The Making of Ned, our Spruce Meadows Horse
This past Saturday, June 6, CSP staff were happy to be apart of the Spruce Meadow’s National Tournament. The “Horses Jump to Give a Leg Up” Program horses were unveiled, including our own Ned!
The horses will be auctioned off and each organization will be awarded their horse’s top bid, so we are very grateful for this opportunity given to us by Spruce Meadows!
This is the story of Ned, and how he became the horse he is today!
Day 1 (May 4, 2015)
Ned arrives at the office, and gallops his way in to our hearts
Days 2-12 (May 4-8, 2015)
Our brains were working overtime to come up with a name and concept for Ned!
We decided to call him Ned for “Nothing but EDucation,” which is what we do here at CSP; we seek to inform and educate people about suicide awareness and prevention.
The lego concept was transplanted from our 2013-14 Annual Report. We focused on lego as a way to “build the mental wellness dream,” and prevent suicide through the maintenance of good mental health. The building blocks of mental health are numerous, and include things people can do every day, such as going for a walk, spending time with loved ones (maybe at Spruce Meadows!), and playing or having fun at work and at home! Our mental wellness dream also includes healthy mental health for everyone and the breakdown of the stigma surrounding mental illness and especially suicide.
Days 13-20 (May 13-21, 2015)
We were at our computers busy designing how the HECK we were going to execute our lego idea!
Day 21 (May 22, 2015)
Staff artist George Toth began painting Ned! We decided to paint his face, mane, tail, and hooves.
Day 22-29 (May 22, 2015)
Our lego pieces were printed on vinyl and arrived in good time! Originally, we planned on lying the vinyl flat onto Ned but due to the curvature of his muscles this proved impossible! We ended up cutting the lego into individual pieces instead.
Days 22-29
(May 22-29, 2015)
The application of the individual lego pieces took 5 full days! We got to know Ned (and each other) very well… 🙂
Day 30 (June 1, 2015)
Ned is FINISHED and ready to go to Spruce Meadows!
June 2, 2015
Ned is unveiled with the other horses for auction! You can bid on Ned and view the other horses by clicking here
