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HoofPrints Newsletter
February 22, 2012 POSITIVE Issue
First - what's NEW around HoofPrints

this lovely orange/melon full zip hooded sweatshirt    

Carrot Zip Hood is a wonderful, spring-y color. It's from the same manufacturer that makes our popular BARN girl hood. Most striking is the color. Orange has never been a favorite of mine, but I do get weary of the same old blue/grey/brown that I gravitate toward (mostly for the dirt-hiding qualities)

I had this sample made last summer, and ended up choosing the celadon (pale green) Barn Girl version over this orange/melon. I really liked it, though, so rather than relegate it to the half price closeouts, I kept it for myself. After that, every time I wore it I got compliments on the lovely color. It's such a great color it makes folks want to touch it - then I'd get compliments on how soft it felt and how comfy it looked. Not to be one to ignore marketing data when it's thrown my way via unsolicited channels, I decided to give this one a spot in our Spring Edition of the HoofPrints Catalog. You can see this, and our other horsey sweatshirts here.
The art of POSITIVE thinking... for 21 days

Horses in the Yard author Joanne Friedman's blog entry a few weeks ago that 

Horses In The Yard Cover really resonated with me. In it she says:

"Call it "reframing" or positive psychology, or whatever you like, but I do believe that being a baby unicorn is a far better fate than spending one's life as an injured five-year-old.  Shawn Achor's lecture is loaded with memorable moments, and I predict, positively, that you will bookmark it and return to it over and over in the coming months.  

Eliminating the outliers--creating the Cult of the Average--is a problem bigger than all of the political BS we're suffering through in this pre-election Silly Season.  It's bigger because it goes on day after day, in every sector of society, and it's more depressing for its relentless attack on our joy.  Like Bo-bo, I seem to find a new disease daily and the symptoms I see in myself are rampant and unrepentant.  I don't have leprosy--yet--but I sure have a passel of other things wrong with me!

So I, for one, needed to hear a positive message.  Not "You're positively never going to be an Olympic rider and you are doomed to ruin more horses than you can possibly imagine" positive.   More like, "Zip is eating his blanket, and once again you've got more wormer paste on your jacket than in Leo, but look at the pretty flowers growing in the manure pile!" positive.  Happiness is far over my cognitive horizon, and that needs to change..."

Now, to understand what the heck a baby unicorn has to do with any of this, as does outliers, and to find out who Bo-bo is, you'll need to go and watch Shawn Achor's video here.

Shawn's theory goes like this: "Happiness is a work ethic. You have to train your brain to be positive, just like you work out your body. Doing one positive habit, like eight minutes of meditation a day, journaling for two minutes about a positive experience (it backfires if you write about negative ones!) or writing a two-minute long positive email to a friend once a day -- all have been found in research over the past decade to significantly increase happiness, whatever your current life circumstances. Training your brain for gratitude is one of the most powerful ways to accomplish this. Gratitude is the recognition that the present can make you happy instead of waiting for a future event. Thus, if you think of three things you are grateful for over the course of 21 days, your level of optimism in life significantly rises."

I was so inspired by what Shawn had to say in his video and this article, that I personally am going to take his challenge and for 21 days will list 3 things that I am grateful for - on the HoofPrints Facebook page here. I invite others to do the same.
Revisiting Gina's stupidest horse training mistake...
Last time, I talked in detail about the lengthy fiasco that ensued after a failed
Allie saddled trot attempt to "desensitize" my horse to a rope. (If you missed that, you can read it here) I've gotten lovely, encouraging notes from several folks, and only a few: "that's a crazy arab for you..." comments, as I suspected I would. What I saved for another newsletter was the fact that this mare is absolutely the horse of my dreams. Cat-quick, and so intuitive I swear if I had my act together I would not need tack. She only had about a dozen rides on her when I bought her. The few times (just moments, really) that I rode without messing it up with my worrying were AMAZING. I could direct this mare's speed, direction, etc with the slightest movement, just a thought, really. I've been around horses long enough to know that was not training - she was just too green to have had time to learn that. It was the kind of lightness and quick response that trainers strive for forever - and I had it right there with her - just using my mind. Unfortunately, big problems came when my mind started thinking about her spooking, or bolting, or bucking. Because, of course, that's what she did. Kind of a creepy horsey version of the King Midas story. I got what I wanted - quite literally - but I got the whole ball of wax - not just the good part

My friend Mary from Arizona had these wise words: "She sounds like a wonderful mare and if she is this good now, she will just get better and more in tune with you.  This is both a blessing and a bit of a curse.  You have to be a good example. When the human "tornado head" (a term coined by Linda Kohanov in her book Riding Between the Worlds) takes over, it imagines all sort of things happening, even sometimes things which have no chance of happening, which changes your breathing, how you sit, and your level of tension.  Your horse has blessed you with the role of chief tiger spotter and now thinks you have spotted one.  Horses don't think that it is themselves and their antics that are causing you to tense up."

Tarantula
WARNING: clicking on this picture will take
you to more of the same (((shudder)))
Veterinarian and animal behaviorist Sophia Yin uses an excellent analogy that explains what being forced into scary situations must feel like to a horse:

"Turn the tables around and the picture becomes clear. Say you're afraid of spiders and your friend shoves her pet tarantula in your face. If she simultaneously reassures you, "She's a friendly tarantula. See her amicable expression?" or "She can't cause harm, she's just an innocent baby," would you suddenly feel safe?

No, in fact the only way you could get used to the spider is if you greeted it at your own pace. That means it would have to be on a table or in some locations where you could control your distance from it. Then when you were ready you could gradually approach for a closer look and to even touch it.

Even when you're finally comfortable enough to examine and touch the tarantula, if it suddenly moves its mouthparts or waves one of its legs in the air you might jump away out of fright. To you these movements may conjure images of the tarantula leaping at you and taking a bite whereas to the tarantula the movements may just be a subconscious change in position or even a signal that it's your friend."

Another thought provoking point is made by Buck Brannaman in the DVD Buck. In explaining how important it is to let the horse know that he does indeed have the option to move away from something frightening, he tells us that he is unafraid of heights, and can stand on the edge of a scary precipice without fear of falling. However, if someone comes up close behind him, taking away his option to back up, then he gets REALLY nervous.

But, we all think, what about all those horses who've seemingly gotten over being terrified of something, by being forced to stand and tolerate it? To "learn" that it won't hurt them? Scientists call this kind of conditioning "flooding" - meaning you "flood" (overwhelm) the senses with the stimulus until they no longer react. And it's really not humane. Would you like to be locked in a room of spiders with no escape - to "learn" that they won't hurt you? Me neither.

There are still lots of great deals to be had on the HALF PRICE page

We've added a hoard of new books and some one of a kind...      

Horsework before Housework horsey sportswear. Everything on this page is at least 50% OFF. The Closeouts Page has our other marked down products, and that's here. Be sure to check back often as we are always adding new bargains.
Recap - From the last newsletter
Here's what we talked about last time:
Cavalia book page Cavalia - an amazing show with horses as the star - books and DVD available here.
Gina's stupidest horse training mistake is here
Tao of Equus
- influential & inspirational horse books here
Xenophon's Art of Horsemanship book here 
Unwanted Thoroughbred gets cushy retirement because of a single photo here
Glass Heart Keepsake locket here
Tribute to my Valentine here

Heavy Stainless Horse Hoof Openers here
New book: Care & Rehabilitation of the Equine Foot here
FARRIERS: Folks are Watching You - explanation here

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More about HoofPrints  
and miscellaneous ramblings from Gina
Rob shoeing RockyABOUT 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 quote is a little prayer of gratitude:

"For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

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Thanks everyone, for reading!
Gina Keesling, owner 

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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)