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HoofPrints Newsletter
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October 19, 2013
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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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Revisiting favorite books - A lesson in keeping an open mind.
I personally read every book that we have for sale. If there's something about it I don't like, or if it doesn't hold my interest, then it doesn't make it in. Like everyone else, I have fairly strong personal opinions about how I think animals should be interacted with. So, naturally, I would likely not be selling ANY book that endorses activities that go against what I feel is appropriate. Until now. Ironically, I ended up with two titles at the same time that each had potential "deal-breaker" content.
The first is I'm Listening With a Broken Ear by Vicky Kaseorg. This book has all the makings of a modern classic. It's so good I think it'd make a great movie. It's 426 pages, and once I started I couldn't put it down (except for essential distractions like work and animal care) until I was finished. It's that good. In a nutshell, the author finds a pathetic, nearly dead dog abandoned in a parking lot. She brings her home and nurses her back to health. Somewhere along the way the family realizes they are in way over their heads as the dog has behavior issues that they can't manage. Dangerous behavior issues. It's hard enough to find homes for dogs who behave perfectly, so rehoming this one was NOT an option. Vicky spends a lot of time online trying to solve the problem, and ends up getting hooked up with a rescuer named Malta. Malta supplies Vicky with a horse whip. And teaches her how to do the "alpha roll" when the dog gets out of line. Now, before you run screaming, thinking you totally don't want to waste your time reading a work written by someone who keeps a whip in hand and rolls her poor dog - give this one a chance. You WON'T be disappointed. I guarantee it. It's thoughtful, spiritual, laugh out loud humorous - and the ending is so very good you will probably cry. Or cheer. Or both. There's a more detailed description and a couple excerpts to read here.
 Next is The Smart Woman's Guide to Midlife Horses by Melinda Folse. I got a copy of this in to review last fall, but was much too busy to give it a thorough look. It sat on my vintage glider for quite a while. I'd picked it up a couple times, and skimmed over it, I kept seeing Clinton Anderson's name, so had pretty much decided this was NOT a keeper as I don't care for this trainer. Now, in all fairness to Clinton, I have not personally attended any of his presentations. My opinion was formed by watching him work with horses on TV. I hate how his horses skulk around with their heads so low. Looking dejected, not softly flexed or collected. I hate how the beginning of his show has footage of him spinning and spinning and spinning that poor horse. Enough already. He waves his "handy stick" entirely too much, and doesn't appear to have any consideration for how the horse is feeling about all this. I assumed that this author, since she made so many mentions of this particular trainer and his teachings, would likely not have anything to say that I'd find merit in. But as I read, I discovered that I was wrong. She "canceled out" the negative of mentioning Clinton, by quoting some of my very favorite authors - Linda Kohanov being at the top of the list. It turns out, this book is a wonderful compilation of information that will interest the beginner horse owner, as will as those who've had horses all their life. It's arranged in concisive chapters - you can skip around and not feel like you've missed something. And it tackles unlikely subjects like Finding Your Soul Values, Plateaus, Ruts and Fear, Women of a Certain Age, and more. And is not all technical "business" - there is much information about the aspect of horses as healers, building better human relationships through horses, and other life skills issues that busy women often put by the wayside. An excellent, inspirational reference. You can order a copy here.
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Revisting my stupidest marketing mistake...
I've been known to be pretty critical of other companies' advertising efforts.
I hate magazine ads that make you work to figure out what they are selling; fancy, "arty" photography that does nothing to describe a product or it's use. A trip in the car to Indianapolis always results in ranting over the vague and cryptic messages on the billboards. Again, what are they selling? At 70 mph that's not much time to figure it out. Don't even get me started on the Viagra "get things done" commercial where the guy unloads a team of already harnessed ?? horses to pull out his stuck truck and trailer. I get the symbolism of what they are implying, but does the average consumer that's the target market for this product get it? The long version of the commercial shows a woman in the upstairs window - presumably hinting at what's next - but a more realistic scenario would be that same woman wanting to know if those horses got unharnessed, cooled out, bedded and fed before the guy even came to the house...
At any rate, I feel a little dumb, after all this time, FINALLY writing a proper description for the magnetic business card calendars, and illustrating what a great bang for the buck that they are. For years, my copy said; "Our handy magnetic business card calendar lets you keep your card in front of your customers all year round, and give them a chuckle, too! Each month has different Things Not to Say to a Farrier phrases, paired with humorous farrier drawings. At the bottom is a farrier related hint that may (hopefully) help your clients to help you better care for their horses' feet. Great to enclose with your invoices, or with your holiday cards. These stick to any metal surface. Just remove the liner, and apply your own business card to the adhesive."
What I never took the time to describe, was the fact that with each calendar comes an EXTRA magnetic piece that you punch out and stick to a SECOND business card. This lets you turn any ordinary business card into a handy magnet that you can bet will stay around where clients can see it a lot longer than a regular card.
It's a tough concept to convey with just a small picture and a few lines of copy. Many folks who were interested in the idea, got tripped up when I tried to explain that they needed to use business cards that they ALREADY HAD or place an order for some separately. So, I took a new picture and constructed the above graphic to hopefully give folks a better idea of how this all works. AND, for just $1.00 - farriers can keep their name in front of their clients, as well as give them a monthly chuckle, for a FULL YEAR! 2014 Magnetic Farrier Calendars are available now here.
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Another favorite:
Horses in the Yard
This is a great read for horse people of all levels and disciplines...If you ever couldn't find words to express something (or thought better of it if you did) Joanne Friedman has done it for you - with great humor and eloquence. She doesn't mince words about anything - from horse care - to equitation - to aging and euthanasia. For example:
On equitation "Women are built differently than men, and I am not talking obvious body parts. A man's center of gravity is in his upper torso. That's why Christopher Reeve toppled so disastrously from his horse and was lawn-darted into a rock wall. A man's weight is in his chest. A woman's on the other hand, is in her (sorry) hindquarters. This is a good thing for riding's sake as it allows a woman to ground significantly more thoroughly in the saddle than a man can.... A woman who can imagine being a half-empty (or half-full, depending on her level of optimism) sack of grain can sit in a saddle with a security and balance few men can achieve..."
On expectations "We treat our horses like we treat our children: we load them up with expectations, then we withhold the tools they need to fulfill them. The kids go off and do drugs and get pregnant, and we blame anyone who can't get out of the way fast enough. The horses buck us off and become hard to catch in the field, and we curse our bad luck at having wound up with such an incorrigible beast. They're all yelling at us, and we're not listening."
On farriers How should you prepare your horse? Well, you can start by going out and getting him from the field before the farrier gets there. Don't leave notes with instructions as to where Loopy Lou can be found. Go find her yourself. Have her reasonably clean and dry and standing in a stall or nearby pen in plenty of time. Many shoers will not hesitate to go look for your horse, but it's a kindness to everyone involved if he doesn't have to. Besides, there are not enough horse shoers as it is. We don't need to be wearing out the ones we've got."
Gina's note:
"If Joanne's wit is not enough - one chapter (chapter 10) is worth the price of the whole book. "The Five Horses We Meet on Earth" categorizes each horse you've encountered (and will encounter) in such a profound way - your perspective on horse ownership will be changed forever. Check out the excerpt:
The Five Horses We Meet On Earth
1. The Intro Horse. We each came into horses in our own way, but it was always with a horse leading us. This might have been a friend's first pony, or perhaps it was a draft horse on a farm you once visited It might have been a real-life meeting, or an imaginary one. I was escorted to the party by The Black, Walter Farley's star horse in The Black Stallion series...
2. The Experimental Horse Once you had crossed the line between "Damn, they're big!" and "Wow! Can I try that?" you found yourself face-to-face with the horse that would suffer through your early attempts at figuring out the whole horse experience ... wherever this horse came from, he probably didn't benefit from the encounter as much as you did...
3. The Connected Horse The first horses we meet don't really connect with us, nor do we with them. Those are experiences in survival and tests of endurance. The Connected Horse is the first horse you truly bond with. This is the horse that sounds a chord that lives so deep in you that you might never have heard it otherwise...
4. The Challenger Into each horseperson's life, a little challenge must fall. You'll have read that one final training book, bought yourself a clicker and heading rope, and there you'll stand, arms crossed, assessing the situation as if you actually knew what the situation was. It might be difficult to believe, as you are flying down the aisleway on the losing end of a braided cotton line, but you actually need this horse in your life...
5. Your Deepest Heart There will come a time when you will look at yourself with a cold, appraising eye, and you'll have to be honest about your continued ability to deal with The Challenger and other difficult horses. At that point, you'll seek out the horse that will be your soul mate forever... You'll have bought him the most comfortable, best fitting equipment... Maybe you'll still go to shows and ride - brilliantly or barely - in the Alzheimer's class. Maybe you'll just stay home. Whatever you do, one day you'll realize that after all the money you spent on animal communicators and trainers, you only had to stop and listen and you would have clearly heard your horse's thoughts and desires...
Above is an entire chapter of Horses In The Yard edited down to a few short paragraphs. Isn't it wonderful? What a way with words Joanne has...
To order Horses in the Yard, click here. |
Clutter clearing
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 samples* - so many wonderful things, it's hard to choose just a handful for the website. And the rest have got to go! Only one of each available so act fast if you see something you like. *A note about the samples - Someone made a comment on the HoofPrints Facebook page that the samples are free to me and implied should thus be priced accordingly. Just to set the record straight - I pay for almost every sample I acquire. Occasionally an author or publisher will send me a book unsolicited, but I prefer to buy these anonymously so if I review and don't think it is a good fit for the product line, I don't feel guilty about not including it. 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. ALSO NEW is Half Price JEWELRY here - The more I got to digging, the more I found. Jewelry doesn't take up much room - suffice to say there is a LOT of lovely stuff that needs to find a new home. Then there's that whole problem I have with the beads. It's getting worse. Stay tuned for details. Newest is Half Price Books & Magazine Back Issues here This represents a major turning point for HoofPrints owner Gina Keesling. This treasure trove of magazine back issues has been lovingly collected and hoarded for many, many years. It's getting to be a space problem, keeping them all stored AND due to the sheer volume of them, along with my busy schedule, they rarely get any attention. But even now, as I go through them to write sales descriptions, I am feeling sad at the prospect of letting go of this vast collection of pictures and articles about all the things I love - Horses, Dogs, Farriery and Blacksmithing, The West, Pretty Western Clothes and Jewelry, Awesome Country Homes, Recipes for Hearty Food, Healthy Living, Spirituality and more. I'll do my best to mention the content that stands out to me in the descriptions. Prices on these back issues reflect the fact that I am still very much in love with them, however they are at or below what the publishers are charging. The current sales list is small, but I'll be adding more as I am able; going through these is a slow process, as you can imagine, I get sidetracked frequently by all the fascinating content that lead me to hoard these in the first place.
Our Closeouts Page is here - it features items that are being phased out - still lots of good deals to be had there, too.
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Revisiting the BAD NEWS
Longtime newsletter subscribers will remember that every summer for years I have run a story wringing my hands about what it's like to put together the HoofPrints catalog; It takes a LONG time to put one of these together. I start in the summer - when everyone else is doing vacation stuff and having fun. I am analyzing sales numbers, reviewing submissions, making prototypes, scheduling photo shoots...
...then there's the layout; Imagine having a 48 room house. Go in every room and take away some of the furnishings. Then go shop for new stuff - beautiful new stuff that no one has ever seen before, but that you're sure they will love - AND will make sense with the stuff that you already have. Then figure out how to arrange it all in a way that is useful, sensible, and visually appealing. That's kind of how catalog layout goes. Except I have to keep in mind the tastes of thousands of viewers - people that I've never met (most of them, anyway) Whew! It's a big job and I've done it every year since I started the company in the late 1980's. Until now.
This year, there will be no catalog. The good news is now you don't have to wait for it to show up in the mail! You can do your holiday shopping NOW!
The complete product line is showcased on the website here. If you want to mail in your order, you have a couple of options. You can pretend you're ordering online - place items in your shopping cart as usual - then when you get to the last step where the cart is all tallied with the shipping charges added, etc, PRINT that out and mail it in with your check. You can even print a second copy for your records that way. The other option is to go to the pdf version of the most recent catalog and print the order form that's on page 47. To do that click here.
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Here's what we talked about last time
Last newsletter is hereALL newsletters are here |
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Copper HoofPrint Bracelets in 7 colors!
Hand tied right here at HoofPrints - see them all here |
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Whisper Pony Earrings
Aren't these cute?They're just $9.98 here |
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HALF PRICE
Pharaoh's Horses Print
This old-time favorite picture has been updated by HoofPrints with a carefully researched block of illustrated history and trivia at the bottom. More info here |
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What Horses Reveal
It's back! This fascinating book was out of print for a few years. I love this quote: "Superficial friendliness helps you sell vacuum cleaners and win elections, but only with clarity, righteousness, and genuine, relevant empathy can you win the soul of a horse." ~Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling from What Horses Reveal. Order here |
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FREE Pocket Partner
with every Bible
Saddle Up For Jesus small devotional book for cowboys and cowgirls of all ages is FREE with the purchase of a Horse Lovers Bible here |
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HALF PRICE
Best-Selling DVD
This is a great DVD - there's a lot of wisdom here, and I'll even forgive him for saying that it's a bad idea to train with treats. (hey, no one can know EVERYTHING!) All the Buck stuff is here |
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HALF PRICE
Rose Quartz Jewelry
Rose quartz is a stone of healing powers, of unconditional love and infinite peace. It's said to draw off negative energy and replace it with loving vibes. It helps with releasing unexpressed emotions and heartache, soothes internalized pain and heals deprivation. See our rose quartz jewelry here |
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I Make Horse Calls Books
"I was so grateful for the care the gentle senior student took with Pischka that day. ... I will not forget the thoroughness of that student, and would emulate her when I entered practice. I would never dismiss an owner's complaint, because I remember how I felt when vets dismissed Pischka's illness, never trying to find out what made Pischka so sick." -from Horse Calls, available here |
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A Look At Life
From The Saddle
COWBOY CODE from pg 6:
- Speak the truth and let your word be your bond.
- Never betray a trust or desert a friend.
- Protect and care for those who can't help themselves.
- Be gentle with women, children, and the elderly.
- Care for animals and protect the land.
- Be courteous, polite, & neat.
- Learn all you can and cultivate wisdom.
- Speak straight, speak properly, & don't speak too much.
- Do the job you're paid to do with pride and honor.
- Never quit when times are toughest.
- It's fine to feel fear, but don't let it back you down.
- Remember that good never prevails without courage & grit.
- If something sounds too good to be true, expect that it is.
- Keep your sense of humor and don't meddle.
- When you've done all you can, rest in your faith.
This hardcover book makes a great gift. It's available here
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BELOW HALF PRICE!
"Hug" clay plaque Regular price $14.50 now only $4.99 here |
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WHAT'S NEW
SALE on Summer T's
Cool Summer weight Horsey T-shirts less than $10 each here! |
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I Know Great Horses Live Again
Somewhere...somewhere in time's own space
There must be some sweet pastured place
Where creeks sing on
and tall trees grow
Some Paradise
where horses go.
For by the love
that guides my pen
I know great horses live again.
Order the Great Horses custom framed verse here
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Message
I LOVE hearing from 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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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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