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HoofPrints Newsletter
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March 22, 2013
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WHAT'S WITH THE CRAP?
Why would we put a page full of products dedicated to HORSE MANURE on our website? The fact is, if you've got horses, you've got manure. And lots of it. Most of us accept this as a not-all-that-unpleasant aspect of horse ownership. City folk pay to go to the gym. I can clean stalls for free! It's a great fitness workout routine - 7 days a week. Do kennel owners have an endearing relationship with dog poop? I doubt it. Do cat lovers speak of litter box cleaning as "therapeutic"? Uh, no. But for horse folk, it's all part of the lifestyle. We've got the MANURE MOVERS OF AMERICA logo (shown) silkscreened on a sturdy aluminum sign AND a heavy grey sweatshirt. Enjoy our humorous selection here.
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HoofPrints CRAPPY PRODUCTS
First, an explanation: Horse keeping is the only hobby I know of - that for the most part the cleaning up is not considered revolting drudgery. When I started paying attention, I realized that there are lots of products that make reference to that equine by-product - horse manure.
Shown here is our
SAME SH*T, DIFFERENT DAY mug.
If you're like me, you're not exactly "Little Miss Sunshine" in the morning. Enjoy your morning coffee with this little anti-pick-me-up, and get your crappy thoughts out of the way for the day. Actually, if the worst thing that happens is the same horse manure as the day before, then we've all got it made! This mug holds a full 16 ounces. We've had rave reviews about how nice and heavy it is. The handle is thick and substantial so you can get a good grip - on your coffee and your day. To order click here.
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A CRAPPY CLOCK
Comments from a customer about our Horse Poop Clock:
"Just wanted to let you know that the HoofPrints clock arrived in good order. Thought you'd be interested in hearing what a great hit it was.
I ordered it for my 81 year old mother's birthday. Although she grew up with horses, she was always afraid of them and never rode. She had no contact with them until a couple of years ago when we bought a farm.
She is now the biggest horse fan ever and we even got her up on our paint pony for a ride around the yard. A great testament to the saying "it's never too late." When she visits, she is always the first one down to the barn in the mornings to do the chores. She's the best scooper around.
When I saw the clock in your catalogue, I knew it would be the perfect gift for her birthday. The images are right out of real life in the barn, from lugging square bales and syringing medication down to trying to get the broom away from the dog. We have lived it all. Mom thought it was incredibly clever for someone to have come up with such a great clock idea and it's proudly displayed in her kitchen. She has taken it to show all her friends at her church group. Thank you for helping make Mom's birthday a huge success."
-Kristina M.
Thanks to Kristina for sending this nice note - and congrats to her mom for joining the rest of us in the barn! More info about our shoveling clock here
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A CRAPPY BOOK for Farriers
Farrier/Author Ray Legel's book
TAILS OF A HORSESHOER includes a crappy chapter; "Road Apple Assault". Ray's candid account of his attack on his now ex-brother-in-law is not something that many folks would be brave enough to put in print about themselves: "...He took off with juicy, green horse s**t smeared from sideburn to sideburn. I really do not think he was licking his lips..."
Click here to order - and find out what happened after Ray meted out the deserved punishment on his good-for-nothing brother-in-law.
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CRAPPY MUSIC
for Horse Lovers
Mary Ann Kennedy even wrote a song; CLEANIN' STALLS. Mary Ann's affinity and appreciation for the finer points of horse care is apparent in each and every one of her songs. Our customers seem to agree - these remain a perennial best-seller for us year after year. We had a customer call a while back and order 7 sets! She is confident that all her friends will love these as much as she does. Click here to listen to a snippet of Cleanin' Stalls from Music CD Hoofbeats, Heartbeats & Wings.
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Send a
CRAPPY NOTE!
with note pads with paper made from HORSE MANURE!... With the concern these days about deforestation and the need to recycle, these products are a fantastic example of sustainability and responsible consumption. The folks at PooPooPaper take a material that's available in abundance (Horse Poo) and make functional and completely useful products while sparing a lot of trees in the process. Horses eat lots of grass every day and they poo almost as much. Since their digestive systems don't break down the grass completely, their poo has plenty of fiber! Seeing as though grass is fiber and fiber is the base material used in making pulp for paper, they've devised a special (and sanitary / odor free) process to make the poo into paper.
We found the whole idea great fun, and think you will too. Use the note pads to send "crappy notes" to your co-workers (or even your boss). Keep the journal around for purging crappy thoughts, or writing down crappy ideas, or doing crappy art! The possibilities are endless. This paper has a lovely cream-colored finish, and is speckled throughout with bits of fiber. Just like the fancy stuff from the stationery store. To order click here.
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That's a CRAPPY THING TO SAY:
"Eew! Horse poop. How do you walk around here?"
Several of the phrases on our popular
THINGS NOT TO SAY TO A HORSE OWNER series make reference to horse manure and that aspect of horsekeeping;
"Did you step in something? Your boots stink."
"Why don't you train him to go outside like a dog, instead of in his stall?"
"If you kept the house as neat as the barn, we wouldn't have to look for things."
Click here for the rest of the Things Not to Say to a Horse Owner. |
A CRAPPY SIGN tells folks where to go
If you are going to act like a TURD - Go lay in the YARD...
This goofy wood sign is a big hit every holiday season. It's surprisingly nice (if you can say that about something that refers to a turd). It's made of solid wood, screenprinted in multiple colors for a rustic look, and then framed with a raised edge (also in wood). It's got a hanger on the back, and measures an impressive 8.5" wide x 14.5" tall.
This is actually the first thing I go to when needing to choose an item for a White Elephant Gift Exchange; it's a good price (just under $20.) It always gets a chuckle, and is usually coveted by multiple gift openers before the game is over. To order click here |
A CRAPPY LITTLE BOOK:
The Little Book of Horse Poop
The perfect silly little gift for someone who seems to always be cleaning stalls - it's full of fun and useful facts about horse manure. According to the book, a single horse produces 50 pounds of manure per day, taking an average of three weeks to produce it's own weight in poop. If all the manure produced by horses in the US were properly composted, it would be valued at $147.3 million. With numbers like that, you'd better learn all about it that you can!
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NOT SO CRAPPY: What's new at HoofPrints
While it seemed OK at the time I put it together, I'd come to think our old home page was, well, crappy. It was busy, crowded, and the colors weren't that great. So finally, I sat down and came up with a new one. You can see the full size version here. You'll notice that this one's missing the mention of farrier products - stay tuned, I'm working on a whole new section exclusively for farriers. Will announce that in this newsletter as soon as it's ready.
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 RECAP - From the last newsletter
Here's what we talked about last time:
BUCK DVD HALF PRICE here
Desiderata for Horse Lovers here The Value of a Life - broken legged horse here More Farrier Gossip + Things Not To Say here
Cowgirls Cookbook w/yummy recipes here Beautiful Jim Key book a true story here
Make a Horsey Scrapbook here
Dump Him, Marry the Horse here
Doctor is In Horse Thermometer here
Cowgirl Note Cards here
PROTECT THIS RIDER pendant here
A Dog's Purpose book here
Play with your Dog T-shirt here
PAST NEWSLETTERS - See what you missed! Catch up on the news here
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WHAT'S ON SALE?
MORE stuff 50% OFF
Won't You Fix My Horse, Too? vintage art print $9.95 here |
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WHAT'S NEW?
SALE on Spring T's
3 Springy Horsey T-shirts less than $14 each here! |
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Breast Cancer Awareness Products
Riding for a Cure Brooch here |
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WHAT'S HALF PRICE?
I'm Still Hot!
It' Just Comes In Flashes Now Bracelet here |
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WHAT'S NEW?
Pony Girl Earrings
Tiny steling silver riders only $19.95 per pair here |
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IT'S BACK!
Courage Mug
The manufacturer sold out of this mug this fall, and many of you were disappointed when you tried to order. We've since found a replacement that is even better. To order click here |
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WHAT'S NEW?
Farrier Book
Order Confessions of a Horseshoer here |
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Father's Day Gift Idea
Crossroads Sculpture here |
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WHAT'S ON SALE?
~ Closeouts ~
Select Farrier Sportswear here |
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WHAT'S NEW?
~ for Horsewomen ~
Horsewoman's Long Tall List of Things to Do here
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Best Selling Christian Horse Books
Horse Tales from Heaven and Heavenly Horse Sense Christian Horse titles 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 Catalog by clicking here |
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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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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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