HoofPrints Newsletter
May 4, 2011 Issue
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DON'T DUMP THE DOG! Every dog owner should read this book
| - and now we've got an excerpt online to get you started - click HERE
|  Most folks who live in a rural area have experienced this. A strange dog shows up at your place. He or she appears to be somebody's dog - it's apparent someone's given the dog care. Sadly, the dog waits for his "master" to come back for him - and they never do. The dog's been dumped. Someone decides they can't (don't want to) keep it any longer, so they take their doggie friend for a ride in the country... and leave him there. In urban areas, folks just toodle down to the animal shelter and dump their dogs there - without the bother of casing a likely home in the country with the proverbial "big yard".
This book is written by someone who's worked in one of those shelters where people surrender their dogs, every day. Randy does what most of us can't - he works tirelessly to place all these dogs without euthanizing any. Mama dogs dropped off in the nick of time - BEFORE they deliver a litter of puppies, fighting dogs, starving dogs, sick or injured dogs... you name it, Randy's had it. And he's pretty mad.
Cleaning up all these messes left by irresponsible and stupid people can do that to a person. In the stories, he speaks of therapy sessions with his shrink, psychiatric medications, alcohol and caffeine. Thankfully, he's channeled his anger in a most productive way - this book. It's about the funniest book I have ever read. And, bless his heart, he's included concise, step-by-step instructions for solving most dog behavior problems that we all encounter. There's none of the "pack leader" bullying stuff, either - it's all delightfully positive, constructive and sensible training. And in case you think all this might be a little boring, take a look at some of these chapter titles:
A.D.D. Dogs
Shuuut Up!
The Turd Eaters
Cujo in the Dog Park
Gina's note: Even if your dog doesn't eat turds or attack in the dog park - you'll be captivated by this book - it's humorous, serious, informative and inspirational. Randy is a brilliant writer and I am so thankful that he shared his (and his dog's) stories. To order the book click here
We've also got some Disappearing Muddy Pawprints Mugs selling on ebay - 100% OF THE PROCEEDS on these goes to Stray Rescue of St Louis, the rescue that Randy writes about in Don't Dump the Dog. To support Stray Rescue click here
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For by the love that guides my pen... I know great horses live again
| Framed memorial picture featuring quote by Stanley Harrison
|  "Somewhere...somewhere in time's own space
There must be some sweet pastured place
Where creeks sing on and tall trees grow
Some Paradise where horses go.
For by the love that guides my pen
I know great horses live again."
Featured here is our equine memorial framed verse, which can be customized with your information.
"I guess you could say that the idea was borne out of a tragedy" - says Hoofprints' owner Gina Keesling. "We had a customer call, wanting one of our Great Horses sympathy cards as a framed piece. Her horse, along with several others, had perished in a terrible barn fire. Her grief was obviously still overwhelming at the time of her call; she wept as she told my assistant her sad story."
We didn't offer that particular design framed, and it required special matting to fit the frame that she was wanting. We figured out a way to incorporate the ghosted horse image from the back of the card into the picture, and print 3 lines of custom information in the resulting space.
The product of these efforts is a stunning tribute to any horse - a lovely, relevant verse combined with an ethereal photograph of an obviously old horse bathed in heavenly light, set off with personal information of the beloved deceased. Click here to order the custom framed verse. We also have a full selection of equine sympathy cards here.
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HoofPrints vendors earn Hall of Fame Recognition
| International Horseshoeing Hall of fame inductees include:
|  Farrier & Author Ray Legel.
Ray's book Tails of a Horseshoer is a compilation of stories from 30 years behind the anvil. This book continues to be a favorite in our catalog - year after year. I think it should be recommended reading for anyone who's considering taking up a career in farriery. Ray tells the good, and the bad - along with the strange and humorous situations he encountered throughout his travels. He tells about an owner who was kicked by a dead horse... serving justice on his abusive brother-in-law - with HORSE MANURE... consulting a psychic for shoeing advice on a mysterious lameness case... and more. Ray also pays homage to several horse owners - the kind that farriers love: owners with well-trained horses, good working conditions, and prompt payment habits. Ray's words indicate what a class act he is: "Every horse and owner deserves the best that I have, he says, "from the highest level performance horse to the backyard companion pony."
Farrier and and Educator Allie Hayes.
Each and every Hoof Model that we sell is produced in Allie's Massachusetts shop. She's perfected the technology to preserve the specimens without the use of harmful chemicals. She's one of the most dedicated professionals I know, and her words show it: "By transforming lifeless limbs into educational tools, I feel I'm able to do my part in helping to understand and treat many of the debilitating and painful equine hoof problems we unfortunately encounter every day,"
Read more about them, and the other inductees, in the American Farriers Journal's account of the awards ceremony here. If you want to get a quick idea of what the American Farriers Journal is all about, be sure to check out our website for the Journal's biggest issue of the year - 2011 Supplies & Services Directory. It's FREE with a $30. order!! Click here to get your copy.
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Recap - From the last newsletter...
| Here's what we talked about last time:
|  Horse Tales from Heaven book excerpt "Frozen Long Johns" here
Mother's Day Gift ideas here
Shiba Inu Puppy Cam here
PAST NEWSLETTERS - see what you missed!
Click HERE to catch up on the news |
| More about HoofPrints - and miscellaneous ramblings from Gina | | Check out our NEW "GOOD STUFF" links at the bottom of this section! |  ABOUT THE COMPANY AND THIS NEWSLETTER
Farriers Greeting Cards was started by Gina Keesling in 1986 (in a very small way) to provide helpful promotional materials for farrier husband Rob. This newsletter is emailed to subscribers a few times a month, depending on how often I have something to share. Watch for special sales, interesting stories, uplifting quotes and more.
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This is a "rerun" but it's so good it merits repeating
Life is a Bag of Frozen Peas
A few weeks after my first wife, Georgia, was called to heaven, I was cooking dinner for my son and myself. For a vegetable, I decided on frozen peas. As I was cutting open the bag, it slipped from my hands and crashed to the floor. The peas, like marbles, rolled everywhere. I tried to use a broom, but with each swipe, the peas rolled across the kitchen, bounced off the wall on the other side and rolled in another direction.
My mental state at the time was fragile. Losing a spouse is an unbearable pain. I got on my hands and knees and pulled them into a pile to dispose of. I was half laughing and half crying as I collected them. I could see the humor in what happened, but it doesn't take much for a person dealing with grief to break down.
For the next week, every time I was in the kitchen, I would find a pea that had escaped my first clean up. In a corner, behind a table leg, in the frays at the end of a mat, or hidden under a heater, they kept turning up. Eight months later, I pulled out the refrigerator to clean, and found a dozen or so petrified peas hidden underneath.
At the time I found those few remaining peas, I was in a new relationship with a wonderful woman I met in a widow/widower support group. After we married, I was reminded of those peas under the refrigerator. I realized my life had been like that bag of frozen peas. It had shattered. My wife was gone. I was in a new city with a busy job and a son having trouble adjusting to his new surroundings and the loss of his mother. I was a wreck. I was a bag of spilled, frozen peas. My life had come apart and scattered.
When life gets you down; when everything you know comes apart; when you think you can never get through the tough times, remember, it is just a bag of scattered frozen peas. The peas can be collected and life will move on. You will find all the peas. First, the easy peas come together in a pile. You pick them up and start to move on. Later, you will find the bigger and harder to find peas. When you pull all the peas together, life will be whole again.
The life you know can be scattered at any time. You will move on, but how fast you collect your peas depends on you. Will you keep scattering them around with a broom, or will you pick them up one-by-one and put your life back together?
How will you collect your peas?
--Michael T. Smith
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Thanks everyone, for reading!
Gina Keesling, owner
Contact Information
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GOOD STUFF!
| HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY - to my mom and all the other moms out there...
|  I've known my mom for a long time. (actually my whole life) She's always been an inspiration with her "can do" attitude. There was no task that could not be accomplished with perseverance and hard work. Now that she and dad are retired, she's applied that same philosophy to having fun and adventure. They set off across the country in 50+ year old cars. They climb to the top of Sydney Harbor bridge in Australia (gasp) and this December they rode mules to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. The old car stuff is pretty much dad's idea, but the mule ride was something mom always wanted to do. So, she booked the trip, and they did it. For those of you who don't know about this ride, it involves riding mules on skinny trails next to steep cliffs with deadly drop-offs. And riding on a wooden suspension bridge that goes waaaayyy across - a huge distance above a river (and lots of sharp rocks). The fact that they've never "lost a rider" would be little consolation to my very much afraid of heights brain. But they survived, and had a very good time, too. I am flattered that she chose our Tao of Equus jacket to wear on such a memorable trip.
Mother's day marks the two-year anniversary of my grandmother's death on Mother's Day weekend, 2009. My grandma (tribute here - scroll down to nearly the bottom) was one of the strongest women I ever knew, she was a hard worker, enterprising, and smart. She lived her life to it's fullest, right up til the end, even when her aging body was failing her spirit was strong. Noted women's health doctor Christiane Northrup speaks of mother-daughter wisdom, and the role of mitochondrial DNA. mtDNA is essentially your cells' mechanism by which food is converted to energy. Your ability to take a little fuel and keep going, your guts and fortitude, so to speak. The fascinating thing about this dna is that it only is passed from mother to daughter. Not one bit of mitochondrial genetic material is inherited from the father.
This explains perfectly, now, why horse breeders of old placed such value on the tail-female line, and why the mares (mothers) were so prized.
So, I hope that I can live up to the legacy of the mothers that came before me. I am just not quite ready to ride a strange mule along the side of a cliff to the bottom of a rocky canyon. But maybe someday I will...
French & Saunders are a comedy duo from the UK. Check out this spot featuring two women and their horses here.
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