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HoofPrints Newsletter
March 22, 2014
http://www.hoofprints.com/gifts-signs.html
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
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 HoofPrints' exclusive
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. I'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.

Don't sell your saddle verse
Inspirational Verse
Don't Sell Your Saddle
Don't give up on dreams.
Take time to see 'em through.
There are no easy trails.
Hard work makes dreams come true.

You'll make it through tough times.
Friends will stick like glue.
Don't ever sell your saddle,
Dreams won't give up on you.

This unique picture and verse by Don Bishop is laser engraved on leather and framed in aromatic red cedar by a real lumber mill in Yukon, Oklahoma. It measures 10"x12" overall. To order click here 
poop clock
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

Tails of a Horseshoer cover art
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.
MAK Hoofbeats Heartbeats CD

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. 

Poo Note Pads
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.

I 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 them 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.

White Horse Owner Mug
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.

Turd Sign
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

Horse Poop Book
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!
To order click here
 
Clean Up CLOSEUP
Clutter busting 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 catalog. 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.

Half Price PRINTS are 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. 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. Now that Christmas is past, 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 on that.

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. 

The 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
Same Sh*t Mug
Don't Sell Your Saddle
Crappy Clock
Crappy Book for Farriers
Crappy Music
Crappy Notes
Crappy Sign
Another Crappy Book
Here's what we talked about last time
What Did I Miss? graphic
Last newsletter is  here   
ALL newsletters are here
Courage doesn't always roar...
Courage Pink Mug
sometimes courage is that quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "i will try again tomorrow." To order click here
Horsey Spring T's
3 horsey t-shirts
Less than $14 each here
Breast Cancer Awareness Products
Cure pin
Riding for a Cure Brooch here
WHAT'S HALF PRICE?
I'm Still Hot!
I'm Still Hot Bracelet
It' Just Comes In Flashes Now Bracelet here 
WHAT'S ON SALE?
Farrier Book
Confessions of a Horseshoer
Order Confessions of a Horseshoer here  
This Hug's For You

Equine Sympathy Cards here
HoofPrints
BARN BLADE
Barn Blade Pink Knife
Never ride faster than your guardian angel can fly
Order here
WHAT'S HALF PRICE?
American West Purses
Hill Country Purse & Wallet
Hill Country Collection here 
ON SALE - $10 OFF
A Pet's Prayer
Pets Prayer picture
My people are so precious, Lord;
I know You think so, too...
And I believe You put me here
To love them just for You!

They take such gentle care of me
And have such tender hearts...
Please use me, Lord, to comfort them
Whenever teardrops start.

They face a lot of battles
As they live & work each day...
They need me, Lord,
To make them smile
And show them how to play!

The world is full of people,
But sometimes real friends are few...
Please let my love & loyalty
Remind them, Lord, of you.

And when my final moment comes,
Lord, tell them as we part...
I was a made-to-order gift
From Your great, loving heart!

This lovely framed verse has a spot at the top for your own pet's photo. A wonderful reminder that our pets are, indeed, a gift from God.
To order click here.
LONG TALL LIST
~ for Horsewomen ~
Long Tall List of Things To Do
Horsewoman's Long Tall List of Things to Do here
Best Selling Christian Horse Books

Great Horse Stories, Horse Tales from Heaven and Heavenly Horse Sense Christian Horse titles here
Message

I LOVE hearing from customers. You can contact HoofPrints owner
Gina Keesling via email at [email protected]
 
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Be sure to LIKE our facebook page - it's where I announce special sales, breaking news and everything else I find interesting. To see it go here
 
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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.
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)