New Stuff, Funny Stuff & Pond Memories

HoofPrints Newsletter
May 22, 2011 Issue

SORRY - I ONLY CLEAN UP AFTER MY HORSE - we have a winner

Well, this did not go as planned... I thought that offering

the various colors FOR SALE (albeit at a discount) would remove the influence of vocal folks with strong opinions that aren't necessarily buyers. I was pretty smug about my scheme... certain that I'd get a sure best-selling choice by basing my decision of which color to offer not on what folks SAID they liked, but what they actually bought.
You guys fixed me.
The sales on all the colors was nearly equal! There was no clear favorite. So, we are right back where I started in the pre-internet days. I pick what I think is the best choice for you all. And this time it's lavender. Thanks to everyone who participated in this little experiment. And I really wish I could keep all those lovely colors. But I do NOT have the shelf space for the inventory. Having space is a perpetual problem that we are continually up against. About once a quarter I suddenly notice that the whole place is crammed with stuff, and I can't stand it until things are straightened up a bit, which usually involves putting products on sale cheap (because the space is more valuable than the stuff - more here) But that ends up not being the best way to make money (read: turning dollars) so I've learned to be judicious about what I allow into the fold. And 5 colors of t-shirt with the same logo is NOT it. Hopefully you all are as happy with this choice as I am. You can order yours here.

PS - If you already placed an order for one of the "experimental" colors and have not received it yet - don't panic. We had some delays; most have already shipped, and the rest will go out next week.

A New Business Card logo for Farriers

I don't know if it is coincidence or not, but business card sales have been

pretty busy since I posted my rant about copyright infringement. And this week I happened upon this amazing photo shot by Indiana farrier Scott Chaney. Scott keeps his camera with him on the job, and documents all sorts of things throughout his travels. This particular photo was taken UPSIDE DOWN so that he could get his camera close enough to the ground to get the foot bottom. The result is awesome, methinks.
And special thanks to Scott for allowing me to share this image with other farriers. He tells me that this particular horse was a major shoeing challenge. He describes him as a "Warmblood toe dragging malcontent with shelly feet that had no shape or structure." His feet have improved immensely under Scott's careful scrutiny - so much that he's now the "star" of our newest business card! Watch this newsletter for them - Scott has some incredible "before" photos of these feet - we're just working on getting them assembled. To see this, and our other custom business cards click here. And don't forget page 2.

I am updating the Funny Stuff section of our website

This is probably the first one I ever drew...

My farrier husband would come home and tell me stories about his day. And some of them were so amazing I just had to document the scenes in a sketchbook. This is one of them (my cartooning's not the best, but you get the idea). I also posted it on our facebook page, where people can comment. Judging from the comments, not everyone thought this was so funny. It hit a nerve with some folks, and a lively discussion ensued. You can read the story withOUT comments on our website here or you can read what everyone else had to say about it, along with some additional explanations from me on facebook here.

STICKERS: They're not just for kids!

HoofPrints Stickers are designed especially for equine professionals

One of my favorites is the orange one on the lower right. It says: "Thank you in advance for having your horses ready when I arrive, and for scheduling regular appointments. This helps me provide prompt, quality service." - then there's a line for the next appointment. It's a great little reminder for folks to be ready for their appointments, AND to book in advance. With the price of fuel these days, efficient scheduling is so important, to cut down on wasted miles driven. These stickers are ON SALE for 80% OFF! Learn about how stickers can help you get paid more quickly, and see the sale items here

Recap - From the last newsletter...

Here's what we talked about last time:

Revisiting a favorite: The Horse Boy - excerpt here
Farriers Prayer Matted Print only $19.95 here
Last Goodbyes Matted Print only $14.95 here
Goodbye to Freckles from our disappearing muddy pawprint mug - her prayer is here
FARRIERS: Folks are watching you! More here
New Farrier business cards added to online directory here
FREE Calendars with business card order here
Jewelry category page updated here
Another dumped dog - Paws story here
FREE excerpt from Don't Dump the Dog here
PAST NEWSLETTERS - See what you missed! Click HERE to catch up on the news.

More about HoofPrints

Be sure to check out the "GOOD STUFF" links at the bottom of this section

ABOUT THE COMPANY
Farriers Greeting Cards was started by Gina Keesling in 1986 (in a very small way) to provide helpful promotional materials for her farrier husband Rob.

ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER
It's written by Gina Keesling, and 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 maybe some personal stuff. Let me know if you like it, and if you don't. We aim to please.

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This Memorial weekend quote comes from Shawnee Chief Tecumseh

"Live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.

Trouble no one about his religion.

Respect others in their views and demand that they respect yours.

Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life.

Seek to make your life long and of service to your people.

Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.

Always give a word or sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend,

or even a stranger, if in a lonely place.

Show respect to all people, but grovel to none.

When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light,

for your life, for your strength.

Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living.

If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself.

Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools

and robs the spirit of its vision.

When your time comes to die,

be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death,

so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time

to live their lives over again in a different way.

Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home."

And some unsolicited advice from Gina:
This weekend always brings our thoughts to those who have gone before us, whether long ago or recently... You only get one body in which to live this life. Care for it like the treasure that it is. Give serious consideration to all that you put in, AND be thoughtful of what you ask it to do.

And never take for granted your ability to impact others' lives. I wrote about my grandma in our August 2007 newsletter here (Saint Bernard Story) - a story sparked by my discovery of documents bound for the trash... *note this is an old newsletter and not all the links work now.

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Thanks everyone, for reading!
Gina Keesling, owner

Contact Information

email: gina@hoofprints.com

web: http://www.hoofprints.com

GOOD STUFF: Pond Memories

This week's feature is not even remotely horse related...

Here is an interesting blog entry "Why it's so special to own a pond or lake." We are one of those fortunate pond owners. But it wasn't here when we bought our 20 acres back in 1989. It was a dream of my husband's (an avid fisherman) for a long time. "We should put a pond out there." he'd say - pointing to the 12 acre cornfield next to our house.

Rob hauls heavy equipment for a living, and attends construction equipment auctions as part of his job. He began assembling a rag-tag bunch of inexpensive machines - tired old things that still had a bit of life left in them - (and they named some of them - "Big Mama" was the Cat 621 scraper)

In the fall of 2004 they broke ground.

If you've ever watched a sculptor at work... it is an impressive sight. Watching someone sculpt the earth - on such a large scale - with tools that could overturn or get swallowed up by mud... well, that adds a whole new dimension to the project.

Our son Jordan was just 11 when they started, and he learned to run all those big earthmoving machines - worked alongside his dad until the project was finished the following fall. It wasn't until the rains came and the thing filled up, that I truly saw what Rob was envisioning. All along, he kept pointing to these tiny orange flags..."that's the water line, right there." And, indeed, when the pond was full to the bottom of the spillway, the water just touched the base of those little orange flags. All the way around. I still find it amazing that it was that precise - when the work was done with 30 ton machines.

A few years ago I created a memory book for them - a scrapbook of sorts - using all the photos that I took during (and after) the project. I recently figured out how to upload it in a magazine type format - you can see it here. Keep in mind, this was the project of one man (on a limited budget), his little boy - and their BIG dream. Wow.

Want to earn a FREE GIFT?

All you have to do is...

the next time you're in a farm/tack store, check out the bulletin board and see if there are any farrier business cards that look like these , but not quite.

Grab one (or several) and drop it in an envelope to:
HoofPrints Business Card Rant
13849 N 200 E
Alexandria, IN 46001

I will send you a little gift* for your trouble. And don't worry, I'm not planning an attack on the infringers to get my $100,000. (Huh? - details here) I'd just like to send these folks a copy of our catalog and let them know that next time they need cards they can leave the design work to me.

*Note about the gift: I am not sure what it will be yet - rest assured it will be a fun surprise of some sort. Probably a bigger/better gift for multiple cards. You'll have to trust me on this one.

Share our emails

Viral marketing... it sounds bad, doesn't it?

You can ask my husband - a frequent topic around here is that of forwarded emails - and the psychology behind them - just WHAT prompts people to decide; "I am going to send this to everyone I know!".

We receive a lot of them. Some are pretty good, and others are dumb. Dumb in a myriad of ways... Alarmist email rumors that have been around forever - that folks keep sending "just in case it's true" Pictures of someone's butt (or worse) - don't even get me started about the firecracker butt - but at least that one was timely when it showed up around July 4. Christian messages that are uplifting - until you get to the end and you're threatened "if you're not ashamed that you love Jesus, forward this - if you are, then delete." Pictures of cute puppies and kittens (awww)

I enjoy writing these newsletters - and sharing all this stuff with you all. But the fact is, it's also a way to help us stay connected with customers and sell products during the time between catalog mailings (which is only once a year) So I really, really like it when someone new stumbles upon the newsletter and is excited to "discover" our company and the products we offer.

In all my efforts to make the newsletter interesting and forward-worthy - it never occurred to me to JUST ASK you all to send it! Duh. Sometimes the obvious is elusive, I guess. So here goes - my request to ask you to forward our email newsletter to your horsey friends. All we ask is that you please be judicious and only send to folks who might be interested. Otherwise we are no better than the "firecracker butt". Click the Forward email link below to get started. (please note - using this form does NOT subscribe anyone to our list - it is a one-time only forward)