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HoofPrints Newsletter
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October 6, 2012
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ABOUT THE COMPANY AND THIS NEWSLETTERFarriers 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.
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NEW! Holiday Cards!
It's always fun coming up with new designs, and this year was no exception. First is #MRS
"Leaving the 8 tiny reindeer for Santa, Mrs Claus upgraded to a more powerful ride."
(Photo by Laura Cotterman)
Next is "Have yourself a merry little Christmas" Pictured is the blue-eyed miniature horse Harley. Baby Harley and his mom were rescued from the New Holland, PA horse auction by Project Sage Horse Rescue - this photo was taken there by Sarah Andrew. The New Holland auction is located in Amish country, and an awful lot of the horses sold there end up slaughter-bound. Many rescues do their work by outbidding kill buyers, rehabbing / training these horses and finding them good homes. Harley's all grown up now - you can see a picture of him here.
Third is "Full yet? Nope." With the hay shortage much of the country is experiencing, this card may be anything but funny, but I decided to include it anyway. My own horses are gluttons, and quickly become "wide-bodies" if allowed unrestricted access to hay or pasture. Photographer Christina Handley tells us that these girls are expecting, so their cravings and portly statures are justified.
Last is "You're Supposed to have a BUTTON nose." It's a carrot nose stealing pony who's justified his actions... inside says: "Tis the Season for Sharing." Art by Lesley Bruce.
To order these, and the rest of our holiday cards, click here.
***NOTE*** If you've already placed your pre-order for the Horses and Hope Calendar, and want to add some Christmas cards (or other additional products) to it, we can do that and it will save you on shipping charges if they all ship together. Just put a note in the comments box when you order that you'd like to combine and I will take care of the rest!
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I Train Horses to Eat CarrotsWe found out earlier this summer that the super- duper- heavywt hooded sweatshirt that we've been embroidering this logo on has been discontinued. So for this fall we've opted to try a screenprinted version and see how you all like it. The really GOOD NEWS is it's $20. CHEAPER! And, it's a great little pick-me-up for those days when your horse training endeavors leave you feeling a little frustrated... Focus on the positive with these light-hearted shirts that state the obvious. This new screenprinted sweatshirt is heavyweight preshrunk 9.3 oz (regular sweats are 7 oz) that's buttery soft inside and out; it gets softer with each washing. 50/50 cotton/polyester.
We've got a few of the embroidered sweats left, but they won't last long. To see them all, click here.
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NEW Pharaoh's Horses Necklace The Pharaoh's horses have found themselves on lots of products over the years, and while it's brand new (made in the USA by an artisan) this glass domed necklace looks like something you'd find tucked away in the back of an antique dresser drawer. We also sell a color version of this old favorite image by J. F. Herring.
When I first located this color version of an old favorite print, I was disappointed that I could not pass along a little more info about this lovely picture - it's been around for ages and many of us remember it from childhood times. Well, I did some more searching, and came up with the whole story (and then some). Did I find it with the JF Herring estate? an art historian? perhaps a horse art guru? No.
I found it in the back issue archives of a tattoo magazine; Skin & Ink. Palmer Utterback has written a wonderfully researched article chronicling all about this painting - from it's history and mystery surrounding the original artist, to speculation on it's symbolic meaning. Interspersed throughout are historic facts about the image's use as tattoo art! Here's an excerpt (link to the entire fascinating article follows)
 "In biblical times, horses were a symbol of wealth, status and, in warfare, power. A joint German-Egyptian archeological team has reported a discovery of horse stables, which housed over 400 horses, on the edge of the Nile Delta. The stables have been linked to pharaoh Ramses II who ruled more that 3,000 years ago. Such stables presumably boarded war horses similar to those used to draw the pharaoh's chariots in pursuit of the Israelites into the Red Sea. While the galloping steeds of Pharaoh's Horses convey a sense of power, majesty and grace, the implied reference to Exodus 14 suggests a symbolic warning against the singular pursuit of a tragic course without regard to the consequences: "The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen-the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived (Exodus 14:28)." Entire article is here
One of the best parts of this job is all of the different people I have the privilege of meeting. (even though many days I barely leave my office) Last fall, an end-of-the-day order that I took resulted in a delightful conversation with a fascinating lady who has spent a lifetime collecting and selling arabian horse art. Mary Lou Walbergh is an amazing source of equine art knowledge, and she shared this story about J F Herring and his chosen subject for many of his horse paintings:
"The Arabian stallion which Herring used as his model in so many of his paintings was named Imaun, named after the Imaun of Persia, who gave him, along with three other purebred Arabs, to Queen Victoria. The Queen thought, quite sensibly, that Imaun might prove to be too much horse for her, so she gave him to her Chief Clerk. This man immediately (showing great tackiness) sold him at Tattersall's, the famed horse sales establishment which is in business to this very day. Herring bought him and kept him all the rest of his very long life. His first idea was to use him as the horse model in a series of paintings he planned around the hero Mazeppa, who tied himself to his horse, so Herring hired a trainer to train Imaun to lie down, to be "housebroken," etc. This trainer said that Imaun was the most brilliant horse with whom he had ever worked, and Herring loved him so much that it is quite possible to pick out the horses he painted using Imaun as a model, because of the love and care taken with every stroke of the brush. Imaun is all three of the heads in The Pharaoh's Horses, his head is on the big grey work horse in his painting of The Blacksmith Shop here (The woman standing in the scene is Herring's daughter, Jenny), he is in the two paintings Herring did of Mazeppa, and in countless others."
Since then I've learned even more fascinating details, and have assembled them into a short article. We've added this article to the bottom of the Pharaoh's Horses print. It outlines some interesting details about the print, and features 11 small color pictures illustrating key points. This is for entertainment purposes only, it's the best info we could find from a myriad of sources - and it's intended to be trimmed off before the print is framed or displayed.
To see a closeup of the article, and the rest of our Arabian prints, click here. I have seen old versions of this go for a lot of money on ebay - they are not particularly rare - so in this instance it's probably a better bet to buy a NEW one that's in perfect condition!
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Protect This Dog
Pewter Medallions for Dogs
Hand cast in USA lead-free pewter by Sweet Bird Studio. Turquoise resin bead accent. Comes with S-hook to attach to collar. Comes in two sizes - Large is 1" wide, Small is 3/4" wide.
To order click here
We've also got the equine versions: Protect this Horse & Protect this Rider. Those are sold here
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RECAP from the last newsletter
Here's what we talked about last time:
KEEP CALM & RIDE ON Necklace here
Don't Sell Your Saddle Framed Verse here
Sneak Peek from Horses & Hope here
Protect this Dog Medallions here
Celtic Epona Pendants here
Horse Savvy Day Planner for 2013 here
Sterling Silver Shod Hoof Ring here
2013 Farrier Organizer IN STOCK here
New Horsewomen Sculptures here
I Make Horse Calls Books set here
Cowgirl Bible Pocket Partners here
Healing Shine Book & Audio CDs here
Equine Podiatry Book on closeout here
Anatomy books on closeout here
PAST NEWSLETTERS - see what you missed!
To catch up on the news, click here
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WHAT'S NEW?
Suede Trapper Hat
See all our horsewomens headwear here |
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WHAT'S NEW?
Wood Blacksmith Sign
See this and all our signs here |
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WHAT'S NEW?
Breyer Pink Stablemate
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WHAT'S NEW?
Hold Your Horses T
See our T-shirt selection here! |
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WHAT'S NEW?
~ for Horsewomen ~
Horsewoman's Long Tall List of Things to Do here
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WHAT'S NEW?
Spiritual Book
Desiderata for Horse Lovers makes a great gift! order here |
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WHAT'S NEW!
Underwater Dogs
Order your 2013 calendar here |
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FREE with every order
Inspirational Bookmark
Features inspirational verses & photo of author Tom Moates. See it here |
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Message
We LOVE hearing from our customers. You can contact HoofPrints owner Gina Keesling via email at gina@hoofprints.com |
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Find us on facebook
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 |
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Our Current Catalog
Request your copy of HoofPrints Fall Holiday Edition Catalog by clicking here |
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Share our emails
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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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