HoofPrints Newsletter
September 18, 2011 - Boobies Issue
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GOOD STUFF: Tits to the sky!
| I'm putting GOOD STUFF first so the rest of the newsletter will make sense
|  OK, I have to admit that I took a real chance in using the breast slang in the newsletter header. But hey, I am a marketer and there's always the urge to see what will spark folks' interest (without making them yell at me)
But, I have a point, really. And it's POSTURE. I spent my youth at home with my mom poking me in the back; "Stand up straight!" she'd whisper whenever we were in public. I must have gotten better, as she quit telling me once I went off to college (or maybe she just gave up). But, now that I am older, I am hearing the same thing from my husband; "Stand up straight!". And I notice an awful lot of other women around me who also need to be told "Stand up straight!". I think life does that to us - you feel like you've got the weight of the world on your shoulders - after a while it tends to smoosh you down....
So I kept trying to remind myself - so hubby wouldn't have to. Mostly I just forgot and then was annoyed at him for sounding like my mom. Then, I read this blog post. It gave me such a chuckle that I decided to replace "Stand up straight!" with "Tits to the sky!" (in my head, of course). And every time I think it I get a little laugh from the story - and I stand a little straighter.
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More Booby stuff
| HoofPrints PINK PRODUCTS raise money for breast cancer research
|  I worked for a while on this one. We got the blessings from our friends at Prairie Song to carry on the use of their phrase. I wanted it to be "womanly" - so we could better contrast the domestic role vs the equestrian role. I found this amazing brown fabric with pink horseshoes, so the logical choice for the sweatshirt was pink. The fabric is bonded to the shirt and then satin stitched all around the edges for an rich, intricate look. And of course, I chose the most feminine script I could find for the lettering.
I posted it on our Facebook page , and the reviews were mixed. Pink is apparently a "love it" or "NOT" color and lots of folks took the time to express their thoughts. The discussion seemed to be inconclusive - and I was frustrated to not be able to choose one, or the other with confidence. So I chose both. Which is not as simple as it would seem - as it effectively doubled the amount of $$$ that I would need to spend to keep appropriate inventory, and doubled the amount of shelf space needed for bulky sweatshirts in our already cramped warehouse. I really wanted to just pick one or the other and be done with it, but I couldn't.
When initial sales on the pink were far ahead of the fuchsia, I began to question the wisdom of consulting the masses on such decisions - as fuchsia was slightly in the lead in our informal facebook poll (and pink was my first pick anyway). Then, the fuchsia rallied and surpassed the pink, by quite a bit actually. This is the kind of stuff that drives marketing analysts crazy. However, the sales were good on both colors, and we were able to send a substantial donation to our friends at The Breast Cancer Research Foundation . You can see our complete line of pink products here.
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And Nudity! New Horse Goddess Pendant
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Ever get the urge to ride your horse naked?
|  While wielding a dagger? If so, this is the necklace for you! This silver alloy pendant is a big 1.5" tall, hangs on 18" sterling silver chain.
Also new in our jewelry department is our Celtic Epona Pendant. Epona, the celtic goddess of horses, is molded into this silver alloy 1" tall pendant. It hangs on an adjustable (18" to 26"), knotted waxed cotton cord. You can choose Pink or Brown Cord, to order click here.
Here's what wikipedia says about Epona: "In Gallo-Roman religion, Epona was a protector of horses, donkeys, and mules. She was particularly a goddess of fertility, as shown by her attributes of a patera, cornucopia, ears of grain and the presence of foals in some sculptures suggested that the goddess and her horses were leaders of the soul in the after-life ride, with parallels in Rhiannon of the Mabinogion."
Epona is celebrated in Michigan each year;
"On Mackinac Island, Michigan, Epona is celebrated each June with stable tours, a blessing of the animals and the Epona and Barkus Parade. Mackinac Island, Michigan does not permit any personal automobiles: the primary source of transportation remains the horse, so celebrating Epona has special significance on this island in the Upper Midwest."
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MORE BIG NEWS! Horses & Hope Calendar
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HoofPrints partners with award winning photographer Sarah K. Andrew
|  I've raved about Sarah and her amazing pictures multiple times in the past. I am thrilled to announce that she's authorized us to produce a big, full color calendar using her auction horse images.
This calendar illustrates the remarkable accomplishments of a group of folks who saw a very big problem, and set about solving it. Each week, dozens of nice horses were being sold at an auction house. Trouble was, most nights there were more horses than bidders, and the bulk of the herd was being sold to the feedlot. These horses collected in a pen until there was a truckload, then, unfortunately they were "shipped".
Instead of sitting around complaining about how awful this is, a group of dedicated women jumped in and did something. Award-winning equine photographer Sarah K. Andrew makes time to photograph every horse sold to the feedlot. Volunteers evaluate the horses the best they can and a large network of horse people distribute photos and descriptions of the horses, from Facebook to feed stores. They work with the owner of the auction to resell the horses who didn't get a high enough bid to leave the sale. Since the effort began in November 2009, no horses have shipped to slaughter from the auction house, and well over 2,000 horses have been purchased out of the feedlot.
The photos in this calendar were taken of the horses at auction and in their new homes. 100% of the profits from the calendar sales will be donated to a dedicated fund with One Horse At a Time, Inc.; the funds will be used for the aid of horses in need.
Gina's note: The most astonishing thing about all these lovely photographs is how much "soul" you see in the horses. Shooting pictures in this environment is incredibly challenging. The lighting is bad. The animals are stressed and unpredictable. The quarters are cramped - it's hard to get far enough away and/or at the best angle. There's undesirable clutter in the background. The list goes on. But, you look at these - it's like Sarah's got angels helping her out. They're truly divinely inspired, and HoofPrints is proud to be a part of this project. These are in production now and will be ready in a few weeks. If you reserve yours now, it will let us project our quantities even more accurately, and get a better price from the printer - meaning even more profits going toward the horses. To order click here.
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PROTECT THIS HORSE... medallion matches Protect this RIDER
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New Lead-free Pewter Pendant from Sweet Bird Studio
|  is made in USA, and hangs on an S-hook to attach to a halter or bridle. Sweet Bird's stuff is awesome, and I have fawned over it for a long time, but she works in sterling silver mostly, and with found objects, antique imprinted tin, stones, baubles, etc - so her stuff is expensive AND one of a kind. More appropriate for an upscale boutique where customers can see in person than for catalog sales.
Last time, I announced that we'd procured the hand-stamped PROTECT THIS RIDER medallion here. Many of you snatched one right up. Later, we got a sample of PROTECT THIS HORSE and found it to be every bit as nice as the rider's necklace. It's quite a bit bigger, too, so will make a statement on a halter or bridle.
To order PROTECT THIS HORSE (AND RIDER) click here
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New Purse & Wallet from American West
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The Hill Country Collection
|  blends rich, dark chocolate and raspberry tones to create a unique expression of western style. It's accented with cream leather trim, antiqued silver spots and a rope style buckle. Purse has interior zip pocket, accessory pouches and also includes a protective storage bag.
Trifold wallet has plenty of pockets and spaces for credit cards, a checkbook, money, driver's license and more. At $198. it's not cheap, but maker American West is known for their quality and workmanship - this bag will last a lifetime and will get more beautiful with age.
Hill Country Zip Top Hobo Purse measures 9.5" x 8" x 4.5", matching Tri-fold Wallet is 7.5" x 4"
See this and all our other purses, bags and totes here
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BARN girl "bales again"
| our black BARN girl sweatshirt was a big hit - in spite of the $60. price tag...
|  but many of you preferred a full zip hoodie as opposed to a pullover (the un-zippered front was necessary to accommodate the bazillion stitches that it took to embroider the design - which, BTW, is beautifully sketched by artist Lesley Bruce)
We found one in a lovely celadon green. It's garment washed, super soft, and ladies cut. We've separated the girl from her name, and her rude horses; she stands alone on this one. And it's only $39.95!
To order click here
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Recap - From the last newsletter
| Here's what we talked about last time:
|  Oh, What Fun it is to Ride T-shirt here
Trail Boss's Cowboy Cookbook here
Life is Short, Play with Your Dog T-shirt here
Snuggly Turquoise Thermal Jacket here
KEEP CALM & HANG ON Sweatshirt here
Pink Heart Riding Gloves here
Copper HoofPrint & Yak Bone Bracelet here
Handle Stess Like a Dog sign made in USA here
New Gloves for Farriers save your hands here
Adams Lameness in Horses 6th edition here
Dog Lovers Scrapbook Kit here
I MAKE HORSE CALLS books here
3 Horsey T-shirts - set for UNDER $40. here
PAST NEWSLETTERS - See what you missed! Click HERE to catch up on the news.
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| 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 week's quotes are about posture:
"I've found that the best thing I can do for my posture is practice 100% of my waking moments at standing up straight - working at it - from top to bottom - at my everyday tasks. A relatively small % of time exercising can't replace hours of working at just being upright." -Ellen Jefferies
... "Imagery can help; thinking about getting as much exposure to the sky as possible of your chest and abdomen. sometimes you feel as if you are leaning back, when in fact you are straight, so someone on the ground can help you with that, even a non horse person." -bluefilly" Wise words from the Yahoo! group Riding With Confidence -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Thanks everyone, for reading!
Gina Keesling, owner
Contact Information
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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 to get started. (please note - using this form does NOT subscribe anyone to our list - it is a one-time only forward) |
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