The Crazy Horse Memorial mountain crew uses precision explosive engineering to carefully and safely remove and shape the rock of the mountain. Since the dedication of the face of Crazy Horse in 1998, the work has been focused on blocking out the horse's head.

A network of about a dozen benches will be cut out around the horse's head. The benches serve to block out the head to within 20 feet of the final surface of the horse's head, while providing access roads for the heavy equipment used to drill holes for loading explosives and to remove loose rock after each blast.