newsletter header wide
HoofPrints Newsletter
June 29, 2012
Rob shoeing Rocky
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. Along the way we became HoofPrints.com, too, adding a selection of fun horse and dog products geared toward women of a certain age. 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.

Pink Breyer Horse Breyer Pink Breast Cancer Awareness model ON SALE! 
This horse was closed out by the manufacturer and no more are available.
We have a small stash in inventory that we've marked down to $39.95. Hurry - they won't last long at this price. To order click here 

Card Sale Banner
HALF PRICE Sale on Greeting Cards ends tomorrow!
There's still time to order your Christmas cards for the upcoming holiday season at HALF PRICE! The sale ends June 30, some of the card designs are low inventory and will NOT be reprinted, so make your selections early. To see them click here.
 
Also, PLEASE-PLEASE-PLEASE read carefully the wording options available for the insides of the cards when you order. The website defaults to withOUT "thank you for your business" - but some cards are ONLY available WITH this option, so if you click those, that's what you're going to get. I Heard the Bells, Rejoice!, Peace on Earth and He Knows... are 4 examples of cards that are ONLY available WITH thank you. To get started click here

Blacksmith Calendar Kriz Page ANOTHER UPDATE on the Blacksmith Calendar - A couple months ago in this newsletter, I announced that we would be taking the reins on the production of the 2013 Blacksmith Calendar. Many of you responded with encouraging words and submissions of wonderful photos.

Last time I shared an earlier version of the page at left, along with details about Johnny Kriz, the fellow that's pictured. Johnny came from a long line of blacksmiths, and his family continues that tradition to this very day.

If you remember the previous version (here) it was missing the Kriz Farm sign and the enormous pile of used horseshoes at the bottom. I am still waiting to hear back from Johnny's son Tim as to the particulars on the shoe pile - it's age and height. But if you consider that a hoof rasp is about a foot long, and you can see some right in the middle of the pile - it makes you realize that it is indeed very large and has obviously been accumulating for many years.

I was delighted to stumble upon these (and more) on an equine photographer friend's website; Carien Schippers' imagequine.com. You may recognise Carien's work as it's been chosen numerous times as cover art for the popular Back In The Saddle catalog.

Now, being an equine photographer for hire these days is a challenging proposition. The digital cameras that are available in the the general public's price range are very good. Anyone can buy one, take some pictures of horses, and call themselves a "professional" photographer. So competition is stiff, especially if the consumer is not terribly discriminating and is shopping based on pricing alone.

Kriz Shoe Pile
Another problem facing photographers is the fact that it is extremely easy to copy images off of the internet. Photographers are forever dealing with the fact that folks can (and do) snag pictures from the web, and imprint them on coffee mugs, t-shirts, etc for sale. Most photographers want/need to be out doing their job - not policing the internet for pirated images. So, when you see images like Carien's shot of the Kriz family shoe pile - emblazoned with copyright and contact info - this is the reason. It's not, as some folks imagine, vanity or bragging.

As someone who uses unique pictures on a wide variety of products, I am delighted that many photographers have gone to the effort and expense to set up stock image galleries on their websites. These allow folks like me to view a wide variety of images - and access to photos that were never available before the internet... The usage fees are extremely reasonable - usually based on the application. If it's something that's going to make the company a lot of money, then the fees are higher. If it's editorial, or a smaller project that's less lucrative, fees are adjusted accordingly. It's a brilliant arrangement that allows all of us access to an unprecedented amount of high quality work from all over the world. You can see a portion of Carien's images in her stock gallery here.

Be sure to like us on Facebook
, so you can see new updates on the Blacksmith Calendar. Those will be posted in the photo album here

Horsewomen Calendar FREE 2012 Horsewomen Calendar with purchase of 2013 Horsewomen Calendar

We've got the 2013 calendars in already! This beautiful, large size glossy calendar features 12 different photos of a woman and her horse. Each month shows a different facet of the relationship between women and their various horse breeds. Western riding, English riding, ground work, just hanging out - and more.

While supplies last - Buy a 2013 Horse Women Calendar and get a 2012 Horse Women Calendar FREE! There are still 6 months left to use - and these big, colorful pictures make great scrapbook page backgrounds, framed art, use in crafts, etc.

To order click here
Underwater dogs calendar
Something NEW for Dog Lovers  2013 Underwater Dogs Calendar

Featuring photos by Seth Casteel, this is not your typical dog calendar, picturing impeccably groomed, beautiful specimens of various breeds - this one features a shocking new image each month - of a freakishly distorted dog(s) face - as he or she plunges into the water to retrieve a toy! Guaranteed to give a chuckle.


To order click here

Moates Bookmark FREE BOOKMARK WITH EVERY ORDER
We love this bookmark so much, we wanted everyone to have a copy of it! It features author Tom Moates' photo and the inspirational phrases: "Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best." -Henry Van Dyke and "What we are is God's gift to us. What we become is our gift to God." -Eleanor Powell

You don't even have to ask for it - we'll include it for free in the package with every order. To get started click here
Horse & Buggy Days framed print
RECAP -  From the last newsletter: Here's what we talked about last time:
Horse & Buggy Days on closeout here
Essential Principles of Horseshoeing here
Hold Your Horses T-shirt here
Horse Sense Coaster Set here
A Dog's Journey new book here
A Farrier's Prayer framed verse here

Flawed Folks' books here
Farrier Invoices
at old prices here
Things not to say to a farrier here
Cavalia DVD here
Woman Needs a Horse here
 
Beautiful Jim Key - true story here
Make a Horsey Scrapbook here

PAST NEWSLETTERS - See what you missed! Catch up on the news here
In This Issue
Pink Breyer Horse on Sale
Greeting Cards HALF PRICE
Blacksmith Calendar update
FREE Horsewomen Calendar
NEW Dog Calendar
FREE Bookmark with every order
WHAT'S NEW?
Horse Coaster Set
Faith Coaster with easel
Wood Framed Ceramic Horse Sense Coasters here
WHAT'S NEW?
Hold Your Horses T
Hold Your Horses T
See our T-shirt selection here
WHAT'S NEW?
A Dog's Journey
Dogs Journey Cover
Sequel to best-seller
A Dog's Purpose here
WHAT'S NEW?
Spiritual Book
Desiderata cover
Desiderata for Horse Lovers makes a great gift! order here
WHAT'S NEW?
The Faraway Horses by Buck Brannaman
Faraway Horses book cover
Read more about the life of best-selling DVD star here
WHAT'S NEW?
Farrier Book
Essential Principles of Horseshoeing
Order Essential Principles of Horseshoeing here  
WHAT'S NEW?
~ Christian Book ~
Invisible Woman Book
The Invisible Woman - When
Only God Sees here
CHECK IT OUT!
SALE on Spring T's
3 horsey t-shirts
BIG sale on Springy Horsey T-shirts less than $10 each here
WHAT'S NEW?
~ for Horsewomen ~
Long Tall List of Things To Do
Horsewoman's Long Tall List of Things to Do here
ON SALE HALF PRICE!
Thoroughbreds print
Thoroughbreds print
See our half price items here
Message

We LOVE hearing from our customers. You can contact HoofPrints owner
Gina Keesling via email at [email protected]
 
Find us on facebook
facebook logo
Be sure to LIKE our facebook page - it's where we announce special sales, breaking news and everything else we find interesting. To see it go here
 
Our Current Catalog
2012 spring catalog cover
Request your copy of
HoofPrints Spring Catalog
by clicking here
 
Quick Links
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)