Rats! Actually, Mice! And the Horse nears the finish line

 I looked at the leaves for the Heron and thought they looked funny - they had been chewed by mice! Almost all the leaves had damage, some significant.  The heron too was nibbled up one leg.  I had to move the heron out of where I had been working to a more secure location.

 I am repairing the damage to the leaves and heron.  After the damage is repaired I will be able to do final touch-up and go on to doing the mold.

 I am continuing work on the horse.  The horses back is too heavy on the right side. In this photo I have made a cut with the 4" angle grinder with a diamond wheel in that area.  I will shave this section of stone off  with the grinder to get down to where the horses side actually is.  I will make several passes shaving off a little less than I think needs to be removed at a time, just to be on the safe side.

 I decided to make the leg straight instead of bent.  The decision was made by the stone.  There is just not enough stone on that side to have the leg bent -  A horses leg comes out a little from the body when it is lifted so the leg has to be down and actually angled under his left leg.

 I have cut the mane down on this side to just a small section of mane.  I considered removing all of the mane but thought I'd leave some for interest.

 I draw on the leg of the horse but I will not carve it all the way down, I will have it disappear into the stone like the foreleg on the horses left.

 I cut the leg into the stone stopping the carving at the knee joint.

 This is the view looking down at the front legs.  The left leg is raised and is crossing the right leg.  I have just begun to carve out the stone to define the horses left leg and knee joint.  You can see there is not a lot of stone to work with.

 I have to move the leg further into the stone in order to get the line of the leg correct and so the knee joint which was defined in an earlier photo has now vanished.

 I have carved further into the stone to redefine the joint and I have begun defining the belly.

A view of the horse in the evening sun.  Not far now to finish.