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HoofPrints Newsletter
April 11, 2015

He's pretending 
to be a farrier...
 
I am NOT referring to Mike Mullins, but instead the the man in the star image of this featured business card Here's THE REST OF THE STORY behind this famous farrier painting:

quotation mark left
Edwin Landseer's painting "Shoeing The Bay Mare" was a commission from Jacob Bell, a man Landseer had known since art school days and the owner of a pharmaceutical company. Bell devoted himself to the artist and took over managing his business affairs. The basis of their friendship, however, was a mutual fondness for animals. From time to time the artist borrowed one of Bell's animals to use as a model, occasionally his favorite bay mare Betty, or one of his bloodhounds. Bell waited nearly 10 years for the portrait he had wanted of Betty with her foal. But by 1844, when Landseer got around to painting her, the mare had produced two foals, both long gone from Bell's barn, and had come to be called Old Betty. So Landseer decided on a shoeing scene, and painted Bell himself as the farrier."

In the corner we can see Bell's bloodhound, doing as all dogs do - eating hoof. It's a lovely scene on many levels, and the farrier community is fortunate that Landseer put off painting the picture of Betty until he did - otherwise we'd be looking at a mare and her foal and NOT this well done farrier picture. (even if the farrier IS an imposter!)
(Quoted text is from "Companion Animals," - Dorcas MacClintock)
This Landseer image is also featured on a Christmas Card here, a Golf Shirt here, and Invoice Pads here

Passion & Patience
Art featuring observations on shoeing difficult horses... 
Shown here is PASSION & PATIENCE. This beautiful John Sargent Noble print is now available only through Farriers Greeting Cards. I saw this painting in a magazine article many years ago. I have tried since then to find prints of it. To my knowledge, no prints are available (until now) and I have purchased the rights to reproduce this amazing painting so that farrier art collectors everywhere can enjoy it! I personally supervised the printing so that we got the best possible colors, and sharp clean detail on heavy, premium quality paper. This picture certainly fits it's title "Passion & Patience". Every farrier that I know has found him or herself in this situation. The details in this picture are wonderful; you can see many tools very clearly, right down to the bone-handled hoof knife in the farrier's hand. A variety of shoes are scattered around and hanging on the wall. You can see the toe clips, creases, heel calks etc. Even the bent nails on the shoes that have been pulled off and the shavings of hoof on the floor.

The picture has so much energy, so much going on. The tension between the farrier and horse is obvious, and on further study one notices the expression on the little dog; he knows something is about to happen. In the middle of all this action, the bay horse appears to be sleeping! The contrast in structure of the two horses; a fine boned hot-blood and a heavy cold-blood is apparent. John Sargent Noble was a painter who truly knew his subject. This lovely print is on sale for UNDER $10 for a limited time here 

Blacksmith Calendar March The picture makes another appearance in the 2013 Blacksmith Calendar. March is the month that features the theme of shoeing difficult horses  - an apparently timeless problem. I found lots of images of horses behaving badly, along with the efforts of the smithy to do their job and get them shod. To facilitate this task, there were all manner of devices to assist. The Geo. Barcus Company of Wabash, Indiana was a manufacturer of shoeing stocks in the early 1900's. I've included a couple clippings of their advertisements on the calendar page shown  here. The advertising copy is fascinating - it paints a clear picture of life as a shoer in those days.
"Barcus Stocks Are the Best. They are the best because they are the only ones absolutely guaranteed to hold any horse perfectly without danger to either horse or man."

A testimonial letter:
"Dear Sirs; I received the stocks in good shape, put them up and shod three bad ones in them. They are the slickest rig on earth, and the only stocks I ever saw that worked satisfactorily. It takes a perfect stock to hold these Western horses, for they can turn any shape, like a cat, but this one beats them out."

Barcus stocks One Kick ad Another ad appeals to the blacksmith's sense of safety and well being:
"ONE KICK MIGHT COST a hundred dollar doctor bill and keep you out of the shop for months - in fact nearly ruin your business. Why take the chance? Make sure such a disaster can't happen to you by simply using Barcus Safety Horse Stocks."

There are six other small images on this calendar month depicting various aspects of the unruly horse dilemma, along with the large "star" color  image Passion and Patience - again, this is from the 2013 Back Issue - on sale for only $1.99 here

All the farrier and blacksmith calendar options are shown here

MORE ITEMS ADDED to HALF PRICE SALE!
Clutter busting continues at HoofPrints

My efforts to clear the warehouse (and my 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/flyer. And the rest have got to go! Only one of each available so act fast if you see something you like. The image shown here is what was available at the time this newsletter was sent. All prices on this page are at least 50% off retail. The red SALE! tag doesn't show if a product has size or color options. Don't know why. Don't know how to fix it...

*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.

Half Price JEWELRY is 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.

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 overstocks, items that are being phased out - still lots of good deals to be had there, too

Big Little Life book A HALF PRICE Book for Dog Lovers
Dean Koontz - A Big Little Life  In a profound, funny, and beautifully rendered portrait of a beloved companion, bestselling novelist Dean Koontz remembers the golden retriever who changed his life. A retired service dog, Trixie was three when Dean and his wife, Gerda, welcomed her into their home. She was superbly trained, but her greatest gifts couldn't be taught: her keen intelligence, her innate joy, and an uncanny knack for living in the moment. Whether chasing a tennis ball or protecting those she loved, Trixie gave all she had to everything she did, inspiring Dean and Gerda to trust their instincts and recapture a sense of wonder that will remain with them always. Trixie lived fewer than twelve years; in this wide world, she was a little thing. But in every way that mattered, she lived a big life. To order click here 

Gina's note:
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. Consider this excerpt:

"Too many of us die without knowing transcendent joy, in part because we pursue one form or another of materialism. We seek meaning in possessions, in pursuit of cosmic justice for earthly grievances, in the acquisition of power over others. But one day Death reveals that life is wasted in these cold passions, because zealotry of any kind precludes love except of the thing that is idolized. 

 

On the other hand, dogs eat with gusto, play with exuberance, work happily when given the opportunity, surrender themselves to the wonder and the mystery of their world, and love extravagantly. Envy infects the human heart; if we envy, next we covet, and what we covet becomes the object of our all-consuming avarice. If we live without envy, with the humility and the joyful gratitude of dogs - nachos! ball! cuddle time! - we will be ready even for Death when he comes for us, content that we have made good use of the gift of life."  


Brass Earrings
HALF PRICE: Cheap Horsey Earrings!
Only $4.98 per pair 
Shown here are Brass Victorian Heart & Horseshoe Earrings along with the Brass Galloping Horse Earrings that match the Stamped Charm Necklaces: Don't Look Back That's Not Where You're Going and Life Is Tough But I Am Tougher here

These earrings are really nice for the inexpensive price! The deeply embossed, detailed hearts measure about 5/8" wide. They're hollow on the back - so lightweight you barely know you're wearing them. Some are available in Silver, too. For details, click here
Why doesn't HoofPrints carry more USA made products?
The fact is; this perceived lack is MY FAULT for failing to designate which items are, indeed, MADE IN USA. 
This latest project is my attempt to rectify that problem. It's something I've been wanting to do for a long time, but when I set up the all-new website last summer, I was in the throes of overwhelm. It was hard enough to learn how to set up product listings using the new system. My aging brain just couldn't seem to retain all the multiple steps required to get each product and it's pictures onto the site. Getting up from my chair to check product packaging to validate country of origin would initiate a disaster of minor proportions - as I would TOTALLY FORGET what I was doing, and what the next step was. After several rounds of this frustration, I learned that my best course of action was to keep my butt parked in the chair - and to stay the course, working on one product, then the next, so as to repeat the steps sequentially without interruption. Otherwise I was NEVER going to get done.

Happily, the repetition of entering hundreds and hundreds of products finally did create some new neural pathways in my brain - and I can add/edit products successfully without taking all day (usually). So I've embarked on the arduous task of verifying the country of manufacture on ALL the HoofPrints products. The page that showcases them is here. I've gotten a good start, but what you see now is only a FRACTION of the American Made items. I will keep adding as time permits. You can still find them all in their respective categories, too, and each will have the MADE IN USA designator logo with it so you can see at a glance that your purchase is supporting domestic workers. 
In This Issue
Here's what we talked about last time
What Did I Miss? graphic
Last newsletter is  here   
ALL newsletters are here
Farrier Imposter on
A GOLF SHIRT

Edwin Landseer's "Shoeing The Bay Mare" image makes an appearance in embroidery on a sturdy, professional looking golf shirt here
GINA'S BLOG
Fun on the Farm

read the latest happenings in the Keesling household, involving construction, destruction, remodeling adventures and general wreckage here
MADE IN USA
Horse Woman's Balm
Horsewoman's Balm
A great product that DOES WHAT IT'S SUPPOSED TO!
Order here
MADE IN USA
Wood Blacksmith Sign
Wood Blacksmith Shop Sign
See this and all our signs here
MADE IN USA:
DC Metals Steel Cross Pendant

This makes a great gift for a man, but it's not too big for a woman to wear, either. To order click here
MADE IN USA
Secret Box
Horse Secret Box
Nifty little wood  box has a lid that fits so neatly that it's virtually invisible when closed. A real deal at only $19.95  here
MADE IN USA
Horsewoman's Note Pad

Horse Woman's LONG TALL LIST of things to do here
MADE IN USA:
A CRAPPY MUG!
Same Sh*t Mug
Same sh*t different day
mug here
MADE IN USA
Riding for a Cure
Cure pin
See HoofPrints breast cancer awareness products here
MADE IN USA
Pony Girl Charms
Pony Girl Earrings
Tiny steling silver riders only $19.95 per pair here
PRINTED IN USA
Dog Business Card
Dog Business Card
New business card for dog lovers HALF PRICE to shelter workers and volunteers here 
MADE IN USA
Tooled Leather Bracelet

Features braided rawhide, engraved heart and fancy buckle. Only $19.95 here 
HALF PRICE AND PRINTED IN USA: "Pharaoh's Horses"
Pharaoh's Horses with type
20x26 Print with history and trivia article included is available here
PRINTED IN USA:
This Hug's For You

Equine Sympathy Cards here
Message
Gina Keesling with Clydesdale
I love hearing from customers. You can contact HoofPrints owner Gina Keesling via email at [email protected]
 
Find us on facebook
facebook logo
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
 
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 the company 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)