Sierra Ranch, LLC

Where You Leave The City Behind!

What you really learn from hardships

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Suffering is the tuition one pays for a character degree.

– Richard M. Rayner, M.D., SparkPeople member

“Perhaps you think this isn’t very ‘positive’ sounding, but I find it helps people (patients and friends) put hardship, which is inevitable, to good use,” says Richard. “People can use their suffering either to gain character or become bitter. The ones who choose bitterness live a long, slow death. The ones who choose character truly live.” Richard is right on the money. Happiness and sadness don’t happen to us–they come from within. The story of your life will be written with or without your help. The next chapter is happening while you read this. Will you wait to see what it says later, or will you help write it?

 
This is a SparkPeople.com Healthy Reflection.  Man oh man, is this not the truth.  And the No. 2 Kid is finding this out and will find more out as time goes on.
 
As Dr. Rayner mentions, sometimes you can’t avoid a bit of hardship.  The kid is wanting us to make her feel good.  She told me she couldn’t study or concentrate to study without feeling good about herself.  Again that is where she and I are different.  I would study just to avoid all that.  But again I am a nerd.  I admit it.  Not everyone reads text books for fun.  🙂  Mom actually forced me to read romance novels when I was in high school.  I relented to King Arther literature, but reading for fun was beyond what I wanted to do.
 
And Allyson is taking all this in stride.  She had some math homework the other day.  It said to solve the equations.  I told her she had done them all wrong and she insisted this was the way the teacher told her to do them.  Found out yesterday I was right.  DUH!  I know math and do it for fun.  🙂
 
Well, I am tons of emails behind and playing the secretary job at work, so guess I better get back to it all.  Hope you all have a wonderful week.  More as it becomes available.  (You know this is keeping me sane, right?)
 

Life… The Emotional Roller Coaster

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I have been wanting to add somethings to the blog and other places, but have not had time to actually get anything done.
 
This is our reason we are being tortured.  OK, not really, but isn’t she cute.  Yeah, I am partial.
 
As was expected, the mother of this wonderful child is getting divorced from her father.  Her father filed and since the mother (Rick’s No. 2 child) is not educated, underage, and without a driver’s liscence and car, the father has custody.  We allowed Ashley to move back into our house with a few rules.  No contact with her mother.  She needs to get her GED and driver’s liscense.  She needs to help around the house until she gets a job.  We will see how long this lasts.
 
We have convinced her that she doesn’t need a lawyer right now.  The father hired the one we used to get custody of Ashley and Allyson.  We all want what is right.  We want Rain to be safe and right this second that is with her father not Ashley.  Ashley was running to her mother’s and that was not good.
 
We had our first court date and things went pretty well.  I wish the kids could be civil, but I know that’s a lot to ask for from 17 and 19 year olds.  I don’t like all the stupid high school he said she said crap.  But then I didn’t really even like that crap in HS.  😛  I was just old for my time.  Pretty much knew my mind from a very young age.  I know totally wierd.  And so not today!
 
Alas, back to court.  We agreed to Justin having temporay custody.  Ashley gets visitation Wen. evening and one weekend day.  Rick or I have to be present.  Partially to keep them civil and partially to keep her from doing something stupid.  We go back to court in about a month (11/12).  We can arrange to have the final agreement then, but she is acting like she wants to drag this out.  She just doesn’t get it.
 
We went to the J-D Trailriding Camp Hooves for a Cure ride.  We were looking for big foot, but figured he stayed in his cave due to the stinking rain.  🙂  We had fun even if we only rode for a couple of hours.  Rick and the kids slept in on Sunday and we came home without riding again.  We are looking forward to returning over a longer weekend.  We will see how that goes.  🙂  Rick, the kids and Andrea had fun entertaining everyone with the karoake machine. 
 
Ashley came back with the cold that Allyson had earlier in the week.  So that made court not so fun.  Ashley has not been helping tons with stuff around the house, but it’s only been a week.  Hopefully we can work on that, but it’s impossible to yell at her when she is asleep.  So, as with all things, this to will pass.
 
Oh, and to make things EVEN better.  My secretary found a better job within the City and I have a temp again.  One of my engineers is moving to transportation design.  So as one of the remaining ones said it will now commence to rain about the time the other engineer’s wife goes into labor.  Ain’t life grand.  Oh, and I got the evil work blackberry and the silly thing even worked in Octiva.  Life is ssssoooooo not fun right now.
 
And I have been trying to work on the Sierra Ranch website.  And not getting anywhere…  Oh well!
 
I wanna get on my horse and ride into the sunset and not return for a very long time.  But I won’t.  I will continue to try to right the world that we live in and hopefully earn a few more jewels for my crown as my brother in law says.  Someday soon I will post pictures of our trip to the hurricane.  🙂
 
Hope you all have had a not quite so eventful couple of weeks!
 
Deb in Claremore, OK
 

Whispers of Wisdom

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Get a leg up Deborah, and release me to run today! I will move heaven and earth to create our perfect run for the day.
You? All you need to do is your all out best with today….hanging on, smiling and believing that each decision takes you into the creation of your future. Make it a bright one!

Hop on and let’s ride!

Wisdom

 
Whispers of Wisdom from a Horse’s Heart from TouchedByaHorse.com.
 
I get these emails each day.  Reading through the hundreds I got behind on this week I found this one.  Might fitting.  I can picture Maverick telling me this.  🙂  And I know Rick has said this to me a time or two.  🙂 
 
Rick and I are celebrating our 11th anniversery today.  And they said it wouldn’t last.  😛  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  More tomarrow!
 

Cool ride for help with rescue horses!

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Check out the link to the National Rescue Ride Org in the article below.  It looks pretty cool.  Thing is you need to register by OCT. 1 and must do it online.  They will not be taking registration at the rides.  (That is interesting, but from a different way for me…)  And the best part is there are 7 pages of organizations and rides all over the US.  So there should be one near everyone! 
 
As every horse person knows there is not enough money to help every horse.  This is an awesome way to ride (or walk) and raise money to help support our rescue organizations in this time of great need.  Even if you can’t attend an event, find someone to sponser.  Visit a rescue’s website near you and donate online.  Every little bit helps a horse that needs the help.  And no, I am not a part of any of these rescue organizations.  This is just a cause that we at Sierra Ranch belive very strongly about.  We have adopted horses.  We don’t want to see any horse suffer and know we can’t save them all.  It take ALL of the horse people to do that.
 
Just something intersting I came across while reading email, which I am wwwwaaaayyy behind on again.  🙂  Have a great Sat.  I get to sit here and get caught up with evertything.
 
Deb in Claremore, OK
 
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LET’S WALK OR RIDE
 
Blaze’s Tribute Equine Rescue is hosting a Walk/Ride at Lake Carl Blackwell on Sunday, October 19, 2008 with the National Rescue Ride.  Flyer is attached.  How it works is, you register with NRR at www.NationalRescueRide.org, and pick our organization to ride with.  The cost is $20.00 to ride, that money benefits National Rescue Ride, you will receive a T-Shirt and instructions of how to get sponsors.  Sponsorship money goes to Blaze’s Equine Rescue.  Once you are registered, the rider/walker needs to get Sponsorship money in order to Benefit Blaze’s Tribute Equine Rescue.  Remember even $10. Of sponsorship money is more than we had, so every little bit helps.  We plan to have merchandise available for sale, a continental breakfast and lunch provided for donations, and for a little fun on the trail, we will have a Poker Run.

Taking the more difficult road to success

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There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.
– Unknown
Cheating to get ahead might get you the grade or promotion, but in the long run it really sets you back. Intelligence, creativity, hard work, and solid character–the things that propel you forward–are not fostered by taking the easy way out. You don’t earn anything by short-cutting your work. You’re only cutting your potential short. Sure you might feel relieved that a stressful task has passed, but an undeserving sense of relief doesn’t compare to the gratification of knowing that you completed your own work. If something in your life is difficult, meet it head on and earn the satisfaction of earning a job well done–with honesty and integrity.

 

This is yet another SparkPeople.com Healthy Reflection.  Somehow today it seemed rather fitting.  There are things going on in my life that make me think of this.  There really are no shortcuts.

 

We are ramping up to a wonderful fall of riding.  We hope that you are too.  We will be at the Octiva Hooves for a Cure Ride.  We hope to see you there!  Come help us raise money for breast cancer research!

 

Our next ride will be the Halloween Ride.  I will have to come up with something for Allyson to be this year.  Should be an interesting time for all.

 

Well, I best get back to the job that pays the bills.  Hope everyone has a woderful weekend!

 
Deb Stowers

Finding victory in the small stuff

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The future comes one day at a time.

– Dean Acheson

Do your dreams seem far away? Does the distance between you and the finish line deflate your motivation? Often we forget that goals and dreams are not achieved overnight, but rather in a series of small steps. Progress towards your goals should also be counted as victorious! Stop looking at the end result to bring you the greatest joy. Instead, celebrate the ways in which your life is gravitating towards that desired result. Nothing is guaranteed in life, so make the most of each day and persevere. Remember that the small things in life build up to the bigger ones.

This is a SparkPeople.com Healthy Reflection that totally hit home with some things going on in our world recently. I know I haven’t sent something like this in a while, but time has been short. I am just taking time to do this today. 😛

This weekend we will be going to Rick’s family reunion in (of all places) Mobile, AL. Yeah, during hurricane season on the danged beach. Luckily (or not) Ike decided to bypass Mobile so we will be on the road on Thurs. and return home on Sun. I have met his Dad and one brother, so this should be really interesting. Allyson is coming with. Not sure about Aaron. But the older two are busy with their lives.

We are actively working on making the ranch a working ranch. Rick so wants to quit his real job and only work with the horses. We are slowly getting to that point. This weekend I will take the lap top and work on the buisness plan, new Seirra Ranch web site, and the million of other things that I need to do to get this further down the road. Soon, we will need to LLC the operation. Occassionally on here you will see some things that might help with your ranch operations. Let me know what you think of them.

Rick teased me about the life coach post. 🙂 He of course thinks my horse has lots more to teach me and I need to just spend more time with him. Man, I wished it really worked that way. Third Time is so funny. I have been trying to get him to warm us to us. Now when he sees me coming out to the pasture he comes running to me, since I have been using treats to get him to warm up. LOL! This past weekend he came and sould have put his head in the birdle I had for Maverick if I had just left it there long enough for him to figure it out. I have rode Third Time once. I need to ride him some more, but have this terrible fear of riding in the pasture and feel that since Mav doesn’t give a flying flip if I am scared then it’s better to ride him and get me unscared of the pasture riding. Then I will take on the new challenge of the new horse (Third Time). Oh, what I would give for some dry weather and a nice trail ride. 🙂

Well, best get back to work. Got lots to do before I leave. Hope you and yours are well. wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

Check out www.sierraranchok.net

You Know You’re A Horse Person When…

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* Your 5 year old son picks up your snaffle bit and asks if he can use your hand cuffs.

* You insist to your SO during a game of Scrabble that “oxer” is, too, a word, even if it ISN’T in the dictionary, and spend a good half-hour poring over horse books to find it in writing.

* You’re at the post office looking at the Santa and his Reindeer cutouts on the wall, and you make a mental note that all the reindeer are hanging their knees and they better get better form if they’re going to continue this jumping thing!

* You take someone’s temperature and think 102°F is normal.

* If you find yourself drumming horse gaits with your fingers.

* If you will memorize a complete dressage test, but can’t remember three important names for your history test.

* The real estate agent asks what kind of house you are looking for and you say “More than six acres”.

* You find yourself analyzing leg and foot conformation on your friends, and thinking how corrective shoeing could improve their way of going.

* You can be too sick to go to school but you’re never too sick to go riding.

* You can’t for the life of you remember the word “heel”. That thing on the bottom of your leg that joins it to your foot is called a “hock”.

* You get out of bed at 4 am to get ready for a show but can’t wake up in time for school.

* You realize that finding a horse shoe truly is lucky because you’ve saved ten bucks.

* You accept My Space friends instantly if they have a picture of a horse in their profile.

* You see a girl wearing a pair of high-heeled, pointy-toed fashionable boots and when she tells you how much they cost you say,”Wow, you could have bought a nice pair of REAL boots for that!”

* You end up driving your friends everywhere because your big truck can fit them all.

* You’ve had to explain to said friends what some of the objects in your truck are; “That’s a hoofpick…” “Umm, those leather strips are reins…”

* You’ve answered your cell phone while riding before and had to tell someone, “Hold on a second, my horse is being a brat”.

* You can’t understand why people can talk about cars for hours, but someone asks about your horse and you can’t shut up

* You frequently have to explain things to your non-horsey friends; “No, a pony is NOT a baby horse”; “A farrier has nothing to do with
faeries”;”When I said I was training a stud, I meant a horse, stupid!”

* Your friend comes over to watch the Olympics and wants to watch swimming, and you say,”No! David O’Conner just took the oxer and is on his way to the triple combination! ” and your friend looks at you like you are crazy.

* None of your friends bother to ask you to the mall on the weekends because you know you’ll say, “Are you crazy?! I’m going riding.”

* You cluck to your friends, dogs, pets, car, ect. to make them go faster.

* In the kitchen, instead of saying “excuse me” you poke you spouse in the ribs and say “over”

* Your spouse can track dirt into the house all they want, but God help them if they muddy up the tack room.

* you explain to your child’s pediatrician that you knew the child was sick because he was off his feed.

* you stop channel surfing at Budweiser Clydesdale commercials.

* You’re laughing right now because you know these are true!

 
Enjoy at bit of Friday funnies!  Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
 
Deb Stowers
 

Life Coach: Do You Need One?

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There is a certain point in time when a person becomes dissatisfied with his or her life. He or she might be thinking that there is something more for him or her out there. It could be about the job, about love, about financial disposition or about life in general. If you feel this way then you may be in need of a life coach.

Life Coach and Life Coaching

A life coach is the same as a baseball coach, a basketball coach or a football coach. The coaches teach and train the players to change faulty habits, develop and improve so that they may become better players. A life coach is similar to them. He or she coaches people to change faulty habits, develop and improve the different aspects of their lives for them to determine and achieve their goals in life.

Life coaching is the process of developing and improving a person’s life. It is a partnership between a client and a coach for a certain period of time. The partners will have sessions that will focus on the client’s needs and other issues.

Through these sessions, the life coach will help the client develop different strategies and solutions to improve. This is an interaction between two persons and it is not only the life coach who will be making the decisions. The client will be actively involved especially in the decision making process.

Why Do You Need Life Coaching

The point in time when you want change (as have been mentioned in the beginning) can quickly come and go. But this will be recurring from time to time which can become a bother. So what are you going to do about it? Is it okay to let this happen for the rest of your life? Is it okay not to do anything about it?

Is it okay to feel dissatisfied? With a life coach, you will be given a helping hand that will guide you to take that big leap and change for the better. He or she will be there to aid in determining the right path for you to take to improve and feel satisfied with your life.

Benefits of Having A Life Coach

A life coach will help you ponder on what you want, why you want it, and how you can achieve it. He or she will aid you in taking the steps from where you are now to where you want to be. A life coach will give encouragement and provides support, confidence as well as motivation for you to achieve your goals.

Will You Really Benefit From It

Anyone can benefit from life coaching. It does not matter where you are or who you are, for as long as you want changes and improvements in your life, you will benefit from having a life coach.

Life coaches have been effective when it comes to the different aspects of life. This includes financial success, career, health, personal skills & confidence, happiness, satisfaction and fulfillment. It all depends on you on what aspect of your life you need help with.

Conclusion

So do you really need a life coach? The only one who can answer this now is yourself. The basics of life coaching and life coaches have laid down before you and it is up for you to decide whether you need a life coach or not.

We all need some direction at times in our lives. Doesn’t matter your age or position in life, a coach can help you determine better where to go next. I hope you enjoyed this introduction to the subject. If you would like to learn more about life coaching Click Here!

Deb Stowers
Seirra Ranch, Claremore, OK

Your Age By Riding!

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Don’t tell me your age; you probably would tell a falsehood anyway… but, your instructor may know!!

YOUR AGE BY RIDING MATH

DON’T CHEAT BY SCROLLING DOWN FIRST!

It takes less than a minute.

Work this out as you read.  Be sure you don’t read the bottom until you’ve worked it out!  This is not one of those waste of time things, it’s fun.  OK, so it may be a waste of time, but what else do you do on a rainy Sat. morning?

1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to ride your horse. (more than once but less than 10)

2. Multiply this number by 2 (just to be bold)

3. Add 5

4. Multiply it by 50

5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1758… If you haven’t, add 1757.

6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born.

You should have a three digit number.

The first digit of this was your original number.

(i.e., How many times you want to ride in a week.)

The next two numbers are… YOUR AGE ! —— (Oh YES, it is!)

THIS IS THE ONLY YEAR (2008.) IT WILL EVER WORK, SO SPREAD IT AROUND WHILE IT LASTS!

 
Hope you get to go riding this weekend.  We will if the rain will go away.  Trying to figure out how it’s forming right now.  🙂
 
Have a great weekend!
Deb and Rick Stowers
Seirra Ranch, Claremore, OK

Challenge for a Cure!

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OK! It’s far enough in advance folks can prepare. So I will make this challenge…
Everyone who will participate in the Hooves for a Cure rides, buy tshirts at
and walk in the 5K Race for the Cure in your area. Below is a link to the Tulsa Race to be held on Sept. 20, 2008.
Come on! It’s a 5K! That is 3.1 miles! I know all of us horse folks can at least walk that far. We have had to walk that far to catch our freaking horse in the pastures on some days. 🙂 So come on! let’s walk for a great cause!
Find the walk in your area and just do it!
I am going to begin to train and inlist some of my coworkers who are working to the Tulsa Run. 🙂
We could even set up a team and raise more money for the cure! And bring publicity to our rides!
Come on! Let’s get walking!
Deb Stowers