It seems there are many things that serve to intensify my joy these days. The two little munchkins crawling along my floor (well, one is crawling anyways), bring me so much happiness that I often wonder if I was only a shadow, before I had children. And it is at this point in the conversation when my mother will laugh – “You used to tell me you weren’t gonna have kids…”

Then of course she finishes with an, “I told you so…”

However it doesn’t mean I don’t get tired at time. And at the end of a very long day, there are many things I turn to for inspiration, energy or just a quick smile. Here’s what’s trending in my neck of the woods these days:

1. Pinterest

I, like many others, can’t seem to get enough of this site these days! Acting as a virtual bulletin board, this website allows you peruse brilliant ideas, places, spaces and various other inspirations in the blink of an eye. You can do some virtual shopping, plan the next interior design of your house or simply “pin” up inspirational quotes and keep them for later. Pinterest is a fabulous resource and gives us a medium for keeping all those great ideas we have on the “To Do” list. And if you disagree, tell me where else can you learn about rainbow pancakes in jiffy??

2. Lindsay Sears

This Nanton, AB, cowgirl and her wonder horse Martha, can do no wrong! Hot off her win at the NFR, Lindsay Sears set an arena record with a 13.93 at Houston’s $2-Million Reliant Stadium rodeo recently. Then, she won the last stage of the rodeo in the Super Shootout and earned herself $84,900 in 2 days. With her great attitude and adoring style, I’m happy to say Lindz is also more than just a passing “trend,” this girl is a timeless role model.

Stayed tuned to My Stable Life as I will be returning shortly with an exclusive interview with Susan Sears – Lindz’s mother and a paramount key to her success!!

3. Drive By – Train

This song is just so, so – soulful. And it makes you wanna get up and dance. Even if you’re still in your pajamas. From the artists who brought you the classics, “Drops of Jupiter” and “Hey Soul Sister,” Train delivers again with “Drive By.” I love this song because its melody starts like a tapping foot and forays into a full-blown, booty-shakin’, head bobbing, fist pumpin’ boogie. Songs that climax like that definitely have my vote. And how can you go wrong with catchy lyrics like, “If they don’t like it – sue me…”

My love for this song is going viral.

4. Getting Outta Debt

After this last economic recession, I’m happy to say my husband and I learned a thing or two. And it’s really nice to know that saving, being frugal and concentrating on getting rid of debt is the new black. Debt management is as trendy as keeping up with the Joneses. And luckily, we can pick sides with this one. From my perspective, that means a lot of planned shopping, couponing and really thinking hard about what are “wants” and what are “needs”.

I take a bit of ribbing for it, but if you’re interested in couponing some great resources include:

Smart Canucks - A great website for printable coupons, freebies and great Canadian shopping deals.

Extreme Couponing Canada – Money saving tips, guides on coupon usage, and daily updates on new deals and coupons.

And if you’re interested in understanding how to go from red to black, check out a few episodes of “Til Debt Do Us Part” – money guru Gail Vaz-Oxlade tells it like it is in her hard-hitting TV-series.

5. Greek Yogurt

Thick, creamy, bliss… Is about all I can say. Greek yogurt is so popular that my neighborhood grocery store can’t even keep it on the shelves. The last two times I’ve been shopping, there’s been none for me to purchase! :( But we understand because a spoonful of this smooth, velvety snack from an authentic Greek recipe is sheer joy!

(And yes, I have coupons for it…!)

6. Pony Beds

As the company says, “Once you have a love affair with horses, you never get over it.” And hopefully our daughter never does either. So once she’s out of the toddler bed stage, this is what I plan to center her room around. Let’s just hope she doesn’t go to the dark side and choose English over Western… <big grin!>

If you’re interested in seeing more about these cool little beds made from jump standards, check out: www.ponybeds.com

Stay tuned for the next My Stable Life, where I will reveal 4 more “trends” and round out the top ten list.

Here are a few things that make mine and my husband’s life easier these days – in the home and around the barn…

HAT BUDDY

It looks like a mushroom and it’s quite the conversation piece whenever someone spots it. And when my husband first received a Hat Buddy as a gift, we both cocked an eyebrow. However since we put it to use, the Hat Buddy has become an invaluable hat keeper in our house and truck. This padded mushroom-like hat keeper stores your hat on your dashboard, without bending it or without requiring the driver to grab for it at every curve. In the house, Clay can pop his felt on the hat buddy instead of flipping it upside down on the counter and leaving it where it can be bumped onto the floor. The Hat Buddy is made from stylish leather and conchos and is available in 3 colors: black, brown and tan.

www.thehatbuddy.com

MCNASTY

The name alone grabs your attention when you see this product on a tack store shelf. Since we have a couple of beavers in our barn, Clay quickly had to find a solution to protect our new stall walls. And he found that solution in McNasty, made by EQyss. McNasty is a powerful anti-chew spray made with a combination of ingredients much more powerful than anything else on the market today. It’s a clear spray that won’t make the items sprayed, tacky. It also won’t irritate skin, is safe to use and will not burn the horse. Use McNasty to protects wraps, bandages, stalls, fences, blankets, trailers, gates etc.

www.eqyss.com

 ROUND EM UP CRIB SET

This adorable little crib set was the perfect unisex choice for our little cowboy and cowgirl. Made by CoCaLo, the classic western theme of this baby bedding set is paired with a vivid color palette of burnt red, blue, yellow, brown, black, and white. The design makes wonderful use of a western all over print and appliqués of horseshoes, horses, cows, and stars. And the mobile is cute as pie with rotating cows and wild west stars.

www.maternityandbabyshoppingmart.com

TED ROBINSON COW HORSE TELL-ALL DVDS

Seven-time world champion, Ted Robinson reveals his secrets to a lifetime of success in the working cow horse show pen in his tell-all videos. In this two-DVD set, Robinson explains his essential drills and equipment and gives you his winning edge secrets for proper positioning on the cow. He talks about rating and “shaping” the cow, plus he clarifies the differences between positioning the young horse on a cow, versus positioning for a seasoned cow horse. These DVDs are highly informative and of course, Robinson delivers his instruction all the while maintaining a refreshing sense of humor.
www.tedrobinsoncowhorses.com

This picture really has nothing to do with my blog content today. I just thought it was a great opener! The palomino above was having a good time as he was turned out into his daily outdoor pen. And I just happened to be looking in the right direction when he decided to kick his heels up.

But instead of horses today, I thought we’d focus on a little recipe we came up with around here for lunch.

Food is always the way to my man’s heart.

The trick is having food ready for him when he comes up from the barn – and food that is relatively healthy, which still appeals to his taste buds. So recently – with a little inspiration from a certain, Evolution Cucumber Salad – we had these focaccia (Italian pronunciation: [foˈkattʃa]) melts for lunch:

Simply top fresh focaccia bread with a sandwich meat or tuna salad, and a cheese and stick the open-faced sandwiches under the broiler for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, peel and cut one avocado,  an equal amount of cucumber and washed cilantro into a small food processor:

Add a pinch of sea salt and half a serving of the secret ingredient:

Almost any type of yogurt works well, but mango and vanilla is my personal favorite with this dish.

Blend up the mixture well, but maintain a thick consistency. The result is better when the avocados are left somewhat “chunky.”

Finally, place a dollop of the avocado/cucumber/yogurt mixture on each of your open-faced sandwiches. It tastes best when the melts are still warm – the avocado mixture gives them the perfect balance of cool when the cheese is still hot and melty.

Enjoy!

With the beautiful winter weather we’ve been having here in Alberta, it’s afforded Clay and I the opportunity to have some new auto-waterers installed on our property. Things have gotten so busy here that it was time to create some new paddocks and pasture areas – which require fresh flowing water.

We had Jock Wilson of Jock Wilson contracting come in to trench the new water lines.

Of course, there’s always got to be a billy goat…

And then the billy goat will bring his friends over…

That’s okay. Jock had it all under control and since he specializes in livestock waterers, he was used to pesky critters.

Jock trenched two spots for us and prepared the areas for some Ritchie waterers.

It creates a bit of a mess at the time, but Jock then went back over the trench line and smoothed it out nicely. Cement pads were later brought in to lay at the waterer site.

And when Jock was all done, you could barely tell he had ever been there. In the end, the horses were pretty happy with their new watering holes.

But the best part for us was – instead of giving out ballcaps to his clients, Jock gives out pencil prints of a drawing his wife, Brenda Campbell, did. This one is appropriately entitled “The Watering Hole.” Brenda pursued her dream of art and graduated from the Alberta College of Art in 1982. Brenda’s heart has always been in the country, which is where she draws her inspiration for her art from. She and Jock make their home in Kathyrn, AB.

So far I’m happy to report our new waterers are working well!!

I found this via Facebook this past weekend. “Jazz Hands” just kills me!!

Ever since I came across it, I’ve been trying to figure out how I could photoshop what these positions would look like if two babies involved…. Then of course, like many of my other fleeting thoughts – I really had to weigh whether or not I actually had the time to do so.

Life in our house has been interesting these days. Clay and I have been attempting to “sleep train” our babies. It’s hard. I hate it. And consequently, I’m grumpy and sleep deprived.

I thought sleep training was intended to help the parents get more sleep…???

What makes sleep training very difficult is having two babies share the same room. And of course, my horse trainer husband is very psychology-oriented. It’s easy for him to see the path for getting things like sleep training accomplished.

Mommy, on the other hand, has a much harder time with it all…

But a happy side effect of all the commotion around here are all the comical episodes that are occurring. Some of things happen because of the sheer exhaustion, while others transpire just because we are parents.

Episodes like:
• Finding my husband rambling on in a chorus of “yayayayayayayayayayayayayayas….”

• Singing “I’m bringing Home my Baby Bumble Bee” in the shower… because the stupid song won’t get out of my head.

• Dancing like penguins to entertain a couple of 10-month-olds. And having the neighbors walk in unexpectedly.

• Coming up with our own nursery rhymes: “My burpin’ king, my burpin’ queen, together they’re the burping team…” is Clay’s pride an’ joy.

And then of course was the recent argument Clay and I were having… In an attempt to be the bigger person, I intervened with a mature solution for mediation. The following is a direct quote – “Clay, I think we need to diffuse this situation. And I’d like to do that by telling you you’re wrong…”

In anticipation of the chilly weather, my husband made sure all our pastures were restocked with good quality round bales just prior to this cold snap setting in.

In support of his great work, I watched.

From inside our cozy dining room.

In my pajamas.

Clay’s assistant, Cory, kept the stud colts at bay.

And, in case you’re interested about how a round bale is placed inside a giant, heavy feeder – this is how it’s done:

Clay operates the tractor.

Using the bale spike attachment, he positions the bale upright.

Then he removes the spike and Cory sets to work removing the bale’s netting.

Even on Sunday, it was still pretty cold outside.

Here’s Cory, removing more netting…

Then Clay positions the bale spikes precisely where he needs them, at the top of the bale feeder and in preparation for lift off.

The feeder is carefully placed over top of the round bale:

And Voilà!! The feeder is lowered and the job is done.

And just in case you were wondering ladies, Yes, Cory is single.

Happy 2012 everybody!

It’s been a while since we touched base on equine anatomy, but I figured, “Why not ring in the new year on an intellectual note…?”

Ha! Don’t expect this to continue on year round… <grin>

Since the last MSL focus on anatomy, which identified bones of the horse’s lower front limb, it’s now time to examine the bones of the horse’s hind limb. Yeah, wahoo!!

I know you’re all ecstatic!

However, on a serious note, it’s very helpful to know what equine parts go where and what they are termed anatomically – especially if you’re trying to decipher what it is your vet is saying in the event of a check-up or emergency.

Just like last time, let’s talk a look at the common terms for the hind limbs, map them and compare those terms to their anatomical terms.

Common Name                Anatomical Term
1.           Gaskin                              Tibia
2.           Hock                                Tarsal Joint
3.           Cannon Bone                3rd Metatarsal
4.           Splint                              2nd & 4th Metatarsal
5.           Fetlock                           Metatarsalphalangeal Joint
6.          Pastern                            Interphalangeal Joint
7.          Coffin Bone                    3rd Phalanx (Distal)
8.        Navicular Bone                Distal Seisamoid Bone

1. Gaskin – The tibia or gaskin carries the entire weight of the horse’s hind limb. The tibia articulates with the femur to form the horse’s stifle joint.

2. Hock – The tarsal joint is comprised of 3 rows of tarsal bones and four joints. It coincides to the back. Medial in row 1 is the talus or tibial tarsal bone. Lateral in row 1 is the fibular tarsal bone of calcaneous, which creates the point of the hock and coincides to the back of the heel in humans.

3. Cannon Bone – The 3rd Metatarsal is the strongest bone in the horse’s body. In the hind limb, it articulates with the tarsal bones and forms the tarsal joint. Distally it joins with the fetlock joint.

4. Splint – Splint bones are attached by interosseus ligaments to the cannon bones.

5. Fetlock – The fetlock serves as an attachment part for the distal part of the suspensory ligament and is subject to a lot of stress and strain.

6. Pastern – The portion of the horse’s lower limb occupied by the first and second phalanges (Long Pastern Bone and Short Pastern, please see Anatomy of Front Limb for more info). As humans, we have phalanges too: our fingers and toes.

7. Coffin Bone – Or 3rd phalanx, is entirely enclosed by the hoof. The general shape of the bone conforms to the hoof itself and it is intimately related to the deep digital flexor tendon.

8. Navicular Bone – Or the Distal Sesamoid Bone is a small bone found in the feet of both humans and horses. The navicular bone of the horse lies on the palmar aspect of the coffin joint between the second phalanx and third phalanx, known as the coffin or pedal bone. It is an important structure in relation to lameness and is involved with a significant disease process called Navicular Disease.