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HoofPrints Newsletter
January 12, 2013
CALHNTS November
Things not to say to a horse owner
We've all heard them... "helpful" comments from well-meaning folks who haven't got a clue. We've gathered them all up and placed them on a calendar, sweatshirt and mug. Do you have a non-horsey friend or family member who just doesn't "get it"? Maybe these will help... Shown at left is art from the Magnetic Business Card Calendar - on sale here.

Things Not To Say from the Sweatshirt and Mug:
Riding isn't a sport, the horse does all the work. If you kept the house as neat as you do the barn, we wouldn't have to look for things. Sure, I can ride. I went riding on my vacation two years ago. Your horse is only worth what someone will pay you for him. Oh - you're going to breed her... how long will it take her to have a litter? Gosh - your horse trailer cost more than your house! Shouldn't that saddle in your front room be in the barn? Why do you have so many horses? You can only ride one at a time. Geez- It's ONLY a horse! How much did you say you paid for those shoes? ____ is old and you don't ride him anyway, why don't you sell him? Did you know that your horse is foaming at the mouth? The way you treat that horse, you'd think it was part of your family. I heard that Dr Phil said that owning a horse is good exercise - for the horse. Haven't you outgrown that horse "thing" yet? Any phrase containing the word "hayburner" If you spent as much time with your husband as you do your horse, you'd have a happier marriage. My car/boat/motorcycle just sits in the garage until I need it. You have a Quarter Horse? Where's the rest of him?
Not To Say Horse Owner Sweatshirt & Mug Did you step in something? Your boots stink. Should you still be riding at your age? When can we come to ride? You have to buy hay? Can't they just eat grass? What, I shouldn't wear flip-flops out to your barn? Do you have any clothes besides jeans & horse t-shirts? Why do you take lessons? I thought you knew how to ride. The baby horse is so cute - (when referring to an aged PONY) You should show that horse who's boss, then he'll do what you want! My teen is so lazy. I'll send him/her to your place-maybe you can get him/her to work! How many more times are you going to let that horse throw you off before you give it up? Do horses really have a personality? Eew! Horse poop. How do you walk around here? So where do you get all of your money? I know you have money, cause you've got horses. Doesn't it hurt when you fall off? Your barn is cleaner than your house. Imagine how much money you'd have if you didn't have all these horses to feed! Why put your vet's/farrier's kids through college? You could be taking a vacation! Your horse's only talent is stimulating the economy. You have horses... you must be RICH! Are you sure he can breathe with that thing (girth) wrapped around his gut? Why don't you train him to go outside like a dog, instead of in his stall? You paid HOW much?
Order the mug and sweatshirt here 
 
WARNING - Copyrighted material! We don't mind if others enjoy our humorous quotes - but please include proper credit if you choose to pass this along... �Gina Keesling - www.hoofprints.com 
Turquoise Jacket closeup
Thermal Sherpa Lined Hood gets rave reviews
We are so excited about these details that I didn't picture here the embroidered horse logo that's on the left chest, but instead a closeup of the wonderful textures that this jacket has.

This heavy hooded sweatshirt could double for a coat on all but the coldest days. The outer shell is constructed of thermal fabric, and it's lined with plush sherpa throughout. The seams are fashioned so that a bit of sherpa peeks through, for a casual, two-tone effect. It's cotton/poly blend so no shrinking, and it washes and dries beautifully with no special attention (yes, we tested it). The neck is taped to hold it's shape and minimize scratchiness against your neck. Zipper and eyelets are metal, and the drawstring on the hood is beefy enough to stay tied. We've embroidered it with our wind horse logo. Sizing on this one is very generous - so those of you who were needing larger sizes than we normally offer may want to give this one a second look.

HoofPrints customer Jessica P. loves hers:
quotation mark left
I received my jacket just 1 day after it was shipped! Awesome!! It looks sooo great and is absolutely the warmest, softest, and best jacket I have ever ordered! Thank you so much! I will be keeping the catalog that was sent to me and placing more orders as needed. I love this jacket! Have I said that before? Lol. Anyway...thanks again and remember you can't always make everyone happy, but you sure made me happy!!"

 Regularly priced at $59.95 - we've marked this jacket down by $10. here
Angels Ride Him Framed
"Now Angels Ride Him (or Her)" framed verse
Slightly flawed versions HALF PRICE!
These are handmade from aromatic red cedar using wood that might otherwise not be suitable for more utilitarian purposes. It's got knots and gnarly places, interesting grain and color - all of which give these character. However, some of what we got in is a bit extreme in the gnarly/rustic department. And not all cedar is the characteristic dark red - some of the frames have pieces that are quite yellow-ish/pale. Some of the leather has flaws or minor staining. All of the lasered graphics on the leather are sharp and clear, though. We've marked these flawed versions down for quick sale at HALF PRICE.

WARNING: The verse is a tear-jerker. A portion:

"A breeze blew down from somewhere 
and brushed away my tears, 
like a kiss from Heaven 
for all the happy years.

In my mind he's in a meadow, 
the grass is long and green. 
He teaches every kid to ride 
and becomes their favorite dream."

You can read the rest, and place your order here
First quality memorial verses are here 
First Love sculpture
Collectable Horse Whispers Sculptures ON SALE!
These are made by Enesco, a company known for it's high quality collectables. They're about 6" tall and crafted of resin that looks just like expensive bisque porcelain. This was the first year for these, and the manufacturer was rather alarmist - refusing to commit to have stock on hand for us for the holiday season. I went into hoarding mode - in order to make sure we had enough to fill orders - and overdid it a bit. We've marked them down by about $15.00 here 
Underwater Dogs Calendar
RECAP from the last newsletter here's what we talked about:
Shocking Dog Images - Underwater Dogs Calendar on sale here
Sterling Silver Dog Whistle here
Dog Lovers Disappearing Mud Mug only $4.99 here
Amazing Dog Facts & Trivia here
Hoof Problems
- a profusely illustrated, hardcover book, under $50 here
Story about people watching farriers, and what happens when they do - here 
Silver Gem on chain
I wasn't kidding... 
they kept the horse on a chain in the back yard. 
Last time I talked about the Horses and Hope Calendar, and how the money generated helped to fund grants to geld horses like Silver Gem (his "after" picture is here). He spent 8 years on a chain in someone's backyard. The photos show makeshift fencing, one can only assume that probably because he was a stallion, he was getting through the fence and thus needed to be chained?

Last year, photographer Sarah K. Andrew approached me about HoofPrints helping to produce a calendar using her photos of auction and rescue horses. I'd been a fan of Sarah's work for a long time; continually astonished at her ability to take soulful photos of ordinary (and often unkempt/unattractive) unwanted horses in extremely challenging conditions.
She chose One Horse At A Time as the recipient for the funds generated by the calendar. One of the reasons - OHAAT writes "gelding grants". This is funding they've set aside for worthy recipients to pay for gelding stallions, in order to make them more adoptable. Most people wouldn't have given Silver Gem a second look - an unhandled stud-horse at that age would seem to have limited potential to ever be a "good citizen". Horse Rescue United's Anouk Busch thought differently. She negotiated with his owners to purchase him. OHAAT funded his gelding. Anouk and the staff at HRU worked with Gem, and in spite of his late start at training, he proved to be a quick study. Now he's in a good home, with a good life!

Little successes like this make me think of the Starfish Story - when a problem seems so big and so terrible that it almost isn't worth trying to solve - that's when we all need to think of the individuals... instead of the masses. For Gem, it made all the difference in the world.

We're down to the last couple hundred Horses and Hope Calendars. Most of the folks who bought them, bought one. What can $20. do? Is it even worth the bother? I am here to state a resounding YES! So far this year we've dispersed about $50,000. in calendar sales proceeds to One Horse At A Time. They've wisely and judiciously distributed it where it's most needed. If you've not ordered your calendar yet, you can do so here. If you don't already have one, consider adding a 2012 calendar to your order, too. They're only $10.00 and the photos are beautiful - it's a collector's item, for sure. 
In This Issue
Now Angels Ride...
Horse Whispers Sculptures
RECAP from Last Newsletter
What good does it do?
Find us on Facebook
WHAT'S HALF PRICE?
Farrier & Horsey
AIR FRESHENERS!
Farrier car air fresheners
Farrier Air Fresheners include Money, Leather, and Sport Fresh here
Horse Air Fresheners
Horse Woman's Air Fresheners include Leather, Hay, and Carrot here
WHAT'S ON SALE?
~ BUCK DVD ~
Buck DVD
Buck Brannaman's life story DVD on sale here
WHAT'S ON SALE?
Farrier Sportswear
Farrier Denim Shirt
Longsleeve cotton denim shirt - embroidered with Farrier & Shoe logo - $10.00 OFF! See our complete selection here
WHAT'S NEW?
~ Christian Products ~
Bible Pocket Partners
Cowboy & Cowgirl
Bible Pocket Partners here
Keep track of your New Year's Resolutions!
Long Tall List of Things To Do
Horsewoman's Long Tall List of Things to Do here
Message

We LOVE hearing from our customers. You can contact HoofPrints owner
Gina Keesling via email at [email protected]
 
Find us on facebook
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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 Fall Catalog Cover
Request your copy of
HoofPrints Catalog
by clicking here
 
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ABOUT THE COMPANY AND THIS NEWSLETTER

Rob shoeing Rocky 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.

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)