/w400-h300/2021-03-27+19.18.02.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Sometimes I'm a little slow to pick things up. I'd been fighting with light-weight foam pieces flying about when I was heat sealing <i>and</i> painting them. Finally, on my last bit of Skeets' costume, I realized I could just hold them down with painter's tape. Better late than never, I guess.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUzp1MPKM13aBrKt7D7c2k4ymu5jbzxhYAgdvVQ2MvHNghPI9EZMyV9VcsBoZpcytdL-BBGvLVzySrV_6Us58I1RWpaVk3JmIdxPgJf5NrRPxrMS1vQ2gi04nM5ef_hSc9CW3zWm8Vsz8/s2048/2021-03-28+16.15.06.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUzp1MPKM13aBrKt7D7c2k4ymu5jbzxhYAgdvVQ2MvHNghPI9EZMyV9VcsBoZpcytdL-BBGvLVzySrV_6Us58I1RWpaVk3JmIdxPgJf5NrRPxrMS1vQ2gi04nM5ef_hSc9CW3zWm8Vsz8/w400-h300/2021-03-28+16.15.06.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I put the painter's tape sticky-side up on the counter and pressed the foam onto it before hitting the pieces with the heat gun. Because the lightweight foam likes to curl up when it's hot, I weighed them down with some heavy books until they cooled, then they went to the painting box. Again, just a bit of painter's tape on the back side to hold them in place. I'm not a dumb person, but I am rather slow sometimes. I don't know why it didn't occur to me to just tape stuff down from the beginning. Sigh.</p><p>I also had discussed how I was going to attach the armor to the actual breast collar with the Bionic Cowgirl. My fear was that if I used the stockinette as originally planned, that it would twist as her shoulders rubbed it while moving. We decided to put the layers on a base that had been cut to fit the collar, then use velcro dots to attach them. Leather can be pretty forgiving, so once I'm done with this costume, I'll pull the dots off and condition the heck out of the leather beneath the dots.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0JnybG44izEDzW4LNmwFrjE_bm7-5TssAvYg3rUtd3rvMpi5x2279ZpK-MfQlQ-nxqn5lwypcDRsAskBDRIV7KPEajU4-B84dKg0AkoltCI-gjniWzjUijgTL5nvbNSmAYQJB3zWwGLw/s2048/2021-03-28+16.35.50.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0JnybG44izEDzW4LNmwFrjE_bm7-5TssAvYg3rUtd3rvMpi5x2279ZpK-MfQlQ-nxqn5lwypcDRsAskBDRIV7KPEajU4-B84dKg0AkoltCI-gjniWzjUijgTL5nvbNSmAYQJB3zWwGLw/w400-h300/2021-03-28+16.35.50.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipGDhf8S2E7Dj05EgugWNIhC7fjSph4nFnPMHwvWSM2_ZIyc-EIfEmdjsNWZR8GgqyBjBGNWEHdJ9Vx95nsjA2FkIx0vMIxR9wEpt8TSyhbZK07_jDNs-dHS-KjZWIjMEEtHQiMmJLyhM/s2048/2021-03-28+17.03.24.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipGDhf8S2E7Dj05EgugWNIhC7fjSph4nFnPMHwvWSM2_ZIyc-EIfEmdjsNWZR8GgqyBjBGNWEHdJ9Vx95nsjA2FkIx0vMIxR9wEpt8TSyhbZK07_jDNs-dHS-KjZWIjMEEtHQiMmJLyhM/w400-h300/2021-03-28+17.03.24.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>When I originally laid out the collar, you'll see that I had the middle piece that joined the two sides together underneath. I had Jay come look at it, and he suggested putting the middle piece on top, so that any irregularities would be hidden. I married a smart man. I also asked him to do a crest or something for the middle piece to dress it up. Basically, I handed over the design portion to him, and I just put it together.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIupBF7f2rtyewE51WEV2HTTHZvF9ffS03veLQyr2PL4FV0nrqbmLSVKgTHpNQi5ISd1AhqoiPg-Guno0Mx0ALR8r88OIsbVx25VPx3pegiJxg96mWw5cLABkU2D9ok2Sj1nQfGr_nsxc/s2048/2021-03-28+10.08.44.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIupBF7f2rtyewE51WEV2HTTHZvF9ffS03veLQyr2PL4FV0nrqbmLSVKgTHpNQi5ISd1AhqoiPg-Guno0Mx0ALR8r88OIsbVx25VPx3pegiJxg96mWw5cLABkU2D9ok2Sj1nQfGr_nsxc/w300-h400/2021-03-28+10.08.44.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSHCei2MnVm-o5otchYKe72EydOi-CDs2U8nPiWCOiAw7-iBNJvK1RoBhNh-1nzC78bXi8DQGqPsUgT9fvNZlW5_MSECbWMFUZlVUnmvExRmGWBmGDHMbfFJ7ZudJvGi4ROXTWb4A7hEg/s2048/2021-03-28+12.23.35.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSHCei2MnVm-o5otchYKe72EydOi-CDs2U8nPiWCOiAw7-iBNJvK1RoBhNh-1nzC78bXi8DQGqPsUgT9fvNZlW5_MSECbWMFUZlVUnmvExRmGWBmGDHMbfFJ7ZudJvGi4ROXTWb4A7hEg/w300-h400/2021-03-28+12.23.35.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7-qkQMpX6eGqPVS3xUentSxvCu-B9aN9nKebvQF_TY8hG72pi-foTVyWoWHk7yAYV6jkGhe6dR8RURIXjiCAIHF-kSmDPs7pmKRl5EerbFsLwmcCsktF-9rrsZ8feRRE_t3ORbbtxKn4/s2048/2021-03-28+16.22.42.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7-qkQMpX6eGqPVS3xUentSxvCu-B9aN9nKebvQF_TY8hG72pi-foTVyWoWHk7yAYV6jkGhe6dR8RURIXjiCAIHF-kSmDPs7pmKRl5EerbFsLwmcCsktF-9rrsZ8feRRE_t3ORbbtxKn4/w300-h400/2021-03-28+16.22.42.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj6ElvzvgE8MZVptinaNftACFtV4o01Bpebh3G7vfKdnnuWxbqqzl-NpZOvIm6q7jmMYz4ruv2wI5UUm6cSj96iyyKRdTVYdP4hoPN_r2gKU9557POl5gXJpnFo1vjTygU22KD_wC2Lno/s2048/2021-03-30+18.21.41.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj6ElvzvgE8MZVptinaNftACFtV4o01Bpebh3G7vfKdnnuWxbqqzl-NpZOvIm6q7jmMYz4ruv2wI5UUm6cSj96iyyKRdTVYdP4hoPN_r2gKU9557POl5gXJpnFo1vjTygU22KD_wC2Lno/w300-h400/2021-03-30+18.21.41.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrifMedF6B1zC2nzKal6Z7s5FWhPBNQr0qw-SMn6_j_qGIPOEk1tidrV1uKYWOdHP8xiRHluBlAuRo46AbkyWN3jhj7EZBa4o9NFIrPTu1o13piPZT2kkZTshkScJBO5LyEBWQufdAD8s/s2048/2021-03-30+18.26.32.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrifMedF6B1zC2nzKal6Z7s5FWhPBNQr0qw-SMn6_j_qGIPOEk1tidrV1uKYWOdHP8xiRHluBlAuRo46AbkyWN3jhj7EZBa4o9NFIrPTu1o13piPZT2kkZTshkScJBO5LyEBWQufdAD8s/w300-h400/2021-03-30+18.26.32.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p>With each piece of the puzzle done, all I had to do was glue the painted and riveted pieces to the base.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi338CevVpNwVNJtOBAB0zuNEMuso7oSJcJrnok_ZecTM9YIyDC2HuDWrU-4_z987Eprs1BD11qML5Qn1k02blimyq8xooc_S_lou__yNEJo89ipgB2g4uNLJbp-cyadvtqzfurgAVrNsA/s2048/2021-03-28+21.54.09.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi338CevVpNwVNJtOBAB0zuNEMuso7oSJcJrnok_ZecTM9YIyDC2HuDWrU-4_z987Eprs1BD11qML5Qn1k02blimyq8xooc_S_lou__yNEJo89ipgB2g4uNLJbp-cyadvtqzfurgAVrNsA/w400-h300/2021-03-28+21.54.09.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiibO6OsEVkM9iA80i4RqOY6sCcfifGJV1nbcTFGTb1YQNnY9x9zSRRLIjodW79ckoBngbUmmCoSr9sG-tK-tqVNdLXmJYDKTrWRVRUoo6wEYwf_I6Hnan-muiFNpFToc7tZ7teqnbWTXI/s2048/2021-03-29+06.52.58.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiibO6OsEVkM9iA80i4RqOY6sCcfifGJV1nbcTFGTb1YQNnY9x9zSRRLIjodW79ckoBngbUmmCoSr9sG-tK-tqVNdLXmJYDKTrWRVRUoo6wEYwf_I6Hnan-muiFNpFToc7tZ7teqnbWTXI/w400-h300/2021-03-29+06.52.58.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I couldn't wait for the finished product, and had to take a picture.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>When all was said and done, I used the velcro dots to attach the side pieces to the leather, and then a few more to attach the center piece to the side pieces.</p><p>I am so loving how well this is all coming together, and I hope I can do my own armor justice.</p>GunDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02965363044411500380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7602045830931362686.post-23716337577359560382021-03-13T12:07:00.000-07:002021-03-13T12:07:08.334-07:00Chanfron completion<p> (Alternatively, as complete as I'm willing to share until the photoshoot. Unless I change my mind.)</p><p>The black biothane bridle and reins I ordered from Chick's Saddlery arrived within a week and I couldn't wait to get it on Skeets. I considered borrowing or buying a new snaffle and scissor clips for the reins so I wouldn't have to swap back and forth. Then I decided to just make the swap; she can ride in her black costume set up between now and July.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8NVCehtn6RWRkHkvcwYvpUum9oHn2rGLX8UTt5a5QOAaN-BvLyTaUbLvM_LtNgTvmH1W4fFPRpONqiQ6wXtC2bFvNxMnVCOZG4nX-bUJmL8xFsz0AXurmDtKrAGEw1-v15qGtOkDlZQI/s2048/2021-03-03+17.37.11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8NVCehtn6RWRkHkvcwYvpUum9oHn2rGLX8UTt5a5QOAaN-BvLyTaUbLvM_LtNgTvmH1W4fFPRpONqiQ6wXtC2bFvNxMnVCOZG4nX-bUJmL8xFsz0AXurmDtKrAGEw1-v15qGtOkDlZQI/w300-h400/2021-03-03+17.37.11.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p>That mare of mine. She can be such a turd, but she can also be so patient. I'd adjusted the cheekpieces longer than I thought she'd need so that I wouldn't be yanking on her mouth if I'd made them too short. I slipped the bit in her mouth and pulled the crown over her ears while I held the bit steady. I realized then that I'd adjusted the cheek pieces <i>way, way</i> too long and when I slipped the crown up over her head I'd also slipped the brow band behind her ears.</p><p>Y'all, have you ever felt your horse roll their eyes at you?</p><p>It only took a few minutes to get her bridle adjusted properly and she stood like a champ the whole time. I'm not thrilled with the throat latch, but it could be because I have the headstall over her halter. Or, it could be that it's a stupid throat latch and I'll just have to deal with it.</p><p>I couldn't quite figure out how I was going to mold the chanfron to fit her face. I had a vague idea of making markings where it needed to bend and trying to remember how much it needed to bend. I was willing to give it a go. But then my brilliant husband just said, "why don't you use some of the wire we bought to form her wings?"</p><p>I'm glad I've got him to come up with simple solutions. I cut a couple of pieces of wire, taped it to the chanfron, and put the whole thing on Skeets' face to bend the wire to fit.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu1rMOhOQotJu0UU0_0lNNCFhOr5GQYwQqcL1O5vzY7IyZUe5TB7UwdoaSnftS3_LiWJ_6t_xqRRtRvLfW2-anIs6m18rhRFZZNWrHeRR3-F-4dGk4mkAnZvvYEHF4QYmXin0DUM7bzT0/s2048/2021-03-03+17.40.17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu1rMOhOQotJu0UU0_0lNNCFhOr5GQYwQqcL1O5vzY7IyZUe5TB7UwdoaSnftS3_LiWJ_6t_xqRRtRvLfW2-anIs6m18rhRFZZNWrHeRR3-F-4dGk4mkAnZvvYEHF4QYmXin0DUM7bzT0/w300-h400/2021-03-03+17.40.17.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGrZAEKmF42XhDmAJ3W639Vvr6MO6akila1rH0Tfk-XXkgkTIfqRXXKnYOAGlqNEZgaEghAfuO518nw90zWVUV02GoI-p0toEx0dwcGyINvjDmh1GDsvopEhhKdcO_7rTGrIjHfzrTHr4/s2048/2021-03-03+17.40.22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGrZAEKmF42XhDmAJ3W639Vvr6MO6akila1rH0Tfk-XXkgkTIfqRXXKnYOAGlqNEZgaEghAfuO518nw90zWVUV02GoI-p0toEx0dwcGyINvjDmh1GDsvopEhhKdcO_7rTGrIjHfzrTHr4/w300-h400/2021-03-03+17.40.22.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p>I didn't attach the chanfron to her bridle at all, just bent the wires until they held it on her face. She was a rock star. Just between us, I think she likes playing dress up.</p><p>Once I had it fitted to her, I took it in the house and hit it with the heat gun. Since I didn't want the nose portion to bend, I was careful to only heat the top part. </p><p>I'd used 2mm foam to cut out the layers of armor, taped those to the wire and base, and heated them up to form them as well. Having used the wire to mold the base made it easy to use it again to mold the layers.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpIh6XHAzlMsnaw1m0he2uNyHnUXWu0DcnqehcMtnzlcg8xqLp0WJoqmKe3Rj3Bm7zqjYnzbyVO8vK37Kx3sOPdFGwn4RYYBTx8xl9W0xTMCeIivic4rB-5TO05Sl-FvOXLnAa0QCvDAc/s2048/2021-03-05+08.18.33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpIh6XHAzlMsnaw1m0he2uNyHnUXWu0DcnqehcMtnzlcg8xqLp0WJoqmKe3Rj3Bm7zqjYnzbyVO8vK37Kx3sOPdFGwn4RYYBTx8xl9W0xTMCeIivic4rB-5TO05Sl-FvOXLnAa0QCvDAc/s320/2021-03-05+08.18.33.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p>You can see that not everything lines up correctly, but I have a craft knife that'll fix that right up. :) I swerved away from the original reference picture when it came to putting it together. I figured (I don't know for a fact, so this might just be GunDiva lore) that armor would be layered over leather because the metal would rub the horses raw. With that piece of GunDiva lore in my head, I decided to add a piece of leather instead of going full metal.</p><p>Hobby Lobby had a roll of crafting leather that I picked up for about $20. I cut it out, smeared it and the base with tacky glue and stuck it on.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Mt8dEyDYDE7cb1kU-0z1wc4swbPtZJBgiEc16YaVJiYvdc3AuSUdgzyPHeF_y_stqSsO-OPynFZxbSofduKyjM2S6CetwO_GVdv1SCxrh-anjIyWkhsyQZFR7WebqmYKq1S_8ctCCRs/s2048/2021-03-06+19.43.22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Mt8dEyDYDE7cb1kU-0z1wc4swbPtZJBgiEc16YaVJiYvdc3AuSUdgzyPHeF_y_stqSsO-OPynFZxbSofduKyjM2S6CetwO_GVdv1SCxrh-anjIyWkhsyQZFR7WebqmYKq1S_8ctCCRs/w300-h400/2021-03-06+19.43.22.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><p></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbTloDDljL2TeIwmC3HFEE1xDiTpfSTqA6J-Ijg2cvXrY9GhMaWy9aQxcjsWPeozGBhSSEBHCwgHMtUqsW5f8BsDhFcmPOr6HMMRWjjljIS-w066bWP7MtrFYn9KC2-C4SoYgoReuHmIg/s2048/2021-03-06+19.47.28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbTloDDljL2TeIwmC3HFEE1xDiTpfSTqA6J-Ijg2cvXrY9GhMaWy9aQxcjsWPeozGBhSSEBHCwgHMtUqsW5f8BsDhFcmPOr6HMMRWjjljIS-w066bWP7MtrFYn9KC2-C4SoYgoReuHmIg/w400-h300/2021-03-06+19.47.28.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My original template out of the white foam didn't have side pieces long enough to reach the cheek pieces of the bridle, so I extended my base and covered the side pieces with leather as well.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I played around with the idea of simulating rivets by indenting the foam and painting them on, then I remembered I own stuff to do rivets from my scrapbooking days, so I dug out my old punch and bought some more rivets from Hobby Lobby and went about linking the layered pieces together before gluing them to the base.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJuE3SnIF1dTCXeuP7-97Muq4LYQ4CAFJjcOQ8P24doqrozkO5MkNKgVTbyhkhh9nC2ocUPdtSwIbNGXrR2EORypvIDgC9cnHjfrDl6EE3aOCDQCvxBD8sHMXmmasJ99Uc_CC_By4VeuA/s2048/2021-03-06+19.55.24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJuE3SnIF1dTCXeuP7-97Muq4LYQ4CAFJjcOQ8P24doqrozkO5MkNKgVTbyhkhh9nC2ocUPdtSwIbNGXrR2EORypvIDgC9cnHjfrDl6EE3aOCDQCvxBD8sHMXmmasJ99Uc_CC_By4VeuA/w300-h400/2021-03-06+19.55.24.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT452FKMfcnAbFgGEWaOJdtdN6aG5L7Vg9DlMcrCUG0q310udl7cYwMez4yvdsBaDMPdD2Ex-Bay4T5w2CMH2Ov0J4cm54rdfoYkOZA9NsU4zG6z8tlO-tAU-U8bQzSwJTwCW2D0JgoxE/s2048/2021-03-06+20.08.11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT452FKMfcnAbFgGEWaOJdtdN6aG5L7Vg9DlMcrCUG0q310udl7cYwMez4yvdsBaDMPdD2Ex-Bay4T5w2CMH2Ov0J4cm54rdfoYkOZA9NsU4zG6z8tlO-tAU-U8bQzSwJTwCW2D0JgoxE/w300-h400/2021-03-06+20.08.11.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Even though I'd formed the 2mm foam to the base, as soon as I painted it, it flattened out. It turned out not to be a problem, as it is still flexible enough to bend around the base. When I move onto doing her leg guards, I won't bother molding the 2mm for those. I know I can just glue them on and they'll take on the shape of the base.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The (mostly) finished project makes me all sorts of giddy. When I started this project, I wasn't sure how I was going to do it, but I'm so excited about it now!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioOMCaV0uU5z_7ymgFdpeUOabouuHI4450Eky7wMXSXyoVFaBi0_w788RHt2mxqdBnPGHyPhnMy6N8TkMQIpJ2qACQ-xRrz5bV_zDXvnWtnp5-23E9-0ZUTmi59A5DWdrljq7iNXoJYwg/s2048/2021-03-06+20.54.06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioOMCaV0uU5z_7ymgFdpeUOabouuHI4450Eky7wMXSXyoVFaBi0_w788RHt2mxqdBnPGHyPhnMy6N8TkMQIpJ2qACQ-xRrz5bV_zDXvnWtnp5-23E9-0ZUTmi59A5DWdrljq7iNXoJYwg/w300-h400/2021-03-06+20.54.06.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looks heavy, doesn't it? It weighs in a 1.5 ounces!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There are a few finishing touches that need to be done: Jay is going to help me weather the armor to give it a battle worn look, and I'm going to add velcro dots to the bridle attachment points. The black bridle I purchased will be primarily her "costume" bridle, so I don't mind permanently attaching velcro dots to it. Having those dots will make it easier for us to switch back and forth between a Skeeter-sus and a War Horse.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My goal is to have all of her armor complete by the end of this month, and I can spend April working on her Skeeter-sus wings. May will be time for me to start my own costumes, which will take a while.</div><p></p>GunDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02965363044411500380noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7602045830931362686.post-72913071427932413182021-03-01T08:00:00.079-07:002021-03-01T08:00:06.592-07:00Chanfron, Part 2<p>I ordered a roll of packing foam to make Skeeter's Pegasus wings, but when it arrived, it wasn't quite right so I set it aside thinking I could use it for something else.</p><p>It sat in the mud room for a week or so, and I was getting itchy to work on Skeets' chanfron, but didn't have a piece of foam big enough. Then I remembered the roll I had set aside. Perfect!</p><p>I pulled it out, cut off a hunk, and then cut out the pattern. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBw8W0KF_Flo1t3YJDRN98Apz3CImryNPdMwp5i-pSXwQqSmbB1wO-mWN7t5q_I9-r7luib3-CUagH3KZXhAHtXwHXFmTAqG7kXylnZtV7xPyhIeDN_57hKlB24FPHOf2t4jj9HPkbnQU/s2048/2021-02-23+17.13.59.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBw8W0KF_Flo1t3YJDRN98Apz3CImryNPdMwp5i-pSXwQqSmbB1wO-mWN7t5q_I9-r7luib3-CUagH3KZXhAHtXwHXFmTAqG7kXylnZtV7xPyhIeDN_57hKlB24FPHOf2t4jj9HPkbnQU/w300-h400/2021-02-23+17.13.59.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><p>Because I'm impatient and I wanted to see if I came even remotely close to getting the pattern to fit her, I headed out to the pen on Monday (Feb 23) with the template tucked into my coat. Even though it was cold and windy, she was pretty happy to be pulled from the pen. She was less happy when I attempted to slip her bridle on. She allowed one ear, and then said nope to the other ear. That's a super rare thing for her, so I took the bridle off and gave her some scratches. When I put it on the second time, she was her normal self. I think she's a bit like me in that she doesn't like to immediately go to work. She wants a little 'settle in' time, which is fair. It was rude of me to pull her from the pen, then just stick the bit in her mouth without so much as a hello scratch.</p><p>I let her sniff the template and rubbed her face with it, then slipped it up her face into position. I tried to use painter's tape to attach it to her bridle, but with the wind her forelock kept getting stuck, so I just ran the painter's tape onto her forehead. Silly girl just let me do it, too.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4e7cyS4t75rQIVx_aDz0nvy4FXpPjcFhgf-RSooRTgmF8YydoHGPoJUxnYp_yqrNJn4xXp2bPezFuB9Ypu1LyyfO3Nh2kCpK21KXgmvJlBM-aog81ocin53wXwZTuHOV6DLfbs9mPN2g/s2048/2021-02-23+17.28.09.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4e7cyS4t75rQIVx_aDz0nvy4FXpPjcFhgf-RSooRTgmF8YydoHGPoJUxnYp_yqrNJn4xXp2bPezFuB9Ypu1LyyfO3Nh2kCpK21KXgmvJlBM-aog81ocin53wXwZTuHOV6DLfbs9mPN2g/w300-h400/2021-02-23+17.28.09.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWHOGOl7zy_fbAqf0wAPWOtosXO9I3RGLll7pLunzxeW5sGATHo0AEz7DCPen_oTavF8QqVw1LKcMffuY_G55dAv25aCinQkaEGk34KK7EmUuAGB9oDH6G4__6U8I7h8pLt57foZsdiw/s2048/2021-02-23+17.28.12.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWHOGOl7zy_fbAqf0wAPWOtosXO9I3RGLll7pLunzxeW5sGATHo0AEz7DCPen_oTavF8QqVw1LKcMffuY_G55dAv25aCinQkaEGk34KK7EmUuAGB9oDH6G4__6U8I7h8pLt57foZsdiw/w300-h400/2021-02-23+17.28.12.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><p>I was worried that it was going to come too low on her brow, but it looks like it's going to clear her eyes nicely. I needed to extend the side pieces another couple of inches so I can attach it to the cheek pieces of the bridle. Otherwise, though, I'm very excited about how close I got to a good fit just from using her bridle and reference pictures.</p><p>I decided, after looking at the pictures, that her current bridle is a bit to 'blingy' for her costume. At one point, she had a black bridle that Mom and Bill gave her, but <a href="https://gundiva-talesfromthetrail.blogspot.com/2019/02/guardian-angel.html">she broke it a couple of years ago</a>. After talking to Mom, I hopped online to see if I could find a cheap black headstall to use for her costume. Chick's Saddlery had a plain black synthetic headstall and reins for a very reasonable price, so I placed an order. </p><p>Yesterday, I made time to sit down and really work on her chanfron. There was a lot of brain twisting to wrap my head around how I was going to make the patterns for the layered pieces of armor, but it finally started coming together in my mind.</p><p>Even though I have the giant piece of foam that I made the template from, it's low-density foam and pretty floppy, so I glued two pieces of my 6mm high-density foam together to make a piece big enough for the base of her chanfron.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguVnpz3bw-FFowQ-AKotcZbdsqLAWOCUhiILPD8KRKQQBTol9QTSnn-jK_L71BRFTV8VxgILIRSGhikAhYhLvTK8JH7_KpOyBWFDE1-Qy7WZ6RvGfVf6b2r3nb5vUX9rhbcwq00uFMvr0/s2048/2021-02-28+16.03.13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguVnpz3bw-FFowQ-AKotcZbdsqLAWOCUhiILPD8KRKQQBTol9QTSnn-jK_L71BRFTV8VxgILIRSGhikAhYhLvTK8JH7_KpOyBWFDE1-Qy7WZ6RvGfVf6b2r3nb5vUX9rhbcwq00uFMvr0/w300-h400/2021-02-28+16.03.13.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p>I drew out each layered piece on a piece of folded-over paper and cut them out to see if what I was envisioning would work.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMIL3zvgfWRBd0kg_ztzmVRK7VeLjEBxSPr1lbhVxh0uyDyYOIkRqEJyMgtJ64sEbP4AEEGlGV84gkGt43MlMLsXjL_m4AL4GwDxOzHZVQP2Im7gLwekaBrF-8hooVxBQ0ygaARTMa4J8/s2048/2021-02-28+16.54.17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMIL3zvgfWRBd0kg_ztzmVRK7VeLjEBxSPr1lbhVxh0uyDyYOIkRqEJyMgtJ64sEbP4AEEGlGV84gkGt43MlMLsXjL_m4AL4GwDxOzHZVQP2Im7gLwekaBrF-8hooVxBQ0ygaARTMa4J8/w300-h400/2021-02-28+16.54.17.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><p>I extended the side pieces on the base and hope that they'll be long enough to reach the cheek pieces of the bridle. If not, I have materials to make a strap long enough to reach. I screwed up when I glued this, though, and didn't let the glue dry long enough before I stuck the pieces together and they ended up coming apart.</p><p>It actually worked out for the better because I realized that one side didn't quite match the other, so it gave me a chance to re-draw my outline and 'fix' the bad side. It also made it easier to cut out each side instead of working with one big piece of foam. When I went to re-glue the pieces together, I (not-so)patiently waited a full ten minutes of dry time before I stuck them together.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLv7E3R4O7rXUmKzIE6Qc27IQZ-TS4p5fPeorzU6INYZEM0Y-p4qvjPOeCWlwePxnTDmH2YODNV9BZw7DYVavUrx3tlR76E2aA8fBz8LlDW9T8D5K0q6CAICF3sGjglU-z_bCmx8opxgg/s2048/2021-02-28+17.48.47.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLv7E3R4O7rXUmKzIE6Qc27IQZ-TS4p5fPeorzU6INYZEM0Y-p4qvjPOeCWlwePxnTDmH2YODNV9BZw7DYVavUrx3tlR76E2aA8fBz8LlDW9T8D5K0q6CAICF3sGjglU-z_bCmx8opxgg/w300-h400/2021-02-28+17.48.47.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKKk9ZKDWmxNry2mXmQY9NIS6OIlVAEebqRTMNEJiy1aL_U55VpZcTOmt7CFXmjaCoep9n8-NpFy6AXTIMTxTJTw-LvpCDjQjTfiNK4fwdFKn7S6CZDWPITZxREI3Ck5n9LxRdewnyJLc/s2048/2021-02-28+18.26.02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKKk9ZKDWmxNry2mXmQY9NIS6OIlVAEebqRTMNEJiy1aL_U55VpZcTOmt7CFXmjaCoep9n8-NpFy6AXTIMTxTJTw-LvpCDjQjTfiNK4fwdFKn7S6CZDWPITZxREI3Ck5n9LxRdewnyJLc/w400-h300/2021-02-28+18.26.02.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>While the base piece's glue was curing, I laid out the pattern pieces on a 11"x14" piece of 2mm foam and got to cutting.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHBtojHF_sFF4YoQgdmN1uF9CuodMxa4TCamlVmTc_6NQ0ucE80rQ-qj9OEPRDuvjI1FO6_1l1Dg4cbChknPBX-wkdkm62v1uYVS6FX5wEjNUvHbtFUWm0BL0WapTlY6M9stW-lWLlSHg/s2048/2021-02-28+17.56.47.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHBtojHF_sFF4YoQgdmN1uF9CuodMxa4TCamlVmTc_6NQ0ucE80rQ-qj9OEPRDuvjI1FO6_1l1Dg4cbChknPBX-wkdkm62v1uYVS6FX5wEjNUvHbtFUWm0BL0WapTlY6M9stW-lWLlSHg/w300-h400/2021-02-28+17.56.47.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjks9lcMy-v1OA0xm5rQZX2m3TkLjYmkGZL4VO-F0C0xNE4_o8P-Exaw3x0hLR8qGa72qOcSW8weHkIxY23bULC69w0noruOzDcqHp5XVGMASZVbrdq_zX5pIXd4rBhNbK4mh7tGDpI70A/s2048/2021-02-28+18.06.47.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjks9lcMy-v1OA0xm5rQZX2m3TkLjYmkGZL4VO-F0C0xNE4_o8P-Exaw3x0hLR8qGa72qOcSW8weHkIxY23bULC69w0noruOzDcqHp5XVGMASZVbrdq_zX5pIXd4rBhNbK4mh7tGDpI70A/w400-h300/2021-02-28+18.06.47.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>I'm pleased with they way it's turning out so far. I'm kind of at a stand-still until her new bridle comes. I need to shape the base piece to her head, but can't do that until I have a bridle to attach it to. Once the base piece is shaped to her face, then I can move forward with priming and painting all the pieces and then I can assemble it. I'm incredibly excited to get this on her for a preview.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCtokehAHy85bQNICY4Cp75NyzLG5LjzgJhz9Yazd4KC3XzxJIOD0-Avg5G9S8bQXEC3kDSbwGj0Kn5wrb0xv7GIh11vYJy4GL2V_Urut6KDVX8ItVnuGcF253jNXRhSK8kdG-Q2FfI2g/s2048/2021-02-28+18.25.57.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCtokehAHy85bQNICY4Cp75NyzLG5LjzgJhz9Yazd4KC3XzxJIOD0-Avg5G9S8bQXEC3kDSbwGj0Kn5wrb0xv7GIh11vYJy4GL2V_Urut6KDVX8ItVnuGcF253jNXRhSK8kdG-Q2FfI2g/w400-h300/2021-02-28+18.25.57.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>There will still be some cutting and fine-tuning that needs to be done once it's assembled, but I think it's going to look awesome.</p>GunDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02965363044411500380noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7602045830931362686.post-1049607681031436802021-02-28T21:13:00.001-07:002021-02-28T21:19:42.307-07:00Breast Collar Update<p>Since I have no idea what I'm doing, I'm following instructions I find on YouTube from professional cosplayers. After I had all of the pieces cut out for the breast collar, I heat sealed them with a heat gun.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCOyzTBdFlJSUCMxOKhStYXpJQQv2pEpj6QEmkSFzu7XqCez3mh2F4sNtIbS0fX8WxzKxmTyqUIkcmIkzY3T1q6mTL3HgjkkZUzpjGujC6oi-Dq_n6RsIsEBNUa1oxWAikhTsU3SdQ9tg/s2048/2021-02-14+13.20.06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCOyzTBdFlJSUCMxOKhStYXpJQQv2pEpj6QEmkSFzu7XqCez3mh2F4sNtIbS0fX8WxzKxmTyqUIkcmIkzY3T1q6mTL3HgjkkZUzpjGujC6oi-Dq_n6RsIsEBNUa1oxWAikhTsU3SdQ9tg/w300-h400/2021-02-14+13.20.06.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p>If I remember correctly, heat sealing them closes the pores so the pieces will take the paint better. I then primed each piece with Mod Podge.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3MC48rtCcjFcdMebsEPZEXgrm201PWjIGAUZkpenPykB94K6MQBt5EEU7OLPhBrrdx-fhf8URa-M9_Tr5mt-v7SQyS-yQHXTjwxHZCaN4jtLdgqBHC85ls9BFvHex5Xvc0M2hRie2HrU/s2048/2021-02-14+13.24.12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3MC48rtCcjFcdMebsEPZEXgrm201PWjIGAUZkpenPykB94K6MQBt5EEU7OLPhBrrdx-fhf8URa-M9_Tr5mt-v7SQyS-yQHXTjwxHZCaN4jtLdgqBHC85ls9BFvHex5Xvc0M2hRie2HrU/w400-h300/2021-02-14+13.24.12.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0aZjaxbgNIQCCY3jWAa78i2yCuNJ_om5SsTDzAfpshyphenhyphencJVV1N1JlUPN7acWWpdz9WTSdMCNfSUQC57kS8jkN2eTf3hwc9mQ4he8BnrUQJeYuqZKMB53f9_cS8Ld2w1jfHq6w-Vl2hV-A/s2048/2021-02-14+13.27.30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0aZjaxbgNIQCCY3jWAa78i2yCuNJ_om5SsTDzAfpshyphenhyphencJVV1N1JlUPN7acWWpdz9WTSdMCNfSUQC57kS8jkN2eTf3hwc9mQ4he8BnrUQJeYuqZKMB53f9_cS8Ld2w1jfHq6w-Vl2hV-A/w400-h300/2021-02-14+13.27.30.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Unfortunately, I was a little too heavy-handed with the primer and you can see the brush strokes through the paint. I doubt any of our pictures will be focused only on her armor, so no one will notice. (I hope.)</p><p>Once the Mod Podge dried, it was time to paint. I'll admit I'm not very good with spray painting, but I eventually got into a rhythm and got the job done.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvx56wDxhaHIDLGA0Rvlw038puS5nPq-e1uwfGA829NBH1FYprLQfY4iiXn-RQK0vl1gbGNauRzbH0bznXXsRC0FBc9nNR58_hih1SFLPxczKmxyQ_U4Z4l9tAOzUsfTQEOStcl44k9ao/s2048/2021-02-14+14.46.35-1-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvx56wDxhaHIDLGA0Rvlw038puS5nPq-e1uwfGA829NBH1FYprLQfY4iiXn-RQK0vl1gbGNauRzbH0bznXXsRC0FBc9nNR58_hih1SFLPxczKmxyQ_U4Z4l9tAOzUsfTQEOStcl44k9ao/w400-h225/2021-02-14+14.46.35-1-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhuFH8oFCYCvxy2aLaC20vzkuwKKJHSQWIpZtNa6iwZVXcFB7CJMbpruTe54ZbeGHZ0F2I6p6VxvDGnrP6pxIUcE_0etAHzjBxKBj7kFToCditWXaiy4XajZd-LkLUlQ80jzEpcxrsEuE/s2048/2021-02-14+17.05.24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhuFH8oFCYCvxy2aLaC20vzkuwKKJHSQWIpZtNa6iwZVXcFB7CJMbpruTe54ZbeGHZ0F2I6p6VxvDGnrP6pxIUcE_0etAHzjBxKBj7kFToCditWXaiy4XajZd-LkLUlQ80jzEpcxrsEuE/w400-h300/2021-02-14+17.05.24.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>They're not ready to attach to the breast collar, but I had to lay them out to see what it would look like. I need to age them a bit with black to make the pieces look battle worn. Jay will definitely have to help me with that, as he perfected the technique while painting his Boba Fett rifle.</p><p>I'd ordered some stockinette to attach the pieces to, thinking I could then just slide the stockinette over each 'arm' of the breast collar, but the size I ordered was far too big. I donated that stockinette to ARC rather than deal with returning it, and ordered a smaller size. The stockinette will stretch and probably want to twist, so I think I'll stitch a strip of cloth to it that I'll then attach the pieces to. My hope is that it'll help keep the stockinette from twisting around.</p><p>I'm excited to finish this part of her armor so I can put it on and see what it looks like from a distance.</p>GunDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02965363044411500380noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7602045830931362686.post-18287135713861779232021-02-13T08:00:00.034-07:002021-02-13T08:00:05.997-07:00Chanfron<p>I'm learning so much! I had no idea that the face guard in horse armor is called a <i>chanfron</i>. Or that horse armor is actually called <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barding#:~:text=The%20chanfron%20(also%20spelled%20chaffron,to%20protect%20the%20horse's%20face.">barding</a></i> for that matter. Hmm, all wanted to do was make Skeets into a War Horse (or <i>courser,</i> if you prefer).</p><p>Real cosplayers probably already knew that, but I didn't. Learning new stuff is never a bad thing.</p><p>When I braved the -2*F to grab her breast collar off her saddle, I also grabbed Skeeter's bridle. It's far too cold outside to be messing around with trying to make a pattern on a real horse, but I thought I could maybe get a mock-up done. </p><p>This was a lot harder to wrap my head around than doing the pieces for the breast collar. But, once I thought about it, I realized that the bridle fits Skeeter, and if I just use the bridle and some reference pictures of her, along with the cosplay reference pictures I could probably figure it out.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_0r2ZqQGYd-GyPfKWthcGbTYaeVzrQIHM2xI83HrU7rO4VRBqHktE3-scOdNeANn6Q-dC_j20rZs20w2A4YHdmp2Ynt7MOLoCCLoDpQTacAsi47e7UioW95WvsMjBMuV8lV1Xv6P9_To/s1416/Screenshot_20210210-213105_Google+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1416" data-original-width="1060" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_0r2ZqQGYd-GyPfKWthcGbTYaeVzrQIHM2xI83HrU7rO4VRBqHktE3-scOdNeANn6Q-dC_j20rZs20w2A4YHdmp2Ynt7MOLoCCLoDpQTacAsi47e7UioW95WvsMjBMuV8lV1Xv6P9_To/s320/Screenshot_20210210-213105_Google+%25282%2529.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZd2tFP7YAil1DdC_m61wQpSNrLJfRGyOvk0-UPWFB1N4wfg2RY05tWiLCLV-idpvHurkY7mL8Jak-4Jr4c_gp09AF2Cq0AZUG0Rqj2fEIEbS1W72frKtnM4fwazaqBWOutG9dHccTuMc/s2048/2021-01-03+13.59.35.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1152" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZd2tFP7YAil1DdC_m61wQpSNrLJfRGyOvk0-UPWFB1N4wfg2RY05tWiLCLV-idpvHurkY7mL8Jak-4Jr4c_gp09AF2Cq0AZUG0Rqj2fEIEbS1W72frKtnM4fwazaqBWOutG9dHccTuMc/w225-h400/2021-01-03+13.59.35.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><br /><p>Since I didn't have paper big enough to go from cheek piece to cheek piece, I decided to sketch out only half and then make a mirror image.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEn1ATFZB53YWjdHTTupNQIxSc6BdUWm7iPZflI6rrHP8UkE6ZMIsqCWe4-VnZjk_JwA6krlzbWQH6QLjpr3tgA91iMor2f6KR4yGoyBcsgrfp8v0j9B0Gu1TQSf__qqmDv2eaTQmwOdI/s2048/2021-02-12+13.37.10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEn1ATFZB53YWjdHTTupNQIxSc6BdUWm7iPZflI6rrHP8UkE6ZMIsqCWe4-VnZjk_JwA6krlzbWQH6QLjpr3tgA91iMor2f6KR4yGoyBcsgrfp8v0j9B0Gu1TQSf__qqmDv2eaTQmwOdI/w300-h400/2021-02-12+13.37.10.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sketch kind of looks Iron Man-ish to me at this stage.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>I followed the reference picture as well as I could, I'll have to make some modifications to the chanfron as we go to account for the fact that the bridle has a brow band (and the fact that I am not taking any actual horse measurements).</p><p>I cut it out, made a mirror image, and taped it to the bridle to get an idea of what it would look like.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAuWK_iAvp8_v8h2v4fc7Yc351wHAHLGeBYEMiy5THlRabALOiwfSCBxWUeH88bb-wfTFus7wgdduj2WeCg2-ODgMWNmgOUu8hOMPewPS3f88sSbkHKFfdrrOnO1AbesCtoqFEfZrCsjI/s2048/2021-02-12+13.41.07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAuWK_iAvp8_v8h2v4fc7Yc351wHAHLGeBYEMiy5THlRabALOiwfSCBxWUeH88bb-wfTFus7wgdduj2WeCg2-ODgMWNmgOUu8hOMPewPS3f88sSbkHKFfdrrOnO1AbesCtoqFEfZrCsjI/w300-h400/2021-02-12+13.41.07.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cut out, it vaguely resembles the Punisher</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9d19BFbiIMhTX69VlOG-UaM6XVPQXl30-qMu8zuOVeCRvQtLpR7LYEu0cmxKUhqSUuxIZqcLIz3GWnMl125TzofwjCvepAJsw2lHJNuK_ntInXeRSF7QthYixr7_xTytg_oMVdg-Byrc/s2048/2021-02-12+13.47.57.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9d19BFbiIMhTX69VlOG-UaM6XVPQXl30-qMu8zuOVeCRvQtLpR7LYEu0cmxKUhqSUuxIZqcLIz3GWnMl125TzofwjCvepAJsw2lHJNuK_ntInXeRSF7QthYixr7_xTytg_oMVdg-Byrc/w300-h400/2021-02-12+13.47.57.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEyXLVYlfAXKBGHa0Vne-cKou6ykHHeFjCb41YqIgRtew-7V3J_KqycebJEvAr3vuARGte9HsJqU7O6_jKG2EpUO7LGt1g3rwoAlf5TtzJXU6jXTJ51kWpcnKgbxNfh9SM-7pLF67DRIc/s2048/2021-02-12+13.53.25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEyXLVYlfAXKBGHa0Vne-cKou6ykHHeFjCb41YqIgRtew-7V3J_KqycebJEvAr3vuARGte9HsJqU7O6_jKG2EpUO7LGt1g3rwoAlf5TtzJXU6jXTJ51kWpcnKgbxNfh9SM-7pLF67DRIc/w300-h400/2021-02-12+13.53.25.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oh no, this isn't terrifying. At all.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>That's as far as I can get on this project until it's warm enough for me to want to stand outside and mess with Skeets. I also need to buy some thinner foam - the 6mm is far too thick. I'll need probably 4mm or less for the base, as this will have layers of armor.</p><p>I'm so stupid excited to get this done!</p>GunDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02965363044411500380noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7602045830931362686.post-18160859388744764732021-02-12T16:22:00.003-07:002021-02-12T16:23:31.031-07:00So It Begins ... Breast Collar Armor<p>It's cold outside. -2*F. I'm anxious to get started on my cosplay project, but it's too dang cold to go outside and measure Skeeter.</p><p>But, like I said, I was anxious to get started on my project and decided that I could start on the breast collar armor. Her tack is already fitted to her, so all I needed was the breast collar off her saddle to start getting measurements and working on the pattern. </p><p>My plan was to just grab the two bits of tack I needed and then get started on the pattern. Except, it's been a long time since I've cleaned the tack and there was no sense taking measurements and making a pattern for the tack if the tack's dirty right?</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixsnktMA3JnfEjNHMYn7eJz9Eh_4wgTlUMDar2dYAYKLkM9Vds5njE9Er02CT1MQklIio6ZV3duf39MbZy1l7mSr8-s7RP8XC1MGwXsVSa77_OxQGvPPG_h5SF4bne_IMAGh8cT34VGuA/s2048/2021-02-12+11.17.34.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixsnktMA3JnfEjNHMYn7eJz9Eh_4wgTlUMDar2dYAYKLkM9Vds5njE9Er02CT1MQklIio6ZV3duf39MbZy1l7mSr8-s7RP8XC1MGwXsVSa77_OxQGvPPG_h5SF4bne_IMAGh8cT34VGuA/s320/2021-02-12+11.17.34.jpg" /></a></div><p>I felt like this happens with every project around the house. In order to even get to a starting point, you have to do another project first.</p><p>Once I was done cleaning the breast collar, then I felt better about getting started on attempting a pattern. I know absolutely zero about making cosplay patterns, but I watched a <a href="https://youtu.be/F48rk7h-GDo">YouTube video of Adam Savage making foam Ringwraith Gauntlets</a>, so I'm basically an expert. What struck me about making the gauntlets is that some of the pieces were so small and tedious to cut out, so I wanted to get the tedious part out of the way today.</p><p>I stole some of Jay's sketch paper, blew up the reference pictures I had, and went to town. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZvxJ9eR5E5nKG9swMvRTyPjKuJbU4ZFaNHtpHtsP4LLujd2NzwcC995Fj-m7OPMDtQFkmn8icLuFEXxV73LakOAPwfPG4tKJxGLf3uASkFg065rJi7tGS_WuXltAOkEXNqT_XqHraVpU/s341/20201113_203820+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="262" data-original-width="341" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZvxJ9eR5E5nKG9swMvRTyPjKuJbU4ZFaNHtpHtsP4LLujd2NzwcC995Fj-m7OPMDtQFkmn8icLuFEXxV73LakOAPwfPG4tKJxGLf3uASkFg065rJi7tGS_WuXltAOkEXNqT_XqHraVpU/s320/20201113_203820+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj33VPorCb1bLP4wkQW9Y-Dfxy_dgyZJDTqL7ct_dRk3p8smFeFBkdRyDEyvdu9CAoexpCYMh9CghJ7xLEvQFA9VGTl2jkO3sYI1SH-xP5-pOhhAkjLBzNr_ZoTCRXZwwYzNVMJYDcTtek/s377/Screenshot_20210210-212823_Google+%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="335" data-original-width="377" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj33VPorCb1bLP4wkQW9Y-Dfxy_dgyZJDTqL7ct_dRk3p8smFeFBkdRyDEyvdu9CAoexpCYMh9CghJ7xLEvQFA9VGTl2jkO3sYI1SH-xP5-pOhhAkjLBzNr_ZoTCRXZwwYzNVMJYDcTtek/s320/Screenshot_20210210-212823_Google+%25283%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>In my mind, I'd made out the breast collar to be a much more complicated pattern than it turned out to be. I was worried, but then when I calmed down and actually *looked* at it, it's really just a leaf shape over and over again, except for where it comes together and even that's not too bad.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcgoqntvSTuyeRVdZplyNLeEInVPKuubzQ_2OGBiA8P1luh57kF3xnaQ3d4ItP7bQ3kdGRakK-QWyS-zaMgh2p_NRMerHMPF7FnJvaLNHrOZPjYHt_3S88AjRyKm4Z2HN5iN6nKwg7ROI/s2048/2021-02-12+12.00.43.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcgoqntvSTuyeRVdZplyNLeEInVPKuubzQ_2OGBiA8P1luh57kF3xnaQ3d4ItP7bQ3kdGRakK-QWyS-zaMgh2p_NRMerHMPF7FnJvaLNHrOZPjYHt_3S88AjRyKm4Z2HN5iN6nKwg7ROI/s320/2021-02-12+12.00.43.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>I made a quick sketch, cut out a couple of paper pieces and laid it out. Not bad. I could see what I needed to do, so I broke out the foam. I probably should have gotten 4mm foam, but bought 6mm instead. It's a bit thick, but I think it'll be okay for the breast collar and the leg guards.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglp2VV37_WzjbEB2vR9uSQFT6DJMCGh5Fc0c2vy9sao0tMLVduT-QdZG0GTGOoZdZMcyHqsC5XFYMi4r0QS-Ef3BCrB9fjBJKZJ1sHl1A2DzQWDDIJEtorsZ3-Y8UPMrg66yGbg2O_ITI/s2048/2021-02-12+12.19.34.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglp2VV37_WzjbEB2vR9uSQFT6DJMCGh5Fc0c2vy9sao0tMLVduT-QdZG0GTGOoZdZMcyHqsC5XFYMi4r0QS-Ef3BCrB9fjBJKZJ1sHl1A2DzQWDDIJEtorsZ3-Y8UPMrg66yGbg2O_ITI/s320/2021-02-12+12.19.34.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkCUvlQFJwfTcHIfZnttw2mSwHAJgNnCkZ9KhReSe-dbZ11npHnVc4Yyy5PyHBJyJJR_YxI70ylej1krMCr8UWnmTc16vD5Os99_yP6Jc5WCBPJFaHY9uEvqOQOWeg2VIwiQ7T1n1N04A/s2048/2021-02-12+12.32.37.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkCUvlQFJwfTcHIfZnttw2mSwHAJgNnCkZ9KhReSe-dbZ11npHnVc4Yyy5PyHBJyJJR_YxI70ylej1krMCr8UWnmTc16vD5Os99_yP6Jc5WCBPJFaHY9uEvqOQOWeg2VIwiQ7T1n1N04A/s320/2021-02-12+12.32.37.jpg" /></a></div><p>I bought a beginner kit off Amazon with sheets of 6mm EVA foam, a cheap knock-off exacto knife, and a cutting mat, plus a handful of other crap I'll probably not use. It took a few practice cuts with the craft knife for me to get the amount of pressure right to cut smoothly. After about six or seven pieces, though, that craft knife got pretty dull and didn't want to cut. I didn't have high grit sandpaper to sharpen the blade with, so I went looking for something I could use.</p><p>I remembered that in my scrapbooking kit, I had a disposable scalpel that I used for paper crafts, so I pulled that out.</p><p>What a difference! That disposable scalpel cut through the foam like butter, and the difference in the edges of the cuts are like night and day.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirvtFc7WuMy2V_Ec0_x-aOehjk9hTd_BVh7ft1n5ZcOdjtjeC49g7KbInMwBj7MjS9GGB5WPGhmE2GM6d0-HQoQ4nDtiCmhTIn5Dn_xaZoTkbMsIlaDhmEvVtTdI8OdbbvTMaUlQorwMg/s2048/2021-02-12+12.51.17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirvtFc7WuMy2V_Ec0_x-aOehjk9hTd_BVh7ft1n5ZcOdjtjeC49g7KbInMwBj7MjS9GGB5WPGhmE2GM6d0-HQoQ4nDtiCmhTIn5Dn_xaZoTkbMsIlaDhmEvVtTdI8OdbbvTMaUlQorwMg/s320/2021-02-12+12.51.17.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crappy exacto knock-off on the left; disposable scalpel on the right</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB9H-_Og4lAgTVnG-8BCsRkKjLQF9Ef7yJ2gW3N812FpJcy3kTFyktsOqTb5Zo7pXwxDBt63W0Z_Qu37TXe1B_xQlWtIxtjufNk6OfXQfjlHVT2OenSO3dKFr6KKuGLjFsJKorEGFGUUQ/s2048/2021-02-12+13.06.56.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB9H-_Og4lAgTVnG-8BCsRkKjLQF9Ef7yJ2gW3N812FpJcy3kTFyktsOqTb5Zo7pXwxDBt63W0Z_Qu37TXe1B_xQlWtIxtjufNk6OfXQfjlHVT2OenSO3dKFr6KKuGLjFsJKorEGFGUUQ/s320/2021-02-12+13.06.56.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crappy exacto knock-off cuts on the bottom; pretty disposable scalpel cuts on top</td></tr></tbody></table><p>After cutting out the first piece with the disposable scalpel, I set it down, picked up my phone and ordered a whole pack of #11 blade disposable scalpels from Amazon. The crappy craft knife went into the sharps container - I have no room for it in my life.</p><p>It didn't take as long, nor feel as tedious, as I thought it would to get everything cut out. Part of that is because the "scales" of the armor are horse-sized, not human finger-sized, so it went a lot more smoothly. In no time, I had all of my pieces cut and ready to lay out.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtGuB6M9e4J9yR2dRrwrAXcCg8KjRj2sZS-v9f1VH08LjAy2-s4c9Htd8EONAAs_y0knvmC5llgzRLI4FnKoTIRqp8G8jr-M7Zhrthn2OVHuMnqdHe-aY9Eqw1yUcetbHWirU7QFb_wG4/s2048/2021-02-12+13.06.26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtGuB6M9e4J9yR2dRrwrAXcCg8KjRj2sZS-v9f1VH08LjAy2-s4c9Htd8EONAAs_y0knvmC5llgzRLI4FnKoTIRqp8G8jr-M7Zhrthn2OVHuMnqdHe-aY9Eqw1yUcetbHWirU7QFb_wG4/s320/2021-02-12+13.06.26.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It kinda looks like the Chicago Bulls logo (for now).</td></tr></tbody></table><p>I didn't pull up my reference picture when I laid this out, so there are some adjustments that will need to be made before it's assembled, but I've gotten as far as I can with the breast collar today. Tomorrow, when we're in town, I'll pick up a heat gun, primer, spray paint, and sealant. </p>GunDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02965363044411500380noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7602045830931362686.post-19480688129687615632021-02-11T11:55:00.009-07:002021-02-11T12:10:05.357-07:00Skeeter's Gonna *Love* This!<p>My 50th birthday is coming up this year, and I've been trying to figure out what I want to do to commemorate it. I played around with a couple of ideas, but one of my Posse-mates did a horse photoshoot for hers and I fell in love with the idea. She and her horse were warriors and the pictures were so beautiful, I had to steal the idea.</p><p>I've been playing around with the idea of horse cosplay for a few years. Every now and then, I threaten to attempt something, but was kind of half-hearted about it. However, once I saw my friend's photos, I knew I had to do it.</p><p>I, like so many women my age, grew up with Wonder Woman. The recent movies have reminded me how much I really like her. But, I am no Gal Godot, and, I don't know, WW seemed too ... much? Like, hallowed ground I shouldn't tread on. But, her Aunt Antiope, now, she's a great warrior and horsewoman, so I decided to loosely base my cosplay on her.</p><p>Do I know anything about cosplay?</p><p>No.</p><p>Do I know anything about building horse armor?</p><p>Also no.</p><p>Do I want to torture my horse and make her go through this with me?</p><p>Yep.</p><p>Here's a bit of what her armor is supposed to look like, though I'm kind of anticipating a "Pinterest Fail" - at least at first.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoWduXkBq4oi9z69Uis6dyeVW1pVoPlWHKfcRkECuhW7WQEAU57SkI_2SJVclCAp3BwlylI5UqyMCh5k6epuZMqZAwo6D5s3TUmOS8KZvh-3whYi6M7OAN31F7QW4KkI9796FxZX6tz9s/s1060/20201113_203820.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="774" data-original-width="1060" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoWduXkBq4oi9z69Uis6dyeVW1pVoPlWHKfcRkECuhW7WQEAU57SkI_2SJVclCAp3BwlylI5UqyMCh5k6epuZMqZAwo6D5s3TUmOS8KZvh-3whYi6M7OAN31F7QW4KkI9796FxZX6tz9s/s320/20201113_203820.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg87nwbCNFWG7JYHKg_NiVaa15e3fTqTc8Pw4wBnOltoe86tv_8OPQ449mzhIGHN4qD7p6SVgTHlSo2-a4Pj-JL6CGQCmAtH98iU44UjAS_PFrDQ3VwnlrlOKaodxQUsxW0hoFL7MKSxFQ/s1428/Screenshot_20210210-212823_Google+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1428" data-original-width="1059" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg87nwbCNFWG7JYHKg_NiVaa15e3fTqTc8Pw4wBnOltoe86tv_8OPQ449mzhIGHN4qD7p6SVgTHlSo2-a4Pj-JL6CGQCmAtH98iU44UjAS_PFrDQ3VwnlrlOKaodxQUsxW0hoFL7MKSxFQ/s320/Screenshot_20210210-212823_Google+%25282%2529.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3qbuiPOX8JP-BezkizQ_gvm6fJOoX9_wYWMifxOChCAR4ItPJ4lOSVxfK5hmUahq-sAh9FhRURf276c9FtRK1hqpTODkQcajnQYeZsuFwQqAZQ1pZ8o8UPN6Q2BbrAM6uAYUV2dSiNWg/s1416/Screenshot_20210210-213105_Google+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1416" data-original-width="1060" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3qbuiPOX8JP-BezkizQ_gvm6fJOoX9_wYWMifxOChCAR4ItPJ4lOSVxfK5hmUahq-sAh9FhRURf276c9FtRK1hqpTODkQcajnQYeZsuFwQqAZQ1pZ8o8UPN6Q2BbrAM6uAYUV2dSiNWg/s320/Screenshot_20210210-213105_Google+%25282%2529.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p>I'm not crazy enough to take on learning medal work for this, so I'll be using EVA cosplay foam and I'll be tapping into Jay's artistic skills for hints on painting the armor. Skeeter is going to be my test subject for this. Despite being a mare, she's pretty good at letting me torture her, so I don't see that wearing the armor is going to be a problem.</p><p>The Pegasus wings on the other hand, well, she might have an opinion about those.</p><p>Wait? What? Pegasus wings?</p><p>Sometimes I can be a bit extra, and I know that, but from the moment I brought Skeeter home, I knew I wanted to make her into a Pegasus. As I was talking to Mrs. Mom last week, I lamented that while I really wanted to do a warrior photoshoot with Skeets, a small part of me also wanted to do a Pegasus one and I was having trouble deciding. As she's known to do, that sistah from another mistah, asked why I just didn't do both.</p><p>Huh.</p><p>Damn it. </p><p>I don't have a good answer as to why I couldn't do both. I mean, I am already making a costume for both me and Skeeter. I already have to book a photographer for the day. Why not do a costume change as well?</p><p>Well, shit. Guess who, in less than ten seconds, decided it would be a good idea to tackle not one, but two, cosplays for herself and her horse?</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2amgDyM8sDw7pWB-I1UXVMfhynVzT6H3sGo_67trE_wlFW_b5BA3MQRyXuKNEIjQ_vGiLZti7IPZtsuJkOOdidGlqGMdgpauy6rIE63A-Nv52fNTxwirWuo8SPhGm_20zDpYhKE2OCis/s1123/Screenshot_20210210-214445_Google+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1123" data-original-width="1039" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2amgDyM8sDw7pWB-I1UXVMfhynVzT6H3sGo_67trE_wlFW_b5BA3MQRyXuKNEIjQ_vGiLZti7IPZtsuJkOOdidGlqGMdgpauy6rIE63A-Nv52fNTxwirWuo8SPhGm_20zDpYhKE2OCis/s320/Screenshot_20210210-214445_Google+%25282%2529.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p>The Pegasus is going to be a little more challenging, but I think I've found a method that might work. Mrs. Mom suggested using a surcingle to attach the wings, but I don't have one of those and I'm not paying for one just for a costume. But, I think I can use the idea of a surcingle, and just use an elastic band around her barrel to attach the wings to. Maybe. It works in my brain, let's hope it works on my horse.</p><p>Anyway, I'm certain Skeeter's gonna love her mom's latest hairbrained idea. <grin></p><p>Stay tuned for updates.</p><p>(Human cosplay updates will be over at <a href="https://gundiva.blogspot.com/2021/02/the-big-5-0-is-coming.html">Another Perfect Day</a>, but not beginning until May or so. I've still got some weight to lose before I start sewing costumes.)</p>GunDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02965363044411500380noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7602045830931362686.post-61526595476985870912021-02-07T19:06:00.003-07:002021-02-07T19:08:25.745-07:00Almost a Week of Rides!<p> Well, maybe not a full week, but four out of five days is pretty good.</p><p>LE rides way more frequently than I do, as she takes lessons across the way at Inspiration Riding Academy a few days a week. I, however, am 100% a fair weather rider. I did my time riding when the weather was shitty and choose not to any more. </p><p>When I got back from Arizona a week ago, I had to go into quarantine because Jay was sick. That meant I had to work from home. While I generally *despise* working from home, it does have its perks. Namely, the ability to ride in the afternoon if the weather is nice.</p><p><b>January 29</b></p><p>We had a short little ride in the back yard. It had been a couple of weeks since I'd been up on Skeets, so we kept it easy. I'm never really afraid that she'll buck or do something stupid when we've had time off, but sometimes it takes a ride or two to get back in the groove after we've not ridden for a while. It was a nice ride, nothing terribly spectacular about it, but good for getting her moving.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj25To7BeUpYJoabSwoUerpINWVXXn1_q6mRCFRafYRh8bHHr0ZBpzL8YQCbq1kZif61Sj3SPXQN6eyuAGScZwXhx_LlTsti1aGK5qw801DC0zXjwYs26JIiACj2w1BEcBI1b1wwHgJz0s/s2048/2021-01-29+15.55.31.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj25To7BeUpYJoabSwoUerpINWVXXn1_q6mRCFRafYRh8bHHr0ZBpzL8YQCbq1kZif61Sj3SPXQN6eyuAGScZwXhx_LlTsti1aGK5qw801DC0zXjwYs26JIiACj2w1BEcBI1b1wwHgJz0s/w300-h400/2021-01-29+15.55.31.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUwvHTECyEbwCtUb86FFhoRib0DJNasA5m0-lCKkFxkn4_IgPkhCOby9Y65KoeWXdCb8_t42Vyn4PzTeXKcylJmVvur70lUGV0KG0T_ow6MgAiFggsv8o0XHftEe7CVJICu4pQWlByUGY/s2048/2021-01-29+15.55.34.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUwvHTECyEbwCtUb86FFhoRib0DJNasA5m0-lCKkFxkn4_IgPkhCOby9Y65KoeWXdCb8_t42Vyn4PzTeXKcylJmVvur70lUGV0KG0T_ow6MgAiFggsv8o0XHftEe7CVJICu4pQWlByUGY/w300-h400/2021-01-29+15.55.34.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p><b>January 31</b></p><p>Since our beginning ride went so well, and Skeeter was being pretty much a rock star, we decided to take our show on the road. The farm road, that is, and ride in the big field to the east of us. Skeeter was feeling pretty good and *trotted* up the road. More than once. Now, as a general rule, she's lazy and won't expend any more effort than necessary, but she was feeling good.</p><p>We did have an "oh shit" moment when leaving the property. She veered to the left of the road, right where the irrigation ditch crosses. That wouldn't be a problem, except that there's an old metal grate that sticks up and I was afraid she was going to step down into the ditch and impale us both on that damn grate. I managed to get her stopped and moved over, but I wasn't too pleased. Then she trotted out nicely behind Miss Pearl and I forgave her. We spent a good bit of time in the big field, just walking around. </p><p>Skeets has a big problem with wanting to rush back home, so we spent some time working on slowing down and turning away from home. We did some slow, long zig-zags away from home. In a word, she was amazing. And I don't say that about my mare often.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-7pMmDAij-3-cPlN2DjoIJytbTuKsCLTho9evMXOi3wYLFq-ednJTSo4sslMdnmoLOXX_T1xR0IgHadlb9c2ItznlzYyGS-nMUjbVJeMevJk8twodnzGFjl7k7W_LY-MwCpMVvhXu8fs/s2048/2021-01-31+15.47.28.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-7pMmDAij-3-cPlN2DjoIJytbTuKsCLTho9evMXOi3wYLFq-ednJTSo4sslMdnmoLOXX_T1xR0IgHadlb9c2ItznlzYyGS-nMUjbVJeMevJk8twodnzGFjl7k7W_LY-MwCpMVvhXu8fs/w300-h400/2021-01-31+15.47.28.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhInULcDqWXVnwQZfF-5kS-kTZXuG56l8iOIQ8QlJj5tKjTuvCc8ACpmz3nKsz7sP3pU1WrQsNFwl1xhZu1lYi9FTY42Qylp4sCWXuEdmOa8EbpTgQ_jVydxQF4HhlFZmR2H06yMbvIZG8/s2048/2021-01-31+15.47.42.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhInULcDqWXVnwQZfF-5kS-kTZXuG56l8iOIQ8QlJj5tKjTuvCc8ACpmz3nKsz7sP3pU1WrQsNFwl1xhZu1lYi9FTY42Qylp4sCWXuEdmOa8EbpTgQ_jVydxQF4HhlFZmR2H06yMbvIZG8/w300-h400/2021-01-31+15.47.42.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6N3xq_kQNsXSsTDruD47YSi3IY_JQ8bQQ7e1BIm9FEhMWXDtwfiPIt1d_pZ7-IyqQwBbAiD9VBuE7cDNXl-2NiLATxp-m00O57W17rkrtzemdTyaL1ac8PSxkT4t-fmxU9I_zA4xZJuE/s2048/2021-01-31+15.54.26.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6N3xq_kQNsXSsTDruD47YSi3IY_JQ8bQQ7e1BIm9FEhMWXDtwfiPIt1d_pZ7-IyqQwBbAiD9VBuE7cDNXl-2NiLATxp-m00O57W17rkrtzemdTyaL1ac8PSxkT4t-fmxU9I_zA4xZJuE/w300-h400/2021-01-31+15.54.26.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6iLLXodxQB98hGrCQ4HXQkxNsXeEqTSPW410S-GR_T4u4I4-g9Bt6pb8A-6_0-ij_C3pf-Hl7WIHdSPWcMr-PmuiyQPyUV90wMnT-UGKKO7ldS7PaBUAFMDNLo_Xwa0LaVUoOIRRcIrQ/s2048/2021-01-31+16.19.13.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6iLLXodxQB98hGrCQ4HXQkxNsXeEqTSPW410S-GR_T4u4I4-g9Bt6pb8A-6_0-ij_C3pf-Hl7WIHdSPWcMr-PmuiyQPyUV90wMnT-UGKKO7ldS7PaBUAFMDNLo_Xwa0LaVUoOIRRcIrQ/w300-h400/2021-01-31+16.19.13.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq4cG6wfNyTpGkVhcwkGyy7XlmQogQmBI5NzJ4FAjT-I1-Vmul5hyvNUw2a7j89XgtgFLtODr_BcGUyRzQL784Q_tVX4Ifi4CMTcHrM41MSacJtS4g09cnUsXyCWeM0qzggXTD5iQ4730/s2048/2021-01-31+16.29.54.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq4cG6wfNyTpGkVhcwkGyy7XlmQogQmBI5NzJ4FAjT-I1-Vmul5hyvNUw2a7j89XgtgFLtODr_BcGUyRzQL784Q_tVX4Ifi4CMTcHrM41MSacJtS4g09cnUsXyCWeM0qzggXTD5iQ4730/w300-h400/2021-01-31+16.29.54.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p><b>February 1</b></p><p>No pictures from this ride. I had my hands full with a naughty mare. I should have known things were going too well. She didn't want to be caught, which is rare, then she didn't want to stand tied, which is not rare. Over the last couple of years, she's turned into quite a pull-back. I'd been working around it, but I know she needs to be able to stand hard-tied anywhere, for any length of time, so I came up with a game plan.</p><p>She does not pull-back because she's afraid, as most people assume. She pulls back because she doesn't want to stand tied. Now, for the most part, I can just loosely wrap the rope around the hitch rail and fake tie her, and she stays where she's supposed to. Except when she doesn't. She's pulled back when hard tied and gotten away only a couple of times, but that was enough for her to think if she pulls back, she's going to get away. In the vein of making the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard, I came up with a game plan. Every time she starts to pull back, she gets put to work: backing, quick circles, yielding her hind end. This requires me to only tie her loosely (for now), so I can get to the lead rope before she pulls it too tight to release. Even using a quick-release knot, the girl can throw her head up and pull back fast enough to make a quick release a no-release knot.</p><p>(I know people will tell me to let her stand hard tied and fight until she realizes she'll not get loose. Except that doesn't work with her. I watched her pull back and fight for almost an hour when tied to a trailer once. Another time, she managed to get herself bound up tighter and bloody her nose. She's got a stubborn streak a mile wide. If I hard tie her and allow her to fight it out, she's one who will end up hurting herself.)</p><p>Anyway, I had this grand plan to make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard. The hitch rail is her resting spot. Man, that worked so well! I only had to correct her twice, then she stood like a mannequin while getting groomed and saddled. I mentally patted myself on the back.</p><p>Once we were both on the same page, we had a lovely ride. A bit shorter than we'd hoped because we had to do more on the ground than usual, but it was still a win.</p><p><b>February 2</b></p><p>Ride four. Man, I could get used to this riding frequently thing. Except, between weather and work, it's not always easy.</p><p>I thought we'd had a break-through with tying the day before, but in true Skeeter fashion, she had to push it to see what she could get away with. She did lots and lots of work before standing nicely at the rail to be groomed and saddled. If nothing else, she's going to build some really nice butt muscles from all of the quick backing she's having to do.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuTppi_MPymHCJv_46YM9Ci1JakyY3X8TQB6l1APSWF4rPwpldmHFXm_TGAgnuZrwuCoTRk5hvUiVXtSQVlZv8vEu97QoZdNk9pZOz5o0NxNixAWS3r_sHmASBhLPktzwaUDaj-xYp2zg/s2048/2021-02-02+15.22.32.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuTppi_MPymHCJv_46YM9Ci1JakyY3X8TQB6l1APSWF4rPwpldmHFXm_TGAgnuZrwuCoTRk5hvUiVXtSQVlZv8vEu97QoZdNk9pZOz5o0NxNixAWS3r_sHmASBhLPktzwaUDaj-xYp2zg/w300-h400/2021-02-02+15.22.32.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p>Again, we had an issue with her gravitating toward the death grate by the irrigation ditch, but we got past it without impalement. The mares took turns being good and less-good. If Miss Pearl was acting up, Skeets was being an angel. If Skeeter was acting up, Miss Pearl was being an angel. Those two definitely keep us on our toes.</p><p>I wouldn't call Skeeter barn sour, but she does like to find second gear on the way home. In the past, it had turned into a fight, where I felt like I was ripping her bottom jaw off. (Figuratively speaking, not literally.) LE suggested that I slow her down and then release the reins rather than getting into a fight with her. Perfect freaking solution, wish I'd've thought of that! Turns out, we get along much better if I just remind her to walk and not fight.</p><p>Because I don't want her thinking that the ride is over when we get back home, I continued to ride around the back yard. Little missy took exception to that and decided to have a little temper tantrum. We were trotting in what was supposed to be a circle (it was round-ish) and I felt her think 'I'll show Mom!' just before she attempted to break into a lope. Problem is, she's not athletic. Not even a little bit. While she thought she'd break into a lope as part of her temper tantrum, she forgot to tell her feet what to do. The mind was willing, but the body said, 'huh?'. What should have been an awkward at best trot-to-canter transition ended up being, hell, I don't know, stumbling and trying to stay upright. I blew my right stirrup, but managed to stay on and get her pulled to a stop. I couldn't stop laughing at the ridiculousness of it. Her derp ears went straight out to the sides and she had the good grace to look embarrassed while LE and I laughed our butts off. I'm so sad we didn't get it on video, because I know how silly it felt. I can only imagine how it looked.</p><p>I made her walk a couple of more laps around the backyard before calling it a day.</p><p>Sadly, we haven't had a chance to ride since then, but I'm looking forward to more riding time. In fact, I have big plans for us this year.</p>GunDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02965363044411500380noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7602045830931362686.post-50988546429023474222021-02-05T16:37:00.003-07:002021-02-05T16:44:13.319-07:00First Ride of 2021 (Jan 3, 2021)<p> Well, it seems I say this on the rare ocassions that I post, but dang, it's been a while!</p><p>I didn't even get our Christmas pictures up. Ugh. Sorry about that.</p><p>LE and I have had plans for a while now to ride in the snow. The problem is, when there's snow on the ground it's also cold and I don't like to ride in the cold any more. Last week, I was stranded in Arizona while they had a freak snow storm. It was still warmish, but 20" of beautiful fluffy snow on the ground. Now <i>that's</i> the kind of snow I want to ride in.</p><p>But I digress, LE and I finally got to sort-of ride in the snow in January this year. AND... Mom and Beel came down to play as well. When you see the pictures, you'll see that it was only snow riding in the most technical sense. There was (some) snow on the ground and we were riding.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9MIrHAD__tCPpul0ghuzMcM4NAdds_l7hhVDZxZCOsXRmEhhAtgbk_qsu-spsVurAyg-pE2g_ny_zA7bNnZfdLvIi3a61A4ltjgf7L8ei1_jvuo6B4_qNW8r9cYbeiIBvZVpRPBLLN8A/s2048/2021-01-03+13.59.33.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1152" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9MIrHAD__tCPpul0ghuzMcM4NAdds_l7hhVDZxZCOsXRmEhhAtgbk_qsu-spsVurAyg-pE2g_ny_zA7bNnZfdLvIi3a61A4ltjgf7L8ei1_jvuo6B4_qNW8r9cYbeiIBvZVpRPBLLN8A/w225-h400/2021-01-03+13.59.33.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yes, Skeets, I know. I feel the same way.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Beel slipped at fell at his side hustle a couple of months ago and jacked up his shoulder, so he's on injured reserve. But he came down and hung out with Alloy, and who got to play wrangler horse while Beel adjusted Mom's stirrups.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSNB82aQkhwnR3dbBi0DYdEf9BFERlr3XTnOqnrgBF3cEXnPyDt3Nsxam41Z-HQ4BhQtVOBkz34e_qBLhs5d8BDC1VW7bofKOKG6OhPvF3pWDdS5IqCZcXme2vehtmsiUUCD3AKS1Xrlo/s1919/2021-01-03+14.07.45-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1169" data-original-width="1919" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSNB82aQkhwnR3dbBi0DYdEf9BFERlr3XTnOqnrgBF3cEXnPyDt3Nsxam41Z-HQ4BhQtVOBkz34e_qBLhs5d8BDC1VW7bofKOKG6OhPvF3pWDdS5IqCZcXme2vehtmsiUUCD3AKS1Xrlo/w400-h244/2021-01-03+14.07.45-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alloy's a good supervisor.</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjClFMLPu6jmWJLrzjccXo-_l73fGjpcfiq3RINBpW9YeYG6Gi82FDaavoKBXOO81E0OSFmRWXU6njt4plWGrYAUaPZ3CUOpf6_oEGJ02fDqaUOwp8zcZahHzIfuEp1ENFz3odKBwbgKjI/s2048/2021-01-03+14.17.41.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1756" data-original-width="2048" height="343" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjClFMLPu6jmWJLrzjccXo-_l73fGjpcfiq3RINBpW9YeYG6Gi82FDaavoKBXOO81E0OSFmRWXU6njt4plWGrYAUaPZ3CUOpf6_oEGJ02fDqaUOwp8zcZahHzIfuEp1ENFz3odKBwbgKjI/w400-h343/2021-01-03+14.17.41.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stupid blogger won't let me move this picture. Pretend it's at the end of the post.<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>We rode around in the back yard for a little bit, before going up the farm road a tiny bit to ride in the "big" field to the east of us.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg_3sZDfWzJOAQqE96wExa06KizBB9qp3CsLKdW8FKXvgolVoTBK6N9zSY_kuFzQNmL_TgdBXlY8omOUU_WrXZXBcSru4LdxVdc14vVnK5FzT1IeU_E7Q1oKnNNc66rE2o0Om5UW07xks/s2048/2021-01-03+14.16.50.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg_3sZDfWzJOAQqE96wExa06KizBB9qp3CsLKdW8FKXvgolVoTBK6N9zSY_kuFzQNmL_TgdBXlY8omOUU_WrXZXBcSru4LdxVdc14vVnK5FzT1IeU_E7Q1oKnNNc66rE2o0Om5UW07xks/w400-h225/2021-01-03+14.16.50.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alloy bringing up the rear.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKL9Xoh6VsG_OOq4pFeC9wduRODP5F1tRxM6gUUA5tTzyg3pMNE3inWbN28HQkRa6otFCaB6X696bdRk3c-sXeAr6RbaMC-LTh3F5PCrOlmWw9QsLymOjtTnXG8UD3wnULsn6pqsQDfKo/s2048/2021-01-03+14.02.53.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1087" data-original-width="2048" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKL9Xoh6VsG_OOq4pFeC9wduRODP5F1tRxM6gUUA5tTzyg3pMNE3inWbN28HQkRa6otFCaB6X696bdRk3c-sXeAr6RbaMC-LTh3F5PCrOlmWw9QsLymOjtTnXG8UD3wnULsn6pqsQDfKo/w400-h213/2021-01-03+14.02.53.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">LE and Miss Pearl in the 'snow'.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ70DRdkUgEC67yTL-aSGwPmdMpfc8aXzMz_0j_B98JNCv4BJvSc6U1Tn7wcNw2-EzRHHwXWVV5_Z_7vzwJ5ntFZdGCeWNge31xRQdfj4YLEXdb6ni8jF5OtE4u_bzGNpNWrfZMTp91VU/s2048/2021-01-03+14.16.48.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ70DRdkUgEC67yTL-aSGwPmdMpfc8aXzMz_0j_B98JNCv4BJvSc6U1Tn7wcNw2-EzRHHwXWVV5_Z_7vzwJ5ntFZdGCeWNge31xRQdfj4YLEXdb6ni8jF5OtE4u_bzGNpNWrfZMTp91VU/w400-h225/2021-01-03+14.16.48.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Sorry, all of the pictures are out of order and I can't fix them. Guess that's what I get for not posting in 13 months - I've forgotten a ton.<div><br /></div><div>It was a short ride - only about 20 minutes, but it was still a good way to start the year. Since then, LE and I have been riding when we can. The weather is supposed to be good on Sunday, so I think Mom and Beel are going to come down and ride. I'm supposed to be in class on Sunday, but am awaiting my covid test results. I'm fine, but was exposed and don't want to inadvertently take it to class. If I get my results and they're negative, I'll be in class while everyone else is riding. If I don't get my results, I'll be keeping my distance from everyone, but still going for a ride.</div><div><br /></div><div>PS, I'm way better about keeping up to date on our FB page. If you'd like to follow us there, click<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/626547157443319"> here</a>.</div>GunDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02965363044411500380noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7602045830931362686.post-14487404168593471302020-01-06T21:41:00.003-07:002020-01-06T21:41:34.189-07:00First Ride of 2020When I l<a href="https://gundiva-talesfromthetrail.blogspot.com/2019/08/figuring-out-skeeter.html">ast posted</a>, Mom and Bill had brought Skeeter home off the mountain so we could have her looked at by a chiropractor. We didn't do any riding while waiting on our appointment, but I did start taking her for walks like I did with Copper.<br />
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She's a pain in the ass on the ground. There were two things I swore my horse would never do: 1) be pushy on the ground, and 2) be food motivated. Guess what I got with Skeeter? Yep, both of them. I think it's going to be a life-long battle with her. Anyway, that's got nothing to do with this post.<br />
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Because I thought her shoulder was jacked up, I didn't want to do any riding until she was adjusted. I am a bad horse mom, because I don't have the date she was finally adjusted, but it had to be in the last part of October after I started my new job. So, she went for walks with me (and we had fights every time), but didn't get ridden. L.E. was kind enough to do the chiropractor appointment with me since I had just started my new job, and it turns out it wasn't Skeeter's right shoulder that was the problem, it was her neck. C7 was way, way out.<br />
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I don't know how long her neck had been out, but it had to have been months (possibly longer than a year) considering we'd been having issues with her right shoulder for the entire season. After her adjustment she was a different horse - her eyes got much softer and she just in general was less mare-y. I was struck by exactly how amazing Skeeter is - she'd been in pain for God knows how long and was never mean about it. She tried telling us she was hurt, but I was way too slow in picking up on it. I felt horrible for all of the frustration I'd felt over the summer, because she was just giving and giving and I was too blind to see it. She did everything I asked of her unless she couldn't do it, and even then she <i>tried</i>. When she couldn't do it, she didn't get nasty about it, either, she just refused. What an amazing heart my mare has.<br />
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Despite getting her adjusted in October, I didn't get to ride her until yesterday (1/5/20). Weather, jobs, etc. all got in the way, but yesterday everything lined up perfectly and we were able to do an easy ride at the neighbor's.<br />
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I think she was happy to get to do something. Because I hadn't had an actual ride on her since August 18, I did a tiny bit of circle work with her in the arena, just to see where her head was. It was completely unnecessary - she was ready to be ridden after four and a half months off.<br />
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I didn't have any plans in mind, other than just to get on and poke around. Last year, L.E. and I rode a lot over Christmas break and I really missed it, so when L.E. invited me I jumped at the chance.<br />
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It was a nice, low-key stroll around the arena. We have a few things to work through. For example, for an entire season, if Skeets stopped, I eventually got down because I didn't want to hold anyone up, or hurt her. So she tried stopping and parking herself several times yesterday. The joke was on her, I was in no hurry and I know she's not in pain, so I just waited her out.<br />
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In the past, I always had a case of the nerves getting up on her. Pearl did a job on my confidence as I've mentioned before. However, <a href="https://gundiva-talesfromthetrail.blogspot.com/2019/07/misadventures-in-trail-riding.html">taking a tumble off of Skeeter last summer</a> did wonders for my confidence. I have zero nerves about climbing up on her anymore, no matter how long it's been. Who would have thought that falling off a horse would <i>help</i> my confidence?<br />
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Now it's back to working for a living, but I hope to get to climb up on my incredible mare on a more regular basis.GunDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02965363044411500380noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7602045830931362686.post-16993067765900090792019-08-29T17:45:00.001-06:002019-08-29T17:45:47.502-06:00Figuring Out SkeeterA few weeks ago, I wrote about our <a href="https://gundiva-talesfromthetrail.blogspot.com/2019/08/damn-that-mare.html">less-than-stellar ride</a> in which Skeeter caused Alloy to dump Beel.<br />
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With Beel being sidelined, Mom and I planned on doing a lot of work with Skeeter on my next trip up the mountain (8/19/19). We've tried everything in my tool box to get her moving once she gets stuck, so the next thing we had (besides spurs or a crop) was to wait her out, and wait for her to get bored if nothing else worked.<br />
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She was a rock star getting tacked up, but getting that right front boot on was an issue. I'd run my hand down her leg and tell her "foot" and she'd bump me on the butt with her nose. It's a dance we've been doing forever. I off-hand mentioned to Mom that I wondered if something hurts, because Skeets does a lot to avoid picking up her foot. She backs up, leans her weight on me, shifts away, you name it. When we started thinking about it, that's the foot she always gives the farrier problems with. She reared up to get away from Mom's farrier, and tried to do the same with mine. She'll pull back and sit her ass on the ground before giving up her foot some times. Why it took us so long to think of pain rather than her just being a mare is beyond me.<br />
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It just so happened that as I'm wondering aloud about pain that Mom was looking at Skeeter. When I asked Skeets to pick up her foot, Mom noticed that her whole face went tight and agreed that maybe it hurt. Usually, when she refuses to pick up that foot, I send her out on a circle for a few laps and then she gives her hoof easily. This time, though, I decided to massage her shoulder to see if I could get it to loosen up. I am not a massage therapist by any means, but since Queen Estes had some arthritis issues in her shoulders, I had a general idea of what/where to massage. I spent just a couple of minutes digging my fists into her shoulder, massaging areas that felt tight. When I felt her relax, I asked for her foot again and she lifted it without a problem.<br />
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After we got her boot on, it was time to head out on the ride. We made it out of the parking lot, headed up toward the Post Office and she stalled out. Mom and I had swapped reins, so I was back to 9' reins. After I'd exhausted all other options, I popped her on the ass with the end of the rein. That earned me a cow kick, but we started moving again. She moved out, but I was very conscious of her speed and <i>drove</i> her forward with my hips. I've never had to push a horse with my hips, but the whole "shoulders of a queen, hips of a whore" thing came to mind. I'm used to pointing a horse in the right direction and having them go, so having to drive her forward with my hips quickly got tiring.<br />
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I'd just started to relax when we crested a hill and a dog started barking at us. We couldn't see the dog, who was fenced behind a tall privacy fence. Skeeter didn't spook, but did stop to look at the dog and give it the stink eye. But ... we stopped. Ugh. I finally got her moving when a car came along. We stepped off the road onto the grass and she moved a bit for me until we had to cross a driveway, then it was back to emptying the tool box to get her moving. After I'd asked a few times, I lifted the end of the rein to pop her butt, and she lifted a rear foot to cow kick again, like "really, Mom, we're going to do this?" I wiggled the rein, she sighed and moved on. Thought she could psych me out, but it didn't work.<br />
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I could keep her moving if I allowed her to walk up on the grass, off of the road, and I continued to drive her with my hips. Once we'd descended the hill and turned on Ski Road, she decided she could go and didn't hesitate the rest of the ride. We even <a href="https://www.facebook.com/shawntel.gallegoswilson/videos/pcb.2312724145492270/10219912755513147/?type=3&theater&ifg=1">trotted for a bit</a> without an argument.<br />
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As we got nearer the lodge, I could feel her get antsy to get home, so Mom and I took an indirect route home, turning her away from the lodge and making her go around the block instead of riding right up to the hitch rail. When she stopped at the turn, I knew it was a baby temper tantrum, nothing else, and just lifted the end of the rein.<br />
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Overall, the ride went well. She's gotten used to me getting off and walking when we're out with Bill and Alloy, but I refused to do that for this ride. Mom and I discussed that maybe it's her shoulder that's causing her to stop, and I was pretty sure that it was her shoulder.<br />
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Mom and Bill each took turns taking her out for the next week, and agree that there's something going on with her right shoulder that's causing her to stop. She'll stop, rest, shift her weight back and forth, and then move one when she's comfortable again. Once she's warmed up, she'll go and go, but until then, she's pretty uncomfortable.<br />
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Skeeter's a really good horse, she truly is. We've had (and will continue to have) our fair share of disagreements, but she's just a great horse with an amazing heart.<br />
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Now that we know she's not just being a mare, that there is something going on with her, Mom and Bill brought her home to me yesterday. My neighbor has a chiropractor that works on her school horses every month, so I've put Skeeter on her schedule for the next time she's out. Hopefully the chiropractor can figure it out and get her feeling better. If not, I'll schedule our vet to come take a look at her.<br />
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I'm pretty sad that our mountain riding season ended earlier than I wanted it to, but Miss Skeeter needs to get her shoulder fixed. Until we're riding again, she's getting to go on walks with me, just like her brother. She's not super excited about the walks, but he wasn't either when we first started. Now he asks to go.<br />
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<br />GunDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02965363044411500380noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7602045830931362686.post-74966927155031014342019-08-15T21:45:00.000-06:002019-08-15T21:45:25.056-06:00Damn That Mare!Earlier this week, I went up the hill for our weekly riding date. I wasn't in any hurry, and for once Mom and Bill didn't have to rush to get back for check-in, so I was feeling pretty Zen. The mountains always do wonders for my mood, and I was starting off in a pretty good mood to begin with. I was looking forward to an amazing ride on my amazing horse.<div>
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When I went into the pen to grab her, she and Alloy were down by the creek getting some water. It was so pretty, I just had to take a picture.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQka9qfDtXLBGTZ4BC2DFk4Vj0WgqKDCsdTHJF26gDrwRISXwd08QMorziEUVS4l6VH6t7mtqB2Wd4AlFY8WlKg67bu23vr-zj8E6wQfPDzYbwzCOdlKuypFa_OeWi5x3WmzPRSvWhUEM/s1600/pre+ride+happiez.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQka9qfDtXLBGTZ4BC2DFk4Vj0WgqKDCsdTHJF26gDrwRISXwd08QMorziEUVS4l6VH6t7mtqB2Wd4AlFY8WlKg67bu23vr-zj8E6wQfPDzYbwzCOdlKuypFa_OeWi5x3WmzPRSvWhUEM/s400/pre+ride+happiez.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Skeeter saw me coming and decided she needed to drink the creek dry before she was caught. No big deal, we weren't under any time crunch and I was in a fantastic mood. I didn't even much care that she walked away when I went up to her, she just went to the top of the hill where I normally catch her. </div>
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She stood at the hitch rail like a pro while I groomed, fly sprayed, and tacked her up. A gentleman wandering by stopped to chat and she was happy to be a perfect Mustang Ambassador. She didn't even give me much trouble putting her boots on. </div>
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It's always fairly easy to get her left boot on, but her right one is always troublesome. No big deal, I was in a fantastic mood, so it didn't bother me to have to put her on a circle for a couple of laps. As soon as we got back to the hitch rail, she gave me her right foot and the boot went on.</div>
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I led her across the street and up the hill with Bill leading out and Mom riding drag. At the base of the switchback, she stopped cold, but move up when I drove her forward with the lead rope. I led her up the upper trail, rather than the switchback and she walked right up it without a problem. My thought is that we'll spend the rest of the riding season walking her up the upper trail so that she can build not-traumatic memories of that and hopefully override the bad memories of the switchback.</div>
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Alloy was being his normal impatient self, so Bill was riding him out and back, out and back, while Skeeter and I trudged along to a place where I could mount up. I was wearing an old, comfortable pair of jeans that are just a <i>touch</i> too big. Like, barely too big. Unfortunately, when I went to mount up, the bottom of the leg of my pants got caught on the back of my boot and I ripped my pants in the crotch. But, you know what? It was okay, because I was in a fantastic mood.</div>
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I got settled in and gave Skeeter a little nudge to move. Huh. She didn't move. So I clicked and kicked again. Nothing. It was at this point that my fantastic mood began to deteriorate, and I knew she and I would be fighting for the entire ride. When she puts her stubborn pants on and plants herself, there's not a lot to be done.</div>
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Now, last week, when she got tired and stopped, I dismounted and led her a ways, but that wasn't going to happen this time. I'd just gotten on for freak's sake! Meanwhile, Bill and Alloy are riding out and back, out and back. Once Alloy gets moving, he has to keep moving or he gets all "ants in his pants" and starts thinking about bucking.</div>
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A couple of hard kicks and a threat with the end of the reins later, Skeeter sighed and took about ten steps before stopping again. Lather, rinse, repeat, for half a mile. At one point, I asked Mom to move up ahead of us, hoping Skeets would just follow. Washoe was very patient, and Alloy was getting lots of exercise riding out and back, out and back.</div>
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I had, about the third time she stopped for no reason, reached my boiling point. I was so angry, my fists were clenched and I was saying not very nice words. I had decided to tell Bill to turn on the upper rubber strip trail so we could just do the short one-hour ride and head back, when he and Alloy made the turn without me saying anything. I breathed a sigh of relief. </div>
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Skeeter made the turn nicely and walked about 25 yards before she came to a dead stop. Again. I picked up my rein and smacked her <i>hard</i> right on the shoulder to get her moving. Since she stepped on my 9' reins a few weeks ago, I've been riding in my 7' ones and they're too short to smack her on the ass without pulling on her mouth, so the shoulder it was.</div>
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She must have realized she'd done effed up this time and jumped sideways into a small tree and some dead fall.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7-BUTitk2PqsbR0vHob5gTSGeVKYZu5is0mAonmfFhd62MSR4517Z4lSLce1iumBOr5Rf9kkWioqQzItcosGvRZf_eCdJAxRm9huohA-w9i7I1hyphenhyphenp89z5fL572L5IC21vb6nth0HOY3o/s1600/005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7-BUTitk2PqsbR0vHob5gTSGeVKYZu5is0mAonmfFhd62MSR4517Z4lSLce1iumBOr5Rf9kkWioqQzItcosGvRZf_eCdJAxRm9huohA-w9i7I1hyphenhyphenp89z5fL572L5IC21vb6nth0HOY3o/s400/005.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">She almost looks athletic in this picture. She's not.</td></tr>
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Unfortunately, she jumped and crashed right as Bill and Alloy were headed back toward us. Alloy heard the smack and saw Skeeter jump, so bad, bad things had to have been happening. Of course, his first reaction is to buck. The picture is the last one Bill took right before he went ass over tea kettle. </div>
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Bill hit the ground, Skeeter came to a dead stop, and Alloy took about three running strides before sauntering off. I dismounted to check on Bill, who had the wind knocked out of him, while Mom and Washoe went after Alloy.</div>
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Once Bill could breathe again, we hiked up the mountain to meet Mom and Washoe with Alloy. Bill remounted to ride out, and Mom encouraged me to remount, but I refused. Alloy's frustration was also at a boiling point because of Skeeter's refusal to move and I didn't want to add any more frustration and cause another wreck.</div>
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Yes, it would have been best for me to remount and force Skeeter to carry me out, but it was not in the best interest of Bill and Alloy, so I hiked out. Not the first time it's happened, won't be the last, I'm sure.</div>
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I told Mom that once we got back to the lodge, we were going to drop Bill and Alloy off and I was going to mount back up and ride at least around the block. Not the best solution, but a decent compromise, I felt.</div>
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Skeeter was Not Pleased when we got back to the lodge and I mounted up. Mom and Washoe rode along with us for support. Skeets and I had a big ole fight about leaving the parking lot and another big ole fight in the neighbor's front yard, but we finally got moving and stayed moving. We only rode about two blocks, and on the way back, we kind of zig-zagged through parking lots and such, taking the indirect way home so she couldn't bolt back to the hitch rail.</div>
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For the first time EVER, I considered getting spurs. I don't ride in them, because I've never been trained to and I've ridden horses who have been ruined by people wearing spurs who have no business doing so. But... I seriously considered making an exception. Instead, I'm going to strip the horn bag off my saddle so I can get a good over-under with the rein if necessary. Also, a riding crop may be in her future if she doesn't straighten the eff up.</div>
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The next time we go out, it will probably just be me and Mom since Bill's on injured reserve, and we will have all the time in the world for our battle royale. Of course, since we'll have time to fight it out, she won't give me any problems at all.</div>
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Gah! Mares.</div>
GunDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02965363044411500380noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7602045830931362686.post-19488460225659761862019-08-14T20:35:00.001-06:002019-08-14T20:35:28.562-06:00Copper, the Big Red Dog UpdateJust over a year ago, Copper and I started doing Ease Into 5K to train for a couple of virtual races. I wrote about the <a href="https://gundiva-talesfromthetrail.blogspot.com/2018/09/copper-big-red-dog.html">beginning of our journey and our completion of the X-Files 5K</a>, but never got around to updating about our Greased Lightning race.<br />
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Again, I bought socks to commemorate the race. I was hoping to find some cool Grease socks, but when I did an Amazon search, all I could find were bobby socks. Nebalee suggested I get some lightning socks, so I did.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQRMc2C32RpR2kwcSn-T8AYKkPoVUI70K1c3AhAjzn5DXxpQvG8saUG5G8R8S5CyGqEHcQf35vBh-EWa-0p3KeHtqgFYst1GzasvHtgxROnSH3zeyIJ1SahRYT138QjLiHt0oY_Paf4HI/s1600/2018-10-05+10.55.24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQRMc2C32RpR2kwcSn-T8AYKkPoVUI70K1c3AhAjzn5DXxpQvG8saUG5G8R8S5CyGqEHcQf35vBh-EWa-0p3KeHtqgFYst1GzasvHtgxROnSH3zeyIJ1SahRYT138QjLiHt0oY_Paf4HI/s400/2018-10-05+10.55.24.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can't "race" without obnoxious socks</td></tr>
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Nebalee also was kind enough to come run with us. For some reason, her GPS and my GPS didn't line up, but since she uses hers to keep track of her mileage, we used hers as the official distance/time. For some reason, we were almost four and a half minutes slower in our second 5K than our first. I have no idea why, but there it is.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMSUOeySrWJ5nVs407FBdBo7QnJ9FXHCursN66J_Qbm61bTUr-Vmp5EENdZF2_EghsiYATJldrFKY4p4K1n4jk-X28_qiCuhkiFXyCEP70Tn2zvX4TOWktl3bVnlKgp72L2zn0Fo_SUtM/s1600/Greased+Lightning+5K+Nelle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="540" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMSUOeySrWJ5nVs407FBdBo7QnJ9FXHCursN66J_Qbm61bTUr-Vmp5EENdZF2_EghsiYATJldrFKY4p4K1n4jk-X28_qiCuhkiFXyCEP70Tn2zvX4TOWktl3bVnlKgp72L2zn0Fo_SUtM/s400/Greased+Lightning+5K+Nelle.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicsaiKDTa0RrwvhQfNC62hUqPYhMkLHhHe50C3KHO9_cu7dOdPs19NajSxRyoS6oePauvi_79JtfcJmT7U4wQpPZsM0Ee42Gfe3Gg7r4GG6tZoVY6zsh9hHwNzLbDVS8H5nNPtYotNUdM/s1600/Greased+Lightning+finish+photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicsaiKDTa0RrwvhQfNC62hUqPYhMkLHhHe50C3KHO9_cu7dOdPs19NajSxRyoS6oePauvi_79JtfcJmT7U4wQpPZsM0Ee42Gfe3Gg7r4GG6tZoVY6zsh9hHwNzLbDVS8H5nNPtYotNUdM/s400/Greased+Lightning+finish+photo.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nebalee and Copper always look great in our finish photos</td></tr>
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A couple of weeks after I submitted our official race time, Copper's finisher's medal came in the mail. I made him model it. He was not impressed.<br />
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We had one more race planned in October, but I got scheduled to travel for work, so we ditched it. I can't say I was terribly disappointed, but I hated losing the entry fee.<br />
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Greased Lightning was the last race we ended up "running" in 2018; in no time at all, it was to dark to run when I got home from work, so we hung up our running shoes until spring.<br />
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For some stupid reason, I thought it would be fun to sign up for a cumulative race (121.1 miles) and set a goal to complete it by my birthday in July. It was still too cold and gross for Copper and I to run outside, so I joined a gym and spent a whole four or five trips to the gym racking up four or five miles. Since Nebalee was such a good sister and did my virtual races with me last year, I agreed to run the Bolder Boulder 10K with her in May. I figured those six miles would help chip away at the cumulative race. Unfortunately, crazy shit was happening at work and my training went out the window. I did complete the Bolder Boulder with Nebalee, but it sucked big time.<br />
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I realized there was no way I was going to complete the cumulative race by my birthday, so I threw that goal out the window and once life settled down, started back up with Copper in July.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJQTEyC9YAjEXQa-VvLBAOVsmC5J0v4ds0NULIkQAEMp7T_Ds5EhosFH-TwwC7QydA53aQJiAgvsRvI99R65OWaTsbvHRUD3Soug-oLJc3_72nBGyh8RdSavbNkFLIFa7pp4bUN13Fqmw/s1600/7-10+re-start.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJQTEyC9YAjEXQa-VvLBAOVsmC5J0v4ds0NULIkQAEMp7T_Ds5EhosFH-TwwC7QydA53aQJiAgvsRvI99R65OWaTsbvHRUD3Soug-oLJc3_72nBGyh8RdSavbNkFLIFa7pp4bUN13Fqmw/s400/7-10+re-start.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">July 10, starting all over again with a nice slow walk.</td></tr>
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Slowly but surely, Copper and I started chipping away at the miles. Sometimes, Copper and I go out by ourselves and do some run intervals. Other times, L.E. and Pearl join us and there's no running involved (I kinda really like those mornings).<br />
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Slowly but surely, with almost daily walks, we're making headway with on our race.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNo5KMDza1NHXk1uVYFmqsalHhCe53EUCbznu9QnaxL-QTN0bRzqZllbizYWlo_H9gd2whBkqJUqVsyuA5Ib1krv6w7WnmTkiRVf8570kC8jJCEu-eVDBxvddTErV9ltZ_GU8KhseVAGc/s1600/8-5+race+update.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="540" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNo5KMDza1NHXk1uVYFmqsalHhCe53EUCbznu9QnaxL-QTN0bRzqZllbizYWlo_H9gd2whBkqJUqVsyuA5Ib1krv6w7WnmTkiRVf8570kC8jJCEu-eVDBxvddTErV9ltZ_GU8KhseVAGc/s400/8-5+race+update.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Screenshot taken 8/5</td></tr>
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I took a screenshot on 8/5 of our progress, so this is a little outdated. As of today, we've completed 32 workouts, 45.5% of our race, 55.1 miles. I was disappointed that we were not able to walk today because last night's storm turned the farm roads into a muddy, mucky mess. Hopefully, tonight's storms will bypass us and we can be back at it tomorrow.<br />
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Last week, Facebook memories was kind enough to show me our first night of Ease Into 5K. The caption still holds true!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBVSE8TKvK8irXLmJtKS8PiwLMnis8dA3b1-dsn2J1dAoO4APXBIXuMzNxJnz8IwigAZew9aVuog-FN3AmKeYajfEmWH7zaRMwlyn9uLkzWXtAktWjb8xWCW6llTZdsCB3zgqcdMPfBig/s1600/8-8+flashback.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="540" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBVSE8TKvK8irXLmJtKS8PiwLMnis8dA3b1-dsn2J1dAoO4APXBIXuMzNxJnz8IwigAZew9aVuog-FN3AmKeYajfEmWH7zaRMwlyn9uLkzWXtAktWjb8xWCW6llTZdsCB3zgqcdMPfBig/s400/8-8+flashback.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
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Not only does the caption still hold true, but Copper still hasn't gotten past the fact that I literally have to drag him for the first few minutes of our walks. I wish I was kidding, but I'm not. He hates the beginning of the walk, but then loosens up and walks/trots nicely next to me.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsERwMZGKHsFAZ2tB7GXmAPf4PJ-l1hmFR5g5acIuFzRHPJpS1mN-uYKbajPsfc6tmQDtjDEj3sRyAsBrq2uWo8Z3R2CAA7GAmwpp4HvJ6RSxzs1pBBexPrs5Oy-BQBDM_awvBWn582Q8/s1600/8-2+drag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsERwMZGKHsFAZ2tB7GXmAPf4PJ-l1hmFR5g5acIuFzRHPJpS1mN-uYKbajPsfc6tmQDtjDEj3sRyAsBrq2uWo8Z3R2CAA7GAmwpp4HvJ6RSxzs1pBBexPrs5Oy-BQBDM_awvBWn582Q8/s400/8-2+drag.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pissy Mare Face on a gelding</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFTv0TrHn-JrZbhzy2sGbXLfkfCShFKB9y8T01Hl6R8A7LkrldTJRSyJOetD-ODc1Vy_KfsQs2iG-_AncY7josA_qiIocolacU1r7-ZMWzwbUU3QWkX21ChOMGSYfTwdmNhTpJeleZbgY/s1600/8-11+sunset+walk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFTv0TrHn-JrZbhzy2sGbXLfkfCShFKB9y8T01Hl6R8A7LkrldTJRSyJOetD-ODc1Vy_KfsQs2iG-_AncY7josA_qiIocolacU1r7-ZMWzwbUU3QWkX21ChOMGSYfTwdmNhTpJeleZbgY/s320/8-11+sunset+walk.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Oh, we're going home? Okay, let's go!"</td></tr>
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I tried to officially start Ease Into 5K the other day, after doing a month of my own random walk/run intervals, but it did not go well. Copper was in a mood and it was like we'd regressed a full year. I was Not Pleased. We'll start again on Monday, after we've had a few more walk/runs under our belt. Maybe by then his full moon pissiness will have passed.GunDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02965363044411500380noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7602045830931362686.post-70425045560713088232019-08-10T19:57:00.000-06:002019-08-10T19:59:30.831-06:00Not All Rides Can Be AmazingThursday's ride was good. Not spectacular, no big problems, but just kind of "meh". It's completely my fault, I chose a bad route. I thought it would be great to go to the Allenspark Trail head and do a short bit of it. The problem was that I forgot that I <i>hate</i> the road to get there. There's nothing wrong with the road, but it's just a road. It's a long, slow uphill for a mile and a half. There's really nothing to look at, nothing exciting. Just a long dirt road. It didn't take me long to remember why I preferred to trailer up to the trail head.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSd7tcoc42wGQ2zJwra5VHLZtX9wpKlj6lik_wEjYfTHqT1TLqSG-hVyiSMGC7q56IyQyPJdvZmoyLHSANKnvaAZ1Sd8fvYX8FkvvxBvd4LwfauwUabj1MdlUVK7e596cAVOx-A5Aps_Y/s1600/002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSd7tcoc42wGQ2zJwra5VHLZtX9wpKlj6lik_wEjYfTHqT1TLqSG-hVyiSMGC7q56IyQyPJdvZmoyLHSANKnvaAZ1Sd8fvYX8FkvvxBvd4LwfauwUabj1MdlUVK7e596cAVOx-A5Aps_Y/s400/002.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Long, boring road</td></tr>
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We ambled along on this long, slow uphill. Alloy, as usual, was ready to go. Washoe was game. Skeeter, well, she was not enthused and dragged her feet for about a mile.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWU1LJBelNMv5MdWybqiu4VFtQ8YYzOI27sLR3qtWQ3XsllbXxG761nkhvAyKPF2Gq0EAICge8KAcHtMduGlaPiD9v9CAc5TXMrB3q1wkkp3zDkFpggmkEUOHr67cO4BY3eb_cNHONrYA/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWU1LJBelNMv5MdWybqiu4VFtQ8YYzOI27sLR3qtWQ3XsllbXxG761nkhvAyKPF2Gq0EAICge8KAcHtMduGlaPiD9v9CAc5TXMrB3q1wkkp3zDkFpggmkEUOHr67cO4BY3eb_cNHONrYA/s400/003.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alloy: "Let's go, let's go, let's go!"</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBsiCJzWTlSl1bWZS7aPRONu0KlSko9tp18kUOcF8OlWIGZUbhzGRU2fvDc7akZNHx9GbL6iJycc45z_2yb68cLZ0QSEyO2PLZkKJTooRh6_wynUXYVU86MF07B1JfROEelSmlBMq4oOA/s1600/005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBsiCJzWTlSl1bWZS7aPRONu0KlSko9tp18kUOcF8OlWIGZUbhzGRU2fvDc7akZNHx9GbL6iJycc45z_2yb68cLZ0QSEyO2PLZkKJTooRh6_wynUXYVU86MF07B1JfROEelSmlBMq4oOA/s400/005.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Washoe: "Dude, okay!"</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ9CylLq5luVFjeKHKZI_YYrriaupTEqIjBkJGJZxMjSgKBSAcu1qZQvF5OqXkOnS3c58auKwZBWcWUDBi6GfWsA1Elmaqlj9Ii4Mp0pw-T9bFFyOqRUipE2R_mcgrWNU7HhDyn6kttrI/s1600/006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ9CylLq5luVFjeKHKZI_YYrriaupTEqIjBkJGJZxMjSgKBSAcu1qZQvF5OqXkOnS3c58auKwZBWcWUDBi6GfWsA1Elmaqlj9Ii4Mp0pw-T9bFFyOqRUipE2R_mcgrWNU7HhDyn6kttrI/s400/006.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Skeeter: "Eff you, Alloy!"</td></tr>
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Then she decided she was done and came to a stop. I thought we'd gotten past the whole "stop when I don't want to" business, but I guess not. She had boots on, so I know it had nothing to do with her tender feetsies. She just was tired and didn't wanna. I could actually sympathize, because my enthusiasm for the ride quickly waned as well, but she couldn't "win" by just stopping.<br />
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So ... I dismounted, circled her a bit, and walked along side her for a quarter of a mile or so. Hill work is good for both of our butts, but that doesn't mean I like it, so once I was winded (easy to do at over 8,000 feet), I mounted back up.<br />
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From the ground.<br />
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Without a mounting rock.<br />
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Just me, from the ground.<br />
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Okay, so I maybe mounted from the uphill side, but I still mounted from the ground. Skeeter's a task master, though. Mounting from the ground wasn't quite good enough, she wanted me to do it without a bounce (or two). Sorry to say, she did not get her way. If I have to put my foot halfway to my armpit to mount, I get a couple free bounces.<br />
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We rode another quarter mile or so before we turned back home. We never did make it to the Allenspark Trail head, but we did cover about 2.5 miles round trip.<br />
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Since we had to pass the Post Office on the way back to the lodge, Bill decided to check the mail. He tied Alloy to the porch railing and then proceeded to go inside while Mom and I waited on our horses outside. The tourists across the street at Distant Harbors gift shop loved it!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDYcAg3AjdNYErtVCKfg7j_hIKBVs31sKyTGnKrfhcsIt3YIvKYza52-ng-w5E9xYuVLvAiQacT1rwIhELRcwkgAC8B-QthTpQQYVmiBurAbsVtoazadcCDTALEJeMU7PAa2mSiIYfCiQ/s1600/015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDYcAg3AjdNYErtVCKfg7j_hIKBVs31sKyTGnKrfhcsIt3YIvKYza52-ng-w5E9xYuVLvAiQacT1rwIhELRcwkgAC8B-QthTpQQYVmiBurAbsVtoazadcCDTALEJeMU7PAa2mSiIYfCiQ/s400/015.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alloy: "Ok, I guess I'l just wait here then."</td></tr>
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<br />GunDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02965363044411500380noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7602045830931362686.post-63229697394341997732019-08-07T07:00:00.000-06:002019-08-08T19:43:29.472-06:00GISH #54After our busy Monday, I had a few days to plan my next three GISH tasks. There were two I was really looking forward to, but they required significant planning.<br />
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For those of you unfamiliar with Supernatural, or this scene, there's a little back story. Dean and Castiel (trench coat) step in the middle of a fight between the archangels Michael and Lucifer. Castiel, being an angel, isn't quite fluent in human vernacular and his insult was a little ... off.</div>
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Turns out, there is such a thing as an Assbutt according to GISH lore. An Assbutt is a mix between an African wild ass and a Monarch butterfly. Just like the unicorn and fairy tasks, this one was custom made for me.<br />
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I don't have access to an African wild ass, but I do have access to a BLM wild ass. A quick text to my friend Kathy from the <a href="http://uswhba.org/">U.S. Wild Horse and Burro Association</a> was all it took to set up a time. I spent the night before we went out to do this task making butterfly wings out of cardboard. I am no spray paint artist, but I was pretty happy with the way the wings turned out.<br />
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I had picked up a white dress shirt and a trench coat earlier in the week so I could cosplay Castiel. (Cosplay - chalk it up to something I never thought I'd participate in, not to mention gender-bending cosplay. My hippie nerd daughter was very proud of me for this.) The Molotov cocktail I made using an old water bottle and a red/orange handkerchief. Really, the set up was pretty easy.<br />
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Lucky for me, Kathy has lots of experience dressing up and tying things to animals, because my initial idea of just running some baling twine around the wings and under the burro's armpit didn't work at all. She grabbed a bareback pad and we secured the wings to it. At first, I tried getting the wings to stand up, but they kept flopping to one side or the other. No problem, our Assbutt was supposed to be moving, not stationary, and the wings would be flapping anyway.<br />
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Turbo the Assbutt was a bit of a show off, but the sweetest little ass I've met. He's such a lover. A bit ornery, but he's three, so ornery is what you'd expect. He makes me want to add a donkey to our herd.<br />
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I am not an actor, Jay is not a cameraman nor director, and I am terrible at editing video, but I managed to piece together a few seconds for my GISH submission.<br />
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Here's the link to the video: https://youtu.be/-D9AxDAD9oY<br />
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*There were other challenges I completed for GISH, but they don't really fit in with the theme of the Wild Ones, so if you want to see what else we did, head over to <a href="http://gundiva.blogspot.com/">Just another perfect day</a>.<br />
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(Cross posted to Just another perfect day)</div>
GunDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02965363044411500380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7602045830931362686.post-22314981243664812802019-08-06T07:00:00.000-06:002019-08-08T19:42:42.965-06:00GISH #14<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
We came back from our second task elated, but tired. However, we had one more task to complete before we could call it a day.</div>
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Usually, mechanical bulls can be found at rodeos, but we were in between rodeos. Around here it goes: Greeley Stampede, Rooftop Rodeo, Cheyenne Frontier Days, Weld County Fair, then Larimer County Fair. This year, there was a break between the Weld County Fair and the Larimer County Fair that spanned the time frame of GISH. The closest actual mechanical bull during GISH was at Cheyenne Frontier Days, but that ended the day before and I couldn't have driven up there anyway, because I was working the Weld County Fair. I was determined to complete this task, though.<br />
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Mom has a mechanical horse thing that she used during the winters before her hip surgeries to keep her core strong and her hips working. I was pretty certain that Mom and Bill had a steer head somewhere, from when Autobot and her ex-boyfriend were playing at roping last summer. Mechanical horse thing + roping steer head = mechanical bull.<br />
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Bill put the "bull" together while Mom and I were putzing around after the ride. We were all so tired - who knew that walking a <a href="https://gundiva.blogspot.com/2019/08/gish-153.html">unicorn into the living room</a>, then throwing a <a href="https://gundiva.blogspot.com/2019/08/gish-80.html">surprise fairy party</a> was so exhausting - but I only had to ride the bull for two seconds. I could do that, so I did.<br />
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Here's the link to the video: https://youtu.be/3FSbKSVxYus<br />
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(Cross posted on Just another perfect day)GunDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02965363044411500380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7602045830931362686.post-43006226339341747562019-08-05T07:00:00.000-06:002019-08-05T14:08:23.878-06:00GISH #80<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Our second challenge gave us an excuse to trailer the horses into Wild Basin, where we'd be guaranteed to run into hikers. It's a rare occasion that we see hikers across the street where we normally ride. As a general rule, we're okay with that, but since we needed to have people to throw a party for, we had to go where the people were.<br />
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The <a href="https://gundiva-talesfromthetrail.blogspot.com/2019/07/my-cup-runneth-over-ride-72919.html">ride itself was amazing</a> and we couldn't have asked for better behaved horses. They did a great job as Mustang Ambassadors that day.<br />
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Mom had baked cookies for us to give out as party treats and I bagged them up into individual treat bags. I thought that maybe people would be worried about taking home-baked cookies from strangers, so I quickly made up labels that said "Courtesy of Allenspark Lodge B&B", so they'd know the cookies came out of a commercial kitchen. (That came back to bite me in the butt later.)<br />
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Thank God Bill was the one driving, because I don't think my nerves would have made it. People coming out of the park were kind of a-holes. We were supposed to be spreading love and kindness, but I really just wanted to spread knuckle sandwiches with the way some of those people were driving.<br />
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Finally, a car saw us coming up the one lane road and pulled off to let us pass. I made Bill give them a cookie, which he tossed to them through the window as we yelled "thanks!". We did that for the next few cars. Sometimes you gotta train humans the way you train horses: make the wrong thing difficult and the right thing pleasant. People who insisted on not giving way on the road out had to thread past the truck and trailer; people who pulled over and let us by got cookies. As Ranger Mustang used to say, "<a href="https://allensparklodge.blogspot.com/2018/04/teacher.html">Peeples can be VERY HARD to train</a>".<br />
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Finally, we were able to get parked, tacked up, and on our way. Along the way, from the trailer parking to the trail head, we ran into some hikers who were thrilled to see horses on the trail. They stepped off to let us pass and guess what? They got cookies. Make the right thing pleasant, right?<br />
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We didn't want to risk losing the "unicorn's" horns, so we didn't put them on the "unicorns" until we reached the hitch rail.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Unicorns and fairies ready</td></tr>
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All that was left was to set out the party sign and find us some people to surprise.<br />
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The hitch rail is off the beaten path a little bit, as you can see, so we had to go trolling for people. The first group wasn't super excited. The kids were, but their mom, not so much. The girls came and rubbed the horses' noses then off they went.<br />
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Mom walked down toward the falls, which are on the same path as the hitch rail, just a little beyond it and found a family that wanted to come meet our pet unicorns. In fact, one of the little girls was wearing her unicorn shirt, so it was perfect.<br />
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The girls were shy, but excited to pet the unicorns and spent several minutes with them. Their parents had to practically drag them away.<br />
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The most surprising reaction came from adults. Remember when I said my decision to label the cookies would come back to bite me in the butt? Yeah, Mom met them where the trail met the turn off to the hitch rail and handed them cookies. They looked at the label and asked if this was some "publicity stunt" for the lodge. Ugh. It was like an arrow through the heart. Once we explained that we thought people would be more comfortable knowing that the cookies came out of a commercial kitchen and that we were doing this for a scavenger hunt, their tunes changed.<br />
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I was hoping to see pure surprise and joy on the kids' faces, which we didn't get. However, the look of joy on the previously dubious adults' faces? Priceless!<br />
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The reaction from the adults were my favorite and I felt like we'd nailed the task. Shortly after, we packed it in and rode back out. We'd entered Wild Basin with 20 cookies, and had three left. Easy, peasy, we just stopped at the ranger station on the way out and spread the love there too.<br />
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*Verbal consent obtained for posting pictures.<br />
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(Cross posted on Just Another Perfect Day.)GunDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02965363044411500380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7602045830931362686.post-24289823087940385912019-08-04T07:00:00.000-06:002019-08-04T07:00:01.350-06:00GISH #153During the week of GISH, we are forbidden from posting our challenges on social media (unless directly instructed to do so). That rule is <i>sooooo</i> hard to live by, especially since the challenges are a ton of fun and I wanted to show off my amazing, crazy family.<br />
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Jay and I were placed on a random team with people we didn't know, from all over the world, and I was a bit hesitant. I shouldn't have been, everyone on the team was amazing and supportive and we each brought our own special talents to the team. Jay is far more artistic than I, so the tasks he chose played to his strengths. I signed up for the tasks that I could incorporate the animals in, and recruited Mom and Bill to help me out with three of the tasks.<br />
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Last Monday (7/29/19), I spent the day at the lodge with them working on my tasks. I'm not sure I've laughed that hard in a long time. Everyone worries about making memories with their children when they're young, but I think we should also spend time as adults making memories with our parents. Turns out, it's a lot more fun, especially when you have parents like mine.<br />
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Here's the first task we tackled on Monday:<br />
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You can't tell me that this challenge wasn't custom made for us! Puh-leeze! Unicorns in the living room? I couldn't sign up for that one fast enough. I called Mom when the list was released and asked if we could do this. I really only asked out of courtesy, because I knew she's be all in.<br />
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The first thing we needed to do was transform Mom into the Fairy Mother and Washoe into the Wonder Unicorn. Mom was easy, I found some fairy wings at a costume shop and put her in them. We also dressed up our hats, as they were going to be used for two challenges.<br />
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Washoe's horn took just a bit more work, but not much. A paper towel roll, sliced and diced, then covered with aluminum foil made the perfect horn. A couple of heavy duty bread ties to attach it to his halter, <i>et voila!</i> A unicorn.<br />
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/r_TNpvtvwUQ" width="560"></iframe><br />
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Despite his little slip on the hardwood floor, he did great. I initially imagined him in front of the fireplace with the Fairy Mother (aka Bionic Cowgirl), but didn't want to risk more slipping on the floor while getting to the area rug in front of the fireplace.<br />
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A friend of Mom's was kind enough to video the whole thing, as I was focused on getting pictures. It always delights people when the horses visit the inside of the people barn, and Mom's friend was no exception.<br />
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Our first task went off without a hitch! One down, two to go.<br />
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(Cross-posted on Just Another Perfect Day)GunDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02965363044411500380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7602045830931362686.post-8234846329260147872019-07-30T23:44:00.007-06:002019-07-30T23:44:37.268-06:00"My Cup Runneth Over" Ride (7/29/19)Yesterday's ride was so amazing, I'm not sure I can put it into words.<br />
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The day started off with playing "horsey dress-up", but I can't tell that story ... <i>yet</i>. Next week, once we've got the all clear from the folks at <a href="http://gish.com/">GISH</a>, I'll post more stories and the corresponding pictures. Suffice it to say that our day started off with a ton of laughter.<br />
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We planned to trailer the horses in to Wild Basin for a short ride up to Copeland Falls for another top secret story that I can't tell you about ... <i>yet</i>. I should have been more nervous about the trip than I was. Two things kept my nerves in check: 1) despite walking half of our "ride" last week, I was completely relaxed when I did ride and I realized I finally trusted Skeeter to take care of me; 2) the excitement of our top secret mission had me focused on that instead of wondering what could go wrong.<br />
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Skeeter and I have a somewhat ... contentious ... relationship when it comes to trailers. However, when it was time to load her up, she followed me right on in like she'd been doing it her whole life. I hadn't actually expected her to load up so quickly or easily, so once we were in the trailer I didn't really have a plan. I'm too short to tie her in the trailer, but I didn't want to just leave her loose while I closed the gate, either. She quickly figured out I had no plan and asked to back out. Read that again: she <i>asked</i> to back out. She did not panic and bolt out. She <i>asked</i>.<br />
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Well, one of us had to make a decision, so when she asked, I agreed and she backed nicely out of the trailer. Mom came out of the lodge just in time to see us come out of the trailer and gave me an important piece of information that would have been helpful: she and Bill always work together to load Skeeter. Skeets loads in nicely, but then tries to follow the Bill out when he steps back to close the gate, so he threads the lead rope through the window bars to Mom, who ties her up while Bill closes the gate. Since they do most of Skeeter's hauling for me, I hadn't realized they had a whole routine.<br />
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Even with that little hiccup, I was feeling pretty good about our upcoming ride. The haul to the trail head was short - only two miles - but it marked the first time Skeets has been trailered to a new trail, one that she'd never seen before. Even if our top secret mission was a bust, we could call the day a win.<br />
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It's been years since I've ridden at Wild Basin and I was looking forward to it - I have great memories of riding those trails when we ran the Wild Basin Livery in 2004.<br />
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I thought we might have a problem when it was time to put her boots on, but while she wasn't perfect, her fight was only half-hearted. A ranger stopped by to chat us up and once the focus was off of her, she offered up her hoof. We're not dumb, if she's offering, we're taking it. 3 seconds later, she had her second boot on and we were ready to go.<br />
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Horse parking is more than a mile away from people parking, so we had to ride in to the actual trail head. Mom and Bill got mounted up easily, but Skeeter and I still have discussions about mounting. She thinks I should be able to do it from the ground anywhere, but my wee legs don't work that way so we always have to find a rock or something to give me a couple of extra inches to reach the stirrup.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mare face says, "learn to mount from the ground!"</td></tr>
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She circled the rock a few times and my frustration got a hold of me for half a second - just long enough for me to practically leap from the rock to her back. I hooked the toe of my left foot in the stirrup as she moved past and threw myself up. Thank goodness for all of Queen Estes' running mount training.<br />
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As soon as I was up, we were on our way. Skeeter took the lead for the first half mile or so, walking out confidently, as though we'd been doing this forever. She had one big spook in place; she had been watching a fisherman in chest waders walk along the trail when a car popped up on the road next to us. She shook off her spook and continued on.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSkeazUQh993SrGrhpL7KXQD5D_Ps8tRMGyDc0-iowiIMQ2KWXcEKUwGIRjSG6SwmWo24wAmO2ZUsd4p18C-C7_pS1v7b1jN-N3btDKpx7By5iRbW9OL-xATK3KqgjAzrQIzMnwSZhs1E/s1600/DSCF8441.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSkeazUQh993SrGrhpL7KXQD5D_Ps8tRMGyDc0-iowiIMQ2KWXcEKUwGIRjSG6SwmWo24wAmO2ZUsd4p18C-C7_pS1v7b1jN-N3btDKpx7By5iRbW9OL-xATK3KqgjAzrQIzMnwSZhs1E/s400/DSCF8441.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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After a bit, she decided that she didn't want to lead anymore, so Bill and Alloy hopped out front until we got to the actual trail head. The horse trail to the trail head is better maintained than I remembered, despite its lack of use, so once Bill and Alloy were in the lead, I just sat back and enjoyed.<br />
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There is one stretch of trail that always reminds me of Lord of the Rings - the trail is fairly steep, but has steps carved into it, and the trees just tower over us. The only thing missing is fog rolling in. It's one of my favorite stretches of trail.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkXliyuPcN5i2Wx9rBHfBNUOW_MCkbY8ZXA1_Td9P-7IivQ2xTZf5o34BwMF40E9DuzIWAdOWk5Qgza9Uz_x7VboiYirPCTsDLS8CSPBceR1FjpeRaOO7eh3jOeLpcrRB5X4uIUisNwoE/s1600/DSCF8444.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkXliyuPcN5i2Wx9rBHfBNUOW_MCkbY8ZXA1_Td9P-7IivQ2xTZf5o34BwMF40E9DuzIWAdOWk5Qgza9Uz_x7VboiYirPCTsDLS8CSPBceR1FjpeRaOO7eh3jOeLpcrRB5X4uIUisNwoE/s400/DSCF8444.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pictures just don't do this stretch justice.</td></tr>
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The stairs were new to Skeeter and she did pretty well with them.<br />
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But there was one ... had she not been riding Alloy's cute little butt so closely, she would have seen that it was a taller than usual step, and not as deep, so she really needed to place her feet well. The LotR stretch of trail is a long, somewhat steep uphill, and she still gets tired on long uphill climbs, so she was rushing up on Alloy. He saw the weird step and hopped up it like a mountain goat. Little Miss My Head Is Buried In Alloy's Butt did not see the weird step until it was almost too late. She got her front feet up, but found the step wasn't deep enough for her to get her back feet on the step as well. There wasn't anything I could do to help, so I just had to sit and let her figure it out, which she did. I'm not quite sure what she did, but it felt like she just hopped all four feet at the same time, then we moved on.<br />
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Though it's a very well maintained trail, there are parts that are rocky and tricky and she navigated them all like a pro. Well, except for the weird stair. In order to get to the people trail head, we had to cross a couple of different types of bridges: concrete road bridges and wooden pallet-type bridges. It made me thankful that we have a pallet "bridge" that we use at home for training.<br />
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The bridge at the people trail head was different from any she'd seen before and she didn't really want to cross it, but then neither did Alloy or Washoe (and Washoe's done this trail many, many times before). It's a narrow wooden pedestrian bridge with railing on each side. Having people clustered up on each end of the bridge added to the degree of difficulty, but we knew if we could get one horse to cross, the others would follow right along.<br />
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I volunteered to lead Skeeter across. Our ride had been so freaking amazing that I didn't want to ruin it by fighting with her over a bridge. I dismounted, grabbed a rein and walked across without an issue. Washoe and Alloy followed along when they realized the bridge trolls weren't going to eat them.<br />
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I looked for a place to mount up, and found a rock that would suffice, but Skeeter was not interested in standing while Washoe and Alloy were milling around, so I decided to just walk to the hitch rail. It was only 3/10ths of a mile and I was feeling good. Picking my battles - I'm getting better at it.<br />
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Skeets had been so light when I was leading her across the bridge, and was so tuned into me, I thought I'd give liberty work a try. I threw the rein over her neck and walked on. I expected, with so much activity from the hikers and all of the lush green grass growing up on both sides of the trail, plus Washoe and Alloy behind us, that she'd only be "with me" a few steps before I'd have to take her lead rope and physically lead her along the trail.<br />
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Once again, she surprised me. She stayed at my shoulder completely at liberty the entire walk up to the hitch rail. There were just a couple of times when I touched the rein to re-direct her, and once I had to lead her across a trickle of water, but otherwise I left her completely alone. She stayed hooked on and with me the entire time.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My new favorite picture of the two of us.</td></tr>
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I know I'm completely anthropomorphizing this, but I swear she does better when she feels like we're equal partners instead of me telling her what to do. She stayed with me because she wanted to, not because I was making her. (Though I could have, and would have, made her stay if necessary.)<br />
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We made it to the hitch rail and completed our top secret mission. All three horses were amazing throughout our top secret mission and a half hour or so later, we all mounted up for the ride out.<br />
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If the horses were great on the way in, they were dang near perfect on the way out. I kept exclaiming to Mom and Bill, "I have a TRAIL horse. And honest-to-God trail horse!". It's one thing to ride across the street in Roosevelt National Forest, but that's basically our back yard. Skeeter's been on those trails quite often - sometimes successfully, sometimes not - but the Wild Basin trail we rode was completely brand new to her and she loved it.<br />
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I kind of hate to think of it as a training test, but it was. I expected to have to lead her to our destination by necessity, not by choice. Instead she far surpassed any expectation I had of her. In retrospect, coming off of her three weeks ago did wonders for my confidence as weird as that seems. The fact that she stopped dead when I fell instead of panicking and stepping on me, or going over the edge of the trail again helped me get over any trust issues I had with her. Though I'd been told that she was taking care of me, I didn't quite believe it until then.<br />
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And just because the ride was beautiful, here are some gratuitous pictures:<br />
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<br />GunDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02965363044411500380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7602045830931362686.post-58242921168013189552019-07-25T21:28:00.000-06:002019-07-25T21:28:52.543-06:00A Misadventure-free Ride(ish)I was sure today was going to be one hell of a hot mess. I completely overslept, so I quickly threw on some clothes and jumped into the car. Halfway up the hill, I realized I'd left my cameras and my spare set of reins. I was afraid that didn't bode well for the ride.<br />
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When we got to the lodge, Mom told me that Skeeter was on her <strike>shit</strike> list. Skeeter is super pushy on the ground, which I hate, and it's an ongoing fight with her. I'm thinking that she's so pushy on the ground, because Karma heard me complain that I would never tolerate a pushy horse. You know how a childless adult bitching about misbehaving kids, ends up with feral children and are forced to eat their words? Yeah, it's *exactly* like that.<br />
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Ugh. Not a great start and we hadn't even pulled the horses.<br />
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Skeets was a rock star while getting all tacked up, though Alloy was being twitchy and a bit of a spaz. He threatened to blow up several times while getting tacked up. At one point, I mentioned that I hoped that oversleeping and forgetting stuff was all of the misadventure we'd have. Then Beel spoke up and said that is was probably his turn for a "misadventure" (read: fall, since Mom and I had each hit the ground). I told him that we don't take turns. I know that's against everything we learned in kindergarten, but when it comes to horse misadventures, we don't take turns!<br />
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Mom and I both had passing thoughts of booting Skeeter, but since we were just riding in town, I passed on fighting over the boots. The ride started out better than any we've had this year - even though Alloy was kind of being an idiot during the tacking up phase, as soon as Bill mounted up and started moving his feet, he settled right down.<br />
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Because of last week's fiasco, we planned a short, successful ride in town. It was all going well until about half a mile out, when Skeeter just stopped. She just refused to take one more step on the gravely, pokey road. I pointed her to the grassy area along the side of the road and she stepped right up and we moved along nicely until we had to step back down on the road to cross a driveway. She stepped down, took two steps and stopped, which confirmed my suspicion that her feetsies were still tender. I mentally cursed myself for not putting boots on her, then stepped down.<br />
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Thanks to my mapmyrun app, I know that when we're riding, we average between 24 and 25 minutes a mile, but I also know that when Copper and I are walking, we average between 19 and 20 minutes a mile. I wasn't going to let her meander along at a 24 minute per mile pace, so I kept her moving along faster than she wanted. She might have gotten out of carrying me, but she wasn't getting out of working. For a mare that is usually very difficult to lead because of her pushiness, I had to do a surprising amount of driving and dragging her along. There's a reason she hasn't graduated from the 15' lead rope to a more manageable length one.<br />
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Mom and Bill happily rode along behind us while I dragged Skeeter a long. At one point, after having to drive her to speed her up, I looked back and she had the <i>best</i> eff you and eff this look on her face. I couldn't help but laugh at her. She thought she was going to get to go home once I dismounted, but the joke was on her.<br />
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You know the problem with forcing your horse to walk with you at a 19-ish minute mile? You also have to walk at that pace, so maybe the joke was on me. I know exactly how slow my walking pace is, but I figured I was making her move a good bit faster than her riding speed.<br />
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Ski Road meets up with Business Hwy 7, which is paved, so I mounted up again there and we rode happily back to the lodge.<br />
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We're calling today's ride a huge win. No one came off their horse, and though I walked, I chose to, plus she still had to carry me about half of the ride. Next week, the boots are going back on. I think we'll probably stay in town, just to see how she's doing, but by August we should be back up on the mountain.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You're welcome for the fancy artwork :)</td></tr>
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<br />GunDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02965363044411500380noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7602045830931362686.post-54220186935201800312019-07-22T18:23:00.002-06:002019-07-22T23:13:30.877-06:00The Birthday Ride That Wasn't<span style="font-size: large;">Alternatively titled: Another F*cking Misadventure</span><br />
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Despite last week's misadventures, we had a really great ride and I couldn't wait to get up there for my birthday ride.<br />
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Skeeter was easy to catch, and stood at the rail like a broke horse. In fact, I was so proud of her, I had to take a picture.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglLN_ULoKN9E9CsQeMqJCdU4bOIcDuHkvrAKYSKwCG51T25Qs5PDXGPGwiQis0a-TR5RJ6XbLXRCFaDmbDCaqiTPei1zJFCF9kX6ZQAt9cPnwR8f0tqa7SDdElhyoIH1AlZOQ0IdLFs8Y/s1600/Sweet+Skeets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="960" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglLN_ULoKN9E9CsQeMqJCdU4bOIcDuHkvrAKYSKwCG51T25Qs5PDXGPGwiQis0a-TR5RJ6XbLXRCFaDmbDCaqiTPei1zJFCF9kX6ZQAt9cPnwR8f0tqa7SDdElhyoIH1AlZOQ0IdLFs8Y/s400/Sweet+Skeets.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look at that broke horse!</td></tr>
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The trouble started when I went to put her boots on. She's never been great about putting her boots on, but it's usually not a huge fight. Last week, since she'd lost one of her boots on the previous ride, she went out barefoot. I was actually pretty excited about it, because I hate putting on her boots as much as she does. They're easy to put on, but it's just an extra step and I'm lazy. Unfortunately, she was too sore after our barefoot ride to take her out barefoot again, which meant we had to put her boots on.<br />
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I started with her right front, but she kept offering her left front, so I switched up. Getting her boot on her left front was a breeze (relatively), so I was confident that I could go back to the right and it would go on as easy. Silly me. She wanted nothing to do with lifting her hoof, going so far as to lean her right shoulder onto my back. Bill came over and attempted to lift her foot. After a couple of tries, she gave him her foot, but then set back and sat on her ass. Such a mare!<br />
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Eventually, between the two of us we were able to get her hoof cleaned out and her boot on. I was starting to get frustrated and wanted to just say "screw it, if she doesn't want to go out, we won't". However, this was my freaking birthday ride and I'd just driven an hour and a half to get to the lodge so we could ride. By God, we were going for a ride.<br />
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Last week, I attempted to ride Skeeter up the switchback and it didn't go well, so this week I decided I was going to lead her up it and then mount up. I really hate having to hand walk her from the lodge to the top of the hill, but it seemed like a lot of work to mount up, ride to the switchback, dismount, lead her up the switchback, and then re-mount. Copper and I have been walking a mile or so each day for the last week, and we didn't walk that morning before Jay and I headed up the hill, so I thought I'd just suck it up and walk.<br />
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Skeeter was being pretty good as we walked toward the switchback. She only snatched a couple bites on our way up to the road and was walking very nicely behind me. About halfway to our crossing point, I felt her head go up and a pop. I was turning to see what had happened when Mom said that she'd stepped on and broken a rein. As I usually do, I had crossed her reins over her neck and just let them be while I was leading her.<br />
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I stood there, along the side of the road, just looking at the broken rein.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV2trXySMOA8b1hIX9lJVKXxgoYSN6PzfECcgZje-YvF3aTnNX7DAd879g7fVCxGjHTF85JRXCQABsP_nckS0ma8Aja3V1keFftvGp-uCTgAGWRLtSpKWeZF4D8pApGw6-wxvZ96u7ZBQ/s1600/Broken+rein.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV2trXySMOA8b1hIX9lJVKXxgoYSN6PzfECcgZje-YvF3aTnNX7DAd879g7fVCxGjHTF85JRXCQABsP_nckS0ma8Aja3V1keFftvGp-uCTgAGWRLtSpKWeZF4D8pApGw6-wxvZ96u7ZBQ/s400/Broken+rein.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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For the second time in less than ten minutes, I considered aborting the ride. First her refusal with the boots, then the rein. A smart woman would have thought maybe God was telling her something and <i>listened</i>. But I'm not a smart woman. I mean, clearly, this was a sign that the ride was not to be, but this was my freaking birthday ride and I'd just driven an hour and a half to get to the lodge so we could ride. By God, we were going for a ride.<br />
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We use scissor clips on our reins so we can quickly switch them out if necessary. Mom suggested I take one of her reins from Washoe and move her lead rope to her bit. It was a reasonable, and easy, solution to now being down a rein. I didn't want to mess around with it right then and there since Alloy was getting antsy and we needed to get across the street.<br />
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At the base of the switchback, while I caught my breath from hauling my own body up the hill, Mom and I made the quick tack switch. Skeeter led up the switchback nicely. We avoided making the sharp turn and opted for going straight up to the upper trail. She hesitated just a moment when I didn't make the turn, but followed me up to the upper trail without a fight.<br />
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The fight started when we reached the actual trail at the top of the switchback. Skeeter parked herself. Just stopped and said, "no" *. No, however, was not acceptable to me, so I swung my lead rope and drove her forward until she was moving nicely. After about 50 feet, she stopped again and said, "no". Again, no was not acceptable to me, so I drove her forward. After another 50 feet she stopped and parked herself.<br />
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This time, I saw the big flashing neon light from God telling me to abort the ride. A smart woman would have paid attention. I am not a smart woman. This was my freaking birthday ride and I'd just driven an hour and a half to get to the lodge so we could ride. By God, we were going for a ride.<br />
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When I was done swearing at Skeeter, I realized that what I was doing wasn't working. Over, and over, horse trainers say not to fight with your horse, and not to work them when you're angry. It's the kinder, gentler method of training**. However, I also knew that she shouldn't be allowed to "win" by being stubborn. I looked up and saw Mom, so I had a brilliant solution: Mom and Washoe could pony Skeeter while I got my anger under control.<br />
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Mom agreed and rode up to take Skeeter's lead rope. I <strike>stomped</strike> walked up the trail ahead of them to give Mom room to get Skeets straightened out and moving. I heard Mom say, "oh", and turned in time to see Washoe broadside to Skeeter and Mom hanging off his side like a slow-motion trick rider. Skeeter had set back and sat down on her ass, head in the air, and Washoe was struggling to keep his footing. Mom made the wise choice to let go and fall. Unfortunately, she fell flat on her back with an "oof", but Washoe was able to get his balance and did not get pulled over on top of her.<br />
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As soon as Skeeter felt the pressure give, she stopped and parked herself. Stupid mare.<br />
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The fall hurt, but Mom <b><i>is</i></b> the Bionic Cowgirl, so she got up and dusted herself off. After I made sure that she wasn't dead, broken, or bleeding, I grabbed Skeeter's lead rope and said, "That's It! We're not freaking riding today!"<br />
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I'm pretty certain I heard God's eyes roll and a muttered "about time".<br />
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Mom mounted back up and I stomped my way back down the hill to the lodge. Funny thing, as soon as we aborted the ride, things quit going wrong. There were no more "misadventures". Mom took stock of her injuries once we got back to the lodge. She landed on two rocks: one at the back of her head, and one at her tailbone. Currently, the knot on her head is mostly gone and it only hurts when she pushes on it. The tailbone is still pretty painful. She thinks she might have broken it, but there's nothing to do even if she has broken it.<br />
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Throughout all of Skeeter's silliness, Alloy was a rock star. He's a pretty impatient horse - when he gets moving, he wants to stay moving - so this is good patience training. It's not maybe the way Bill prefers to teach him patience, but we take the opportunity when we can.<br />
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Bill and I have plans to ride again on Thursday, but we will just ride Ski Road instead of trying to go up on the hill. It'll be boring (hopefully), but it's a good "remember your brains" ride.<br />
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~~~<br />
* Ironically, I just wrote a blog post titled "<a href="http://www.thegundivas.com/2019/07/no-means-no-always.html">No Means No. Always</a>". Should have taken my own advice.<br />
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** Next time I'm mad at Skeeter, she's going to know it. Kinder, gentler works for a lot of horses, but a stubborn black mare like mine? Sometimes shes need to know when she's in trouble. If I'd gotten after her instead of trying to look for another solution, Mom wouldn't have been pulled off of her horse.GunDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02965363044411500380noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7602045830931362686.post-1557998902911848122019-07-12T23:18:00.003-06:002019-07-12T23:18:37.066-06:00Misadventures in Trail RidingThis riding season is starting out as in interesting one. Nothing horribly wrong has happened, but they haven't gone quite *right* either.<div>
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While I'm down to just my part-time job, and looking for a new primary job, I decided I'd go ride once a week with Mom and Bill. Yesterday was our scheduled ride day and I happily loaded my butt into my car for the drive.</div>
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After my ride last week, I knew I had to repair my HellHat and I needed to add a breast collar to Skeeter's saddle. She's filled out a bit since last year, and riding her is almost like riding a barrel. Her prominent withers aren't quite as prominent and she's a touch overweight. I spent a significant amount of time last week centering my saddle because it kept slipping.</div>
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Mom helped me quickly repair my HellHat while Bill went and pulled Alloy. I debated whether or not to slip my GoPro on, but was afraid that it would slip off since I hadn't taken the time to secure my hatband to the HellHat. </div>
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By the time we were headed out to pull our horses, Alloy was practically dressed and ready to go. Talk about pressure! Not that Bill was in a hurry, just that I'm not used to being "behind" in getting ready. I was a bit discombobulated trying to get Skeeter ready. Had to add and adjust the breast collar, then realized that her cinch was too far back, so had to loosen everything and start all over. Then realized I needed some water and to put sunscreen on. It was just one thing after another. Getting ready for the ride, for me, was like herding cats, only I was the damn cats. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifK6iI55bwnvyP4HUqIr_ypFLIikyS0LYRmBNx0PkU-T5xeV7JqIOzoBo7oL_fVptkdTpMnF2DD2yXjvzxChzD3rWiy49VloTyuhTTn4DYcRmI5gKZeZt9vWeAxd-C5ABFYdW85Axex_Q/s1600/IMG_1582.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifK6iI55bwnvyP4HUqIr_ypFLIikyS0LYRmBNx0PkU-T5xeV7JqIOzoBo7oL_fVptkdTpMnF2DD2yXjvzxChzD3rWiy49VloTyuhTTn4DYcRmI5gKZeZt9vWeAxd-C5ABFYdW85Axex_Q/s400/IMG_1582.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So much stuff on my saddle horn: horn bag; water bottle; lead rope.<br /></td></tr>
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<br />Finally, I had all of my poop in a group and we were ready to go. Throughout the whole getting ready mess, Skeeter was a rock star. She really is becoming a good horse. While she's not quite as "fun" to ride as Estes was, she's pretty darn solid.</div>
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Most of the time.</div>
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Unlike our last ride, I decided to ride Skeeter up to the switchback and then lead her up. What can I say? I'm basically lazy and didn't want to make the hike up there. She was going so well, and willing to attempt the switchback that I didn't think twice about aiming her toward it. I had a plan, which was to take the upper trail, so she wouldn't have to make the sharp turn. My thought was that she didn't have any bad experiences with the upper trail, so we wouldn't have any problems.</div>
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When we got to the point where I intended to steer Skeeter straight up the trail to avoid the tight turn of the switchback, but she was plodding along behind Alloy and just made the turn without hesitation. I hadn't yet committed to forcing her to take the upper trail, so I thought I'd just enjoy the ride up the trail she'd chosen. I even mentally congratulated her for just marching on past her trouble area.</div>
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Between one step and the next, it's like a flip switched in her head and I felt her freeze up. One second, we're moving along like a confident, broke trail horse and the next her brain vapor locked. She came to a complete standstill and I tried to encourage her forward, but then she remembered that bad things had happened at that spot and started to back up. Afraid that she'd back her butt off the trail like she did with Autobot last year, I slipped my feet out of the stirrups and prepared to dismount. I swung my right leg back to clear the back of the saddle just as she spun in that direction. I was left hanging in the air like Wile E. Coyote. I reached for my stirrup with my left foot, forgetting that I'd already kicked my foot out.</div>
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Down I went, my feet hit the ground (boy, that first step was a bitch!) and I rolled ass over tea kettle down the trail, hoping that Skeeter wouldn't back off the trail and down the hill. When I realized that she hadn't backed off the trail, I started hoping that she wouldn't freak out and step on me. It only took a roll or two for me to stop and pop up to my feet in the event she was headed in my direction.</div>
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Mom missed the fall, but managed to catch me just as I got to my feet. I'm calling it a win, since I still had a rein in my hand when I got up. This is one reason, though, that I prefer riding in split reins. </div>
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I did call Skeeter a bad name, and then gave her lots of love for being so good about stopping when I went down. You can see that she's parked solidly, but worried. It took some encouragement to get her up the trail - we took the upper trail where Alloy and Beel are standing.</div>
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I lead her up the hill to the rock I've been using for the past two seasons to mount. It was just the perfect height and we've never had a problem. Mom looked at the rock and asked, "why do you use that one, doesn't it roll?"</div>
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"Mom, don't jinx me. I've been using this rock for two years!"</div>
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I checked Skeeter's cinch, stepped up onto my reliable old mounting rock, lifted my foot to the stirrup and I'll be damned if that reliable old mounting rock didn't roll right out from under me. I ended up on my back under Skeeter's belly. I could almost hear Skeeter rolling her eyes at me.</div>
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I may or may not have grumbled at Mom for jinxing my rock and continued leading Skeeter up the trail until I could find a new mounting rock.</div>
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The rest of the ride went beautifully. Beel tried to get a nice picture of Mom and I together in a field of flowers, but Alloy hasn't quite gotten the hang of standing still for him to take pictures.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJB5IABS6CQfJCKKk91kvmWeA1udxNrxNGnU39r6GwqCNu-NSDEao9SCTBbzl0OUxqUMhNhko7v6tj1ENfVgJw4qZo1x5i1WqCglO56OgZqIIA4PnElCY_e7yNObG6tk1EotjbMhIgB5I/s1600/103_8355.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJB5IABS6CQfJCKKk91kvmWeA1udxNrxNGnU39r6GwqCNu-NSDEao9SCTBbzl0OUxqUMhNhko7v6tj1ENfVgJw4qZo1x5i1WqCglO56OgZqIIA4PnElCY_e7yNObG6tk1EotjbMhIgB5I/s400/103_8355.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not bad for taking them from the back of a moving horse.</td></tr>
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We retraced the beginning of our ride from last week, and Beel managed to find the boot Skeeter lost last week. We just needed to come from the correct direction - it was hidden in grass that covered it when looking at it from the opposite direction. We strapped the boot to Washoe's saddle and continued on.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The lost boot on Washoe's saddle.</td></tr>
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Here are some gratuitous ride pictures, just because I think they're gorgeous. We're awfully lucky that we have these trails just across the street from us.</div>
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Skeeter has never given anyone trouble going <i>down</i> the switchback, so I didn't give it any thought. However, this time she balked at the top. It wasn't a big deal, all I had to do was point her to the upper trail, which would give her a straight shot down the hill instead of the switchback. Only, she hadn't gone down the hill that way before and had to take some time to figure out where to put her feet. I gave a passing thought to dismounting and leading her down, but one look at the rocks I'd already become intimately acquainted with made me think twice. I just sat quietly and let her figure it out. By that time she was tired and her feet were getting sore (she couldn't wear boots, because she'd lost half of her pair), but she did eventually figure out how to pick her way down the trail.</div>
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Despite our rocky beginning, the ride was awesome. I didn't get hurt in either of my falls, other than a couple of bruises on my hip/butt and a bit of road rash on an elbow; I wasn't afraid to climb back up on Skeeter; we found her lost boot; and I got to spend the afternoon riding with my parents.</div>
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GunDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02965363044411500380noreply@blogger.com3