Serene Sunday

One of the few critters that didn't climb on the wet trailer.  Instead I think he's eating the remnants of all the bugs that got stuck to the fresh coat of paint earlier!  Smart spidee!!

Pony Doesn't Like Lightning

What do people do when out trail riding or camping and a storm like this occurs?  What if you have your horse in an temporary paddock at camp?  End of August I'm hopefully we'll make it on an overnight trip with Dani but I worry how she'll react without the shelter.  When this rain started she was out in the paddock and came running back to the shed.

Rain, Rain, Glad You are Here!

No riding today!  I can't complain, this time last year and the year before I was working the Emergency Operations Center for Waldo Canyon Fire and then Black Forest Fire.

Again, surprise, surprise....I couldn't get even get sanding done on the Bondo'd areas of the trailer.  We had some heavy rain and even some hail!

Someday I'll have the Trailer Outside Done!

I have some last minute finishing touches to complete before we can do the final layers of paint on the trailer!!  Rain this weekend has not helped with the trailer completion, can't paint when you are going to have a thunderstorm within the hour!

I got some new weather stripping for the tack room door.  Bigger than the last stuff I bought and it seems to seal the door pretty well.  I may have to add some caulk to some areas where the water can seep in to make the door meet the sides all around.  I also closed up the pipes around the inside of the door.

I hadn't realized that this was conducting any water in and through the metal pipe and leaving a rusty residue on my freshly painted door.  I'll have to sand this later and then prime it again.

We also removed the old breakaway cable and since my hubby had to drill it off we were left with sharp edges.  I covered that in Bondo and will have to retouch that area.

Hopefully some day this week after work I'll have decent enough weather to sand and prime those areas.  I'd love to start painting some sections but don't want to get my hopes up.  Looks like we have some weather headed our way.  Good for fire season, bad for painting a trailer outside!

After the final painting I've decided I'll add Herculiner truck bed liner to the "steps" by the tack room and escape door.  It will add extra protection and a slip free surface.

We've also decided that it would also make sense for parts of the door handles to have the truck bed liner rolled on it tooo.  Paint will always be scratched off these areas.  It's frustrating when I want to get a coat of paint on the trailer but just can't.  If only my two car garage was big enough to accommodate the trailer and didn't opening into a narrow alley.  That would be the prime place to work!

Tomorrow or this week after work: 

Sand tack room Bondo

Sand breakaway kit Bondo

Touch up with primer

Maybe this weekend? 

Paint trailer

Attach drip rail and fender guards

Apply Reflective strips

Replace exterior lights with new LED lights

I'll wait to do the Herculiner for a few days to make sure the painters tape won't pull off any of my fresh paint!  I'm frustrated not being able to complete this project yet.  Oh well, all in time.

Serene Sunday

Drip drying my now clean halter.  What else is there to do on a rainy Sunday?

Extreme Cowboy Association Clinic

(FYI none of these pictures are mine, they were posted by various members of KCRC who posted on the Facebook page!  Thank you!!)

The Extreme Cowboy Association hosts competitions where riders take their horses through a series of obstacles that show horsemanship, trust and refined aids in order to get the horse through the obstacle and in order to earn points.  This is Craig Cameron’s baby; he is the originator of the Extreme Cowboy Race.

This was a free clinic hosted at KCRC by the members that are actively involved in EXCA.  I’d never done EXCA so figured this would be an awesome introduction.  I was worried I’d have to run through the obstacles but I was told I could stay at a walk.  It was good to get Dani out and about with all the activity of other horses running around in the warm up arena.  I had to figure out how to tie Dani while we were corralled into the stands for a brief introduction.  I didn't bring my lead rope with me since I don’t have a place for it on the saddle and you should never tie a horse by the reins!!!

There's me below at the right playing with the rope.

Luckily being at KCRC I could run her back to her stall, tie her there with some hay and run back to get the briefing.  We then were broken into small groups of 3-5 to rotate through the obstacles.  Not all possible obstacles were set up just a good number and variety.  Dani and I were with two others, a couple on their two horses.  Our first obstacle was a rope and barrel.  You have to either rope the barrel, then trot around it; thereby wrapping the rope around it or you place the rope loop over the barrel and complete it that way.  We only got to the part of standing on the ground trying to learn to through the rope and rope a rock in the sand.  I was so not good at it but almost roped the sock at the end.  Again I was sans lead rope so I didn’t know how to secure Dani.  I unlatched the reins from her bit and clipped one end to her halter ring and then loosely tied her to the rail behind me.  Hoping she wouldn't do anything silly while sort of tied.  She was good though.  

Our next obstacle was a barrel with four poles at 90 degrees to each other.  The goal is to trot or canter around the outside once, change direction and then go at an equal distance around the barrel and over the poles twice in that direction.  We practiced at a walk.

After that we did the water hole.  The two horses with me didn’t like it at all and were balking at stepping in the water (puddle sharks live there don’t you know!).  Dani just looked down, sniffed and then walked through.  We also did the cowboy curtain which she’s been pretty regular about as I’ve done lots of ground training and in saddle training.   Then we hopped up the three levels of “jumps” on the side of the hill (hello two-point, long time no see!).  I’ve only done this with her in halter from the ground.  The tallest one is about 1.5 feet.  Going up that one I accidentally bopped my girl in the mouth.  I felt bad but next time was better about it and she was forgiving.  We also went down the obstacles.  Always scary going down!  I chickened out on the second step but did go down it at last.  No ready for the tallest one.  I can work on those and get the courage to hop up and down all of them.

The next obstacle was side passing over a poll.  Nope, I haven’t side passed yet so that’s something to work on.  Then we backed the turned through an L shaped pole obstacle.  Dani was good at backing and turning outside of the pole obstacle but when I asked at the obstacle she didn’t like it.  I practiced outside some more, perhaps I can work on that on my own too since I have access to those poles.

The next obstacle was a ground tie where you walk around your horse, distance from them means more points.  I didn’t go too far from her but was glad she stayed.  Good girl!  Then we had to do a turn on the hindquarters (kind of like a spin but not).  I haven’t worked with her on this at all so barely knew what I was doing and confused her a bit but she tried.  That’s what I love about her, she may get frustrated at trying to figure out what I’m asking but she has a lot of try.

The scary object was the tunnel of junk.  Plastic bags, jugs and other “trash” were set up between two fence panels and you had to move your horse through.  The first time Dani paused; not out of fear but what seemed to be interest in if there was a treat in one of the bags.  LOL.  We went through again and again.  So in love with my mare, the flapping didn’t bother her much.

Removing a bucket from a barrel, lowering it to the ground and then placing it back on the barrel was the next obstacle.  It made sounds and clinking.  I made sure to have it brush Dani a couple times on the side and I made extra noise with it on the ground.  She was solid.   Then we had the “mounting” block.  A table was set on 4 bales of straw….guess what….pony took a nibble.  Oh my goodness.  I could walk her around the obstacle but I couldn’t get her to sidle up to it in order for me to dismount.  At one point she thought I wanted her to step up on it but that wasn’t what I was asking.  Again, lateral movements that go with sliding up to an obstacle and staying near it in a straight line is a common movement (opening gates, checking mail etc.)

When we were done I did a little trotting in a circle and dismounted.  Lunch time!  I brought Dani back to her stall, untacked her and made sure she had some hay to nibble on.  Then I went for my pulled pork sandwich.  YUM!!!

After lunch we were going to run through the obstacles like a race.  This was going to take a long time as there were 30 something participants.  We waited and waited as people ran the course.  I was tired and my knees were hurting me.  I starting seeing dots so decided to call it quits and go take care of the pony, mucking, hay moving etc and then head home asap.  I wanted to get out of the heat and into a luke-warm bath.  We’d started the day at 8am and I left early at around 3 pm-ish.  Several days that week I’d been in the heat working on the trailer, I was done with hot.  It would have been nice to run the course but I just had to get out of the sun!

Anyways, I learned a ton and had a great time with my good girl. I'm so thankful to all the EXCA KCRC riders who volunteered their time to put this on for us!  What an awesome day!

Serene Sunday

Primed for Action!!

I spent a good morning and early afternoon getting a final prime coat on the trailer.  Rollers and brushes...meh.  They actually are doing a decent job, the roller puts a slight texture on the trailer which hides all the tiny imperfections.  Awesome, I'll take it!

I've gotten it down to a system on how to paint the odd angles, the railings the crevices and seams.  The next two layers of actual gloss white paint will go on much quicker...plus I hope to enlist the hubby for at least one coat of it!

I did prime the inside of the tack room door since we removed the worn out seals and have new stuff to add.  It will be nice to get the door sealed so water doesn't come into the corner of the tack room.  I'm pleased with the progress just wishing things had gone a little faster this week (I'd taken off time from work to get work done on the trailer).  Issues always come up that increase your timeline; spray gun issues, weather issues....etc.  What can you do? It's nice that Rusty is starting to look like a decent trailer again!  I'm hoping he'll be welcoming to Dani as well!

Throwing in the Towel--for the day

Painting day....one of many....has arrived!  I got suited up with a painting suit, respirator to protect my lungs from VOC's and a painters sock for my head.  Don't I look awesome?

After struggling with connections for the spray paint gun I got everything connected and working with the compressor and was on my way.  Wow.  Am I doing something wrong?  Not much paint is spraying out.  I fiddled with the knobs, adjusted air flow and read the instructions again, etc etc.

My spray painting should be making this faster yeah?  Not so much.  Eventually I got a decent coat on the trailer and then the sprayer clogged so I broke it down and cleaned it.  I decided I'd try my hand at paint rolling.  I removed the painters tape from the roof since most of it was peeling off and falling down.  This Exterior paint is not getting good reviews from me at all!!  It was either not sticking well or in one area it peeled off the elastomeric roof coating!!!  Ugh!!!  I'll have to repair that with several layers of coating to get it back in shape.

After going to Home Depot for some new rollers I worked on the front of the trailer since it had the least amount of paint.  For one coat, the trailer is starting to look nice.  I still have another gallon of primer to work with

My Bondo job on the screw holes definitely leaves something to be desired but sanding and sanding was taking too long and I wasn't getting the smooth seamless surface I desired.  Oh well, I just want it to be water tight and it is.  So what there are some areas where you see globs of stuff.  The Devil's in the details and I am just too tired to make this perfect.  When I sanded there were some places that the mesh started showing through and I don't want that either.  Perhaps to some it would seem I'm being lazy and maybe I am but I simply don't care if the surface is perfect and smooth.  I want a nice protective layer of paint and I want all drilled holes that are no longer in use to be closed up from water.  Boom!  There we go!

It was a longer day than expected due to the issues with connecting the air sprayer and it not functioning like I thought it should.  Then of course my old roller head broke (circa 2007?), after I came back with new rollers for it from Home Depot.  I did the best I could with the broken and wobbly head. Then I threw in the towel for the day.  I'll get a new roller head and start anew tomorrow with rollers and brushes to get a second coat of primer on the trailer.

There were a couple bumps in the road and it was a long day but tomorrow will be better.  Going to bed early!

Final Prep

Steve and I formed a corral around the trailer and a warning sign.  The trailer is up on jack stands with cinder blocks for additional support.  Not exactly the most stable thing if we have water cut through the property and under the trailer.

The wheel bearings and brakes are sealed off with plastic and I applied corroseal in the wheel wells as the final place needing rust treatment.

I was hoping to start painting but forgot how long it takes to tape off everything!!  I got the front tack room windows taped up. And then worked on getting the inside of the trailer windows taped off.

We don't want any paint getting into the interior before we've removed the caulking and treated rust with corroseal.  That will come down the road. When I was done it felt like a tent inside the trailer.

I had wanted to try and build a tarped paint booth but the winds kicked up and there was no way I was getting the tarps to stay put with tape.  Plan B.  Get up really early in the mornings when there is less wind and paint at that time.  Hopefully that won't be a big issue.

As you can see the plastic was blowing like crazy!  I accidentally took this picture, I was trying to get a video.  Next time I redo a trailer I will make sure I have a garage I can use to do all the work in.  My garage backs to a narrow alley.  Getting the trailer in there would be nearly impossible!!!  We'll get ur done.

Getting ready

The trailer has been moved to a place where we can paint free of obstructions.  Below are the overall pictures of the trailer.  The Corroseal turns a brownish color because it picks up the stain of the rust but when you look closely you see the black specks where rust used to be.

Rusty the trailer certainly looks worse than when we bought him!  But of course any one who's done painting of any kind knows that the preparation part makes for ugliness!

We still have a few more things to do but will be painting very soon!

Trot Reaction and Girth Malfunctions

The other day I was riding Dani in the arena and working on the trot.  She very on her forehand so tosses her head up and lurches forward for the trot transition.  I’m still getting used to her big trot and have the goal to get more comfortable and hopefully get her more comfortable in the process.  When I asked to trot she reached her neck around to the right side towards the girth.  Was I applying more pressure from my right let?  It’s very possible that leg is the stronger of the two.

I tried to correct that at the next ask but had the same reaction from her.  I dismounted and checked on the saddle and girth.  Was her shoulder hitting the off billet?  My western saddle has a short off billet on the right side, typical for western saddles but for some reason that side of the girth lacks a keeper; therefore the billet sticks out.  The billet or latigo keeper is on the other side of the girth where I tie my latigo so I have no need of it and I can't exactly switch the girth around the way the buckles are.  It totally doesn't make sense to me.  The versions I see online of the same girth actually have the keeper on the correct area of the girth now.  Perhaps I got a dud?  Really?

I altered the girth with a fabric strap and Velcro, we'll see how that works out.  I did try out my dressage saddle though the next day to see if was a tack issue.  Dani still reached around but then started trotting off.  I'm so not used to trotting in the dressage saddle anymore so I flopped around more than usual.  Not fun.  I have to work on this.  Time off from riding hasn't been good for my fear issues either but I'll work on it.  I have to make sure that there isn't a tack issue though that is causing her pain.  I also have to make sure that I'm not causing her to react by inadvertently applying pressure incorrectly and unevenly.

I haven't had the chance to ride again so will hopefully be able to tack up and see how the girth works out with this new alteration.  I have a feeling that perhaps her skin was pinched and when I squeezed for the trot it hurt or something like that.  I haven't had issues with this tack yet but I've been wanting a keeper for the off billet forever and there was not need to buy a new girth.

Holey moley!!

The entire rusty areas of the outside of the trailer have been treated with Corroseal.  The next step was to fill in all the holes left over from screws that held a hay cage, screws that supported the Plexiglas windows and screws that had been there and were taken out for who knows what reason.

Bondo is used in car renovations so I grabbed myself a kit that included the wire mesh for the larger holes.  The Bondo is composed of a grey material in the can.  You get about a golf ball size of that into the mixing pan and add about 1.25 inch strip of the hardening agent from the tube.  You only have a couple minutes of working time so it's actually better to use small amounts at a time.

For the largest hole I used Corroseal on the inside and outside.  I applied the Corroseal deep into this pipe to treat as much of the area as possible.  Then I placed the metal mesh over the hole...after a 24 hour cure for the Corroseal of course!

Then the Bondo is mixed and I slapped it on.  I put it on thicker than the picture shows.  I don't want to see the mesh and I don't care if you can see bumps in it at the final stage.  Of course you sand once the Bondo is hardened but I'm just looking for the water seepage prevention rather than aesthetics here.

Some holes are small enough I can just apply the Bondo directly.....

Others will require the mesh placed over the hole first.  This hole below I noticed had not received the Corroseal treatment so I had to address that and then go back the next day and finish it up.   I'll sand in the next day or so and I am sure after the first prime coat I will see areas that need more sanding and perhaps more Bondo to get it really smooth.

Like I said I'm not trying to make this a fancy show trailer.  I just want to repair and mitigate future issues.  Getting excited that we are almost ready for the painting stage.  At least the outside.  We still have the tack room and the horse area.....but the outside was the beast.  I think I got all the screw holes but with the handful of different colors on this trailer it's hard to tell if I missed any!

Next steps:

Sand Bondo areas

Set trailer on jack stands

Corroseal the wheel wells

PRIME!!!!

Caulk removal and More Rust Conversion

Steve and I finally finished up getting the sticky residue and caulking off the trailer, at least the outside for now.  It's painstakingly slow but Goof Off has a formula for caulk and a formula for the sticker residue.  Since I removed all the reflective tape there were many places that had sticker residue.  Goof off and a razor blade worked like a charm.  The sticky stuff combined with the goof was like boogers falling off my trailer.  Yuck! 

There was also caulking all around the windows since the previous owners had retrofit a Plexiglas cover for the windows to enclose the trailer.  The caulk Goof Off worked well.  I soaked the strip with the solution, wiped it up a little and then attacked it with a wire brush getting into all the crevices.  It was like I was brushing the trailer's teeth.  It's all finally removed.

We then did a once over for all the seams.  Steve used the wire brush drill bit I'd purchased.  It worked pretty well and helped me when I had to remove the last sticky residue...the seal for the tack room.  We had new sealing on order to install for the tack room door.  Until then we have plastic sheeting taped over it to prevent the water from pooling on the tack room floor.

After a quick wash to remove the Goof Off residue and other debris Steve and I applied Corroseal to the rest of the trailer.  All the seams with rust were coated and the nose of the trailer too.  The bull nose hitch will have to wait for another time, I have to get in there and remove a bunch of globby lube the previous owner put on right before we bought the trailer.  We'll treat the hitch with Corroseal but will probably only paint the top and only lightly.  The underside will have oil on it for lubrication and that creates a layer for rust prevention.

We are almost getting to the fun part!!!

Next step:

Fill in the holes from removed screws with Bondo

Serene Sunday

Pretty day for a ride on a pretty pony.

Dani stood so patiently as I hopped over the fence to grab my lip balm

What a good girl.