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HoofPrints Newsletter
June 21, 2013
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.

Equine ER Book Cover
Dog Collars from a Horse Book
It's funny how one thing leads to another and things turn out in ways that we never could imagine.
Such is the case with Leslie Guttman. In researching her first nonfiction book, the author/journalist spent a year chronicling the everyday activities at famed Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky. The result of her efforts - Equine ER was a huge success. (It's available here) I think she did an incredible job documenting what she saw. This book is much more than just an account of shocking injuries and illnesses, repaired / cured at the 11th hour by a team of the best equine veterinarians. Leslie adds a degree of observation and insight to the stories that make this book one of my favorites. But while she was watching emergency surgeries, riding along on farm calls, and interviewing vets who'd just been kicked for the umpteenth time, she was noticing something else there in the Bluegrass. The tack. "I had never seen such high-quality leather goods outside of Italy," Guttman says. She arranged to have a dog collar and a purse custom made (in horse tack style) by a Kentucky saddlemaker. When strangers kept stopping her, asking where she'd gotten these lovely pieces - because they wanted them, too, Guttman was inspired to start her own leather goods company - daisy1010.
Daisy1010 collars The company's first product is equestrian style dog collars. Like the handmade bridles for thoroughbred racehorses, daisy1010's custom dog collars have a brass plate - engraved with your dog's name and a phone number if desired. These are handcrafted in Kentucky using the finest quality leather. Also matching the bridles used on valuable, thin-skinned thoroughbreds, they are padded for comfort, and all surfaces that touch the dog are smooth and soft. They come in two main leather colors (black or brown) and your choice of 4 different snazzy accent colors. "The goal with daisy1010 is to make beautiful things that last," says Guttman. "That very first dog collar and purse I had made are still going strong after six years. Actually, the older they get, the more beautiful they become. That's the way it should be."

Leslie is offering a special discount for HoofPrints newsletter subscribers. Enter DAISYHOOFPRINTS at checkout, and you'll get a $20 discount on each collar that you order! Offer ends July 15. To get started click here

Even if you're not in the market for a new collar for your dog right now, do take a moment to sign up for Leslie's newsletter. Her prototype collar was developed for her own dog, a standard poodle named Daisy. Like all of us, Daisy has issues. And she's teaching Leslie about life through their adventures. They're just getting started, so you can get in at the beginning of the story here.

Card Sale Banner
All Greeting Cards on Sale - HALF PRICE!  
All fall/winter we take calls from budget-minded farriers and other equine professionals - trying to decide if it's worth the cost to send Christmas cards to their clients. If you're one of those - now might be the time to reconsider.

Anyone who has been getting this newsletter for very long probably has noticed that we aren't doing big sale promotions every time you turn around. We pretty much need to sell everything at regular price in order to stay in business. We are not Wal-Mart, and we hope that low prices are not the reason folks shop with us. 
 
However, when we DO have sales, I try to make them memorable. And this one falls into that category, I hope. A special reward for those out there who are clever enough to anticipate how many cards they might need at Christmas time, AND organized enough to REMEMBER that they've already purchased them and WHERE they put them. That's not me. But I know you folks exist - I've heard stories...  

Prayers Be Answered card Shown here is one of my favorites, and one of the few dog Christmas cards that HoofPrints offers. "May all your Christmas prayers be answered." features a lovely vintage photo of a little girl and her dog saying their prayers. This image came from a now defunct publisher, and I was never able to find any information about it.  Then I stumbled upon this. There are subtle differences, but it's obviously the same photo. It says Russia, Circa 1908, but I don't know how to tell if the photo was taken in Russia. No matter where it was taken, it looks like a sweet, old-time bedroom, and I paired it with Laura Ingalls Wilder's words:
"Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmastime."

This glorious 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. 
A funny story involving crazy dogs
First, a little background: Longtime subscribers already know
Bailey rolling closeup
Bailey never holds still.
Here she is mid-roll
that I have been on an epic journey involving my horsemanship. I went along fine for years, quite fearlessly, with no trouble at all from my mounts. Then, I got a little (ahem) older, and along came a horse (chestnut mare Allie) who didn't appreciate my bossy attitude. We had some spectacular confrontations that left me shaken to the core, any confidence I had in my abilities to ride, let alone train, was vaporized. I spent considerable time sulking, in a despair that no animal would ever want anything to do with any kind of partnership involving me.

Then, along came Bailey. Bailey's a black lab who was dumped here at our farm a few years ago. She could be legitimately classified as a "crazy dog". Her default behavior is jumping. Like she as springs for legs. For the most part I've stifled her her urge to jump and put feet ON people - but that doesn't stop her from springing along beside me as I walk, leaping shoulder high and occasionally planting a friendly lick to my cheek. Which I allow as long as no muddy paws touch my clothes. A little weird, but she's a happy girl, and tries really hard to please. As I worked on helping her improve her manners, she proved to be an astoundingly willing pupil - and would try anything I asked her to do. If she didn't understand a request, she just kept offering up answers until she got it right. And jumping.

So an idea hatched in my head. Finally, an animal who is totally interested in working with me - no matter how badly I messed up - she just kept trying. In between bouts of leaping around. It was the perfect solution for my lack of confidence. A happy-go-lucky dog that was always ready to learn, AND was not one bit scary or dangerous to interact with. Unlike my poor Allie who'd learned to consider freaking out as her best option whenever my cues got muddled or I lost my confidence.

I signed Bailey and I up for an obedience course and she passed her tests with flying colors under the tutelage of a lovely positive trainer who helped me work on my cues, timing, and rewards. There's a story about that here. Even though it wasn't part of the curriculum for the class, at home I experimented with makeshift jumps (buckets with broom handles across) to take advantage of Bailey's propensity for flamboyant leaping. Soon, I could hold any sort of rod (usually a broom handle) and she'd joyfully leap it - back and forth - until I told her to stop. It is a game she never grows tired of.

Tony Hoard and Sprocket
Tony Hoard and Sprocket (the Rocket) . Sprocket's a heeler mix who was rescued from a shelter. The dogs all wore little boots to give them traction on the slick wood floor.
Recently, the Jay County Humane Society hosted a fundraising event featuring Tony Hoard and his troupe of performing dogs. I attended with my parents and son, and was totally impressed with what I saw. High energy dogs, zooming around catching frisbees, jumping over things, doing acrobatics, etc.

Tony's proclaimed "crazy dog" Sprocket had a special frisbee that, as a reward, he was allowed to attack like some sort of rabid fiend. Not what I would expect to see as a conventional reward, but it was apparently very meaningful to this particular dog. As we watched the variety of tricks, at one point Tony squatted down, held his arm out at shoulder height, and his dog raced toward him and leaped smartly over his outstretched arm. "Cool!" I thought. I immediately commented to my son that I was sure that my Bailey could do that trick.

The performance came to an end and I made the hour long trek home. It was late when I got here, and time for the dogs to go to the barn to sleep in their cozy straw nest for the night (as opposed to barking all night at the neighborhood coyotes and keeping us awake) Even though it was bedtime and I was really tired, I just had to try the jump over the outstretched arm trick. I squatted down and held out my arm and told her to "JUMP!" She just wasn't getting it. She kept running up and sniffing my hand - which was, sensibly, a variation of a targeting exercise that we'd learned in the obedience course. Then, I had the bright idea to get the broomstick that she already knows how to jump over, and hold it out as an extension of my arm - until she figured out that I wanted her to jump over my arm.

More background: Whenever this dog sees me get out the broom - she excitedly starts randomly leaping around in anticipation. So, when I squat down to hold it out to the side, she isn't expecting that and she is still randomly jumping. Except this time my face is down on her level, and she leaps into me. Her head hit me right in the chin. Hard. It knocked me down. I bit my tongue and can feel crunchy pieces of broken tooth in my mouth because we collided so hard.

At this point, I am sitting there on the barn floor, trying to sort out if the impact has knocked a crown off my tooth (just recently repaired), and figuring out where all the blood in my mouth is coming from... still holding the broomstick in my hand. As the stars start to recede from my field of vision, I can see that Bailey's there, frantically jumping over it - back and forth - over and over again - waiting for me to notice her. I can't help but laugh at her continued effort, even though my jaw feels like it's quite a bit further to the right than it really should be.

Fortunately, it must have been just a small chip off the still attached crown (or somewhere else) because I never could figure out where that grit in my mouth came from. And I didn't have a bruise on my face, thankfully, but my neck was sore from being torqued by by the hit to the side of my chin. So much for dog training as a completely safe endeavor. I never considered that I could get clocked in the chin like a boxer by a 50# dog!
 
As a follow-up, not to be bested by the unfortunate chin incident, I figured out a safer way to practice this trick. Rather than issue the "JUMP !" command willy nilly, I instead place Bailey in a sit/stay position a short distance away. Where she can barely contain herself, tail wagging and butt wiggling, until I then give the "JUMP!" command. I am a lot safer - as her focus is on what she's supposed to be jumping, and she heads straight for it as soon as she's told to. My next plan of action is to attempt to get some video of these silly antics, so I can share with you all. Still pics are a dismal failure as all I can capture is a black blur...

Dog Scrapbook Inside
Preserve your doggy memories!
Life with Bailey has been an adventure, so there was no shortage of ephemera to use in this example. I decided to focus a bit on her "crazy dog" persona - and the most fitting pictures for that are the ones that most folks delete without giving a second look. This dog didn't hold still for an instant, and the dozens of blurry pictures in my archives attest to that fact. However, they ended up being perfect for this application, nicely contrasting the photo on the bottom right - where she is staying quietly, eagerly awaiting her next command. The silly background on this page is from the Underwater Dogs Calendar - on sale HALF PRICE here

The other page background is one from our Doggone Cute Memory Scrapbook Kit. The right side of that page comes preprinted with a series of questions that prompt the crafter to answer creatively. The kit comes with coordinating pre-cut adhesive letters that give this one a unique effect. Again, the silly pictures that might not get a second look are the ones that end up starring here. The goofy folded-up ear, and her proud display of a favorite treat - an ear of corn from the neighboring farm field will evoke fond memories for years to come. I also chose this page to elaborate on how Bailey got her name. I was reviewing the book A Dog's Purpose at the time, and the main characters were Bailey and Ellie. Little did I know that the wild pup that showed up here out of the blue would end up being so much like the one in this lovely, spiritual book. The Protect This Dog Medallions were a good fit, too, but I found the actual medallions were too bulky. I cut out the pictures from our catalog and fastened them on for a similar effect.

Dog Scrapbook Cover The Dog Lover's Scrapbook Binder measures a big 12.5" x 13" (comes with 20 starter pages) It's covered with sturdy clear vinyl to protect and keep it nice. On the front is a special window to insert you own photo and I did choose a rather serious/elegant version for here.

All components of the scrapbook pages and the Doggone Cute Memory Scrapbook Kit are Archival, photo safe, acid, lignan and PVC free.
Both the kit and the binder are ON SALE here

Clean Up CLOSEUP
SPRING CLEANING - (now SUMMER cleaning)
continues at HoofPrints
My efforts to clear the warehouse (and my house- house) of accumulated oddball products continues to gain momentum. I've written about it before. The point continues to be, sometimes the space becomes more valuable than the items that are occupying it. So this is where most places say... "our loss is your gain!" Well, check out this super-cheap stuff and BUY IT. And your gain will be my gain, too. Because I need that space on the shelf.

The Half Price Page is here - check this often as they're one-of-a-kind things that will sell quickly and be replaced with whatever else starts to get on my nerves. I am currently going through a large stash of sample books - so many wonderful titles, it's hard to choose just a handful for the catalog. And the rest have got to go! Only one of each available so act fast if you see something you like.

NEW is Half Price PRINTS here  - there are a lot of lovely prints languishing in drawers here that really should be hanging on folks' walls making them smile and beautifying their homes. Summer is NOT the time that people are inclined for "nesting" - that usually happens during the colder months when everyone's inside. But fall/winter is busy season here and I don't encourage print sales then - I don't have the extra time it takes to wrap these carefully for safe delivery. I've marked them way down now to sweeten the deal.
 
Our Closeouts Page is here - it features items that are being phased out - still lots of good deals to be had there, too.
In This Issue
Dog Collars from a Horse Book - daisy1010
Christmas Cards HALF PRICE
Story about Crazy Dogs
Preserve doggy memories!
Links to sale pages
Love is the Best Medicine
Request a catalog
Copper HoofPrint Pony Bead Bracelets - Now MORE COLORS!
Pony Bead Bracelet COLORS
3 Additional Colors Added!
Teal - Red - Lime - Cobalt
Pony Bead Bracelets EARTHTONES
Original Colors: Topaz - Iridescent Multi - Lime - Speckled Brown
See them all here
COFFEE & DOG HAIR
Dog Hair Travel Mug
I NEVER LEAVE HOME WITHOUT THEM
16 oz Ceramic Travel Mug with leakproof lid only $16.95 here
BELOW HALF PRICE!
clay dog plaque
"Hug" clay plaque
Regular price $14.50
now only $4.99 here
UNTIL TUESDAY
Until Tuesday cover
Gina's note: This book has a little different tone than most of our others. The whole time you're reading you can sense the authors anger, pain, frustration and struggle. He's a skilled writer, and if you're not careful, you'll be feeling that way too as you read. But don't let that turn you away from this title - the powerful part of all this is how he is able to let his dog help him; and how he's able to analyze and convey their story. To order click here
Silver Dog Whistle
Dog Whistle
Solid Sterling Silver Whistle on waxed cotton cord here
TURD SIGN
Turd Sign
Order here
PROTECT THIS DOG
Protect this dog medallion
Pewter Medallions for Dogs
Size Large and Small here
We have it! The old classic print FOUND
Found Print
12x16 Print available here
BAD DOG
A Love Story
Bad Dog cover
This story is an epic journey to sobriety and a well behaved dog at the same time. At one point a professional tells the author that his angst is responsible for a great deal of the reason his dog acts out. (How many of us horse owners are learning the exact same thing?) There's excellent commentary on dog training methods currently popular today woven in with the author's experience with AA's 12 step program. This book is funny, serious, and thought provoking. To order click here
Love is the Best Medicine
Love is the best medicine
Don't let the cover fool you, this is a complex, emotional, and very spiritual story. More here
SMILE! It's only mud
disappearing mud mug
If only real mud disappeared as easily as the mud on this mug. All you have to do is fill it with coffee and the brown words disappear, revealing a whole bunch of smiling dogs. They're HALF PRICE here
FREE
Collectable Magnet
Great Horses Magnet
Stanley Harrison's Great Horses verse on a 2"x3.5" magnet. All you have to do to get yours is send a self addressed, stamped envelope to HoofPrints Magnet Offer
13849 N 200 E
Alexandria, IN 46001
A BIG LITTLE LIFE
Big Little Life book
This memoir is a brilliantly written story of a couple's life with their Golden Retriever. Mostly it's a series of fairly ordinary human-dog interactions that will make you smile and warm your heart, but it's also layered with a lot of deep, spiritual observations.
To order click here
HALF PRICE!
Underwater dogs calendar
Underwater Dogs
Calendar on sale here
BOOKMARKS
~ 50% OFF! ~
Bookmarks Composite
A Rider's Prayer, A Dog Lover's Prayer & Use Your Talents Bookmarks just 99� here
Message

We LOVE hearing from our customers. You can contact HoofPrints owner
Gina Keesling via email at [email protected]
 
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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)