It's no surprise that there is a LOT of jewelry out there for horse lovers...
with a heart theme. And we've chosen only the best, most unique selection for our catalog. New this year is this leather bracelet that's loaded with details without being gaudy. It's rich brown tooled leather, finished edges with stitching, and braided rawhide accents on either side of a floral embossed silver heart. Closes with a fancy silver buckle, complete with silver keeper and tip. Adjusts from 7 1/2" to 8 3/4" and only $19.95! Looks like it should be a lot more expensive. See this and more here.
Horses Leave HoofPrints on your Heart... and your Play-Doh?
as long as we're talking about HORSES AND HEARTS...
Lots of folks have commented on my efforts to secure the "Perfect HoofPrint". You can read part one in a past newsletter here.
The part I left out was that my son Jordan was just little at the time, and he has to question, argue, debate every thing I say and/or do. He followed me through K-Mart - asking 400 questions about how I was going to proceed with my scheme.
Personally, I need a little silence to work out details in my head - so it made for an "interesting" experiment as I fielded his questions and tried to plan at the same time as we traversed the local K-Mart looking for a mega-pack of Play-Doh. I had never done anything like that before - so him drilling me as to what my next move was going to be was driving me crazy. And of course when things went wrong (as in the Play-Doh squishing everywhere) it was really quite a circus. I had to clean it all up and start over.
To complicate matters, Jack the hoofprint donor pony is a Hackney. Hackney Ponies are not your typical ponies that like to plod around, eat grass and occasionally open the gate latch; they're bred to be fine harness ponies - he's a miniature Saddlebred - with all the snort and blow, only in a smaller package. Nearly 20 years ago, he was one of those "great deals" that my farrier husband brought home - a pretty little thing who couldn't cut it in the show ring so they wanted to unload him quietly and have him "disappear" so the stable's breeding/training program wasn't connected to a non-winner.
I suspect that the training methods used are not very nice to those ponies to get them to step high and look sharp - and Jack has "flashbacks" sometimes. His eyes get really big and he prepares to "launch" when confronted with anything remotely scary. However, his small size made him the choice over my other horse - who's bigger foot would require more Play-Doh than I had on hand.
Approaching a bug-eyed pony with a large piece of cardboard, covered with a big blob of brownish ??? took quite a bit of convincing that I had not lost my mind. Fortunately, he decided that my scheme, albeit strange, was harmless and he agreed to comply. I've posted some photos on our facebook page here.
At some point during the project, things got boring enough that my son went on to other things and I was able to concentrate on getting that elusive perfect hoofprint photograph to use for reference for the design you see here.
BLESS THIS BARN
Our brand new wood sign expresses horse owners' sentiment
This heavy pressed wood sign is made just for us in Colorado, USA. It measures a big 16" wide x 7" tall, and has a slot in the back for hanging. There's also a wooden dowel included that works as a stand if you choose to display it on a table, etc. The sign can also be hung outdoors, provided it is in a sheltered location. To order click here
A Horse Lover's Bible
Check out our complete selection of Christian Horse Titles here
Some of you may remember our Cowboy Bible. It was very popular, and we were really bummed when the publisher was unable to have any more made. For years, we searched for a replacement, continuing to come up empty handed. And my assistant Candy does NOT give up easily. Along the way, we found a blog heckling the idea that a Horse Bible should even exist! (This poor guy has no idea...)
Ultimately, we DID find one. This is a very nice little Bible - leatherbound, embossed with a horsehead, detailed stitching, etc. It's marketed by the publisher as a youth edition, but it's the regular bestselling NIV version (words of Christ in red). Features 12 color pages of horse photos accompanied by inspirational thoughts and scripture verses, and a presentation page in the front for gift giving. Pages are edged in gold, and has a built-in ivory bookmark ribbon. Also includes our Riders' Prayer bookmark. To order click here.
Horsey ZIPPER PULLS
Fall is in the air - when you bring out your sweatshirts, consider
jazzing them up with one of our spiffy zipper pulls. These are surprisingly nice for the cost (only $4.95 each). They've got a little clip on the top that lets you fasten them to almost anything. I have one on the zipper on my purse, as the original pull has long since worn out and fallen off. To order click here. (they're at the bottom of the page)
Also, just to let everyone know, we're gearing up for fall and some of our old favorite styles have been discontinued or replaced. Be sure to give our Sweatshirts page a look, and our Jackets & Vests page - in case there's something you've been wanting. The Dark Cherry vest here is no longer available - and it goes great with our HORSEWOMAN flap hat. So if you wear a large, you might want to snag one of these right away.
Recap - From the last newsletter
Here's what we talked about last time:
Handle with Carrots here
Temple Grandin DVD here
Fall Girl Book here
Sleepy Head Horsey Creeper here
Dog chooses baby Jesus as his comfort here
New Sportswear items here
Barn Blade PINK Knife here
New Copper Horse & Dog Jewelry here
Horse Conformation DVD here
Mental Strategies for riding here
Mucking Fabulous hooded sweatshirt here
A Dog's Purpose here
PAST NEWSLETTERS - See what you missed!
Click HERE to catch up on the news.
More about HoofPrints - and miscellaneous ramblings
Check out our NEW "GOOD STUFF" links at the bottom of this section!
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. 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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"Buck, the famous buckskin ridden by Lorne Greene in the Bonanza television series, was reportedly purchased by the actor when the show was canceled in 1972. Greene donated the horse to the Fran Joswick Therapeutic Riding Center in California. There, Buck lived a long life, dying at the incredible age of 45, having spent many years of his life as a mount for children with disabilities"
-from Amazing Horse Facts & Trivia-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Thanks everyone, for reading!
Gina Keesling, owner
Contact
Information
GOOD STUFF: Reining in on Resignations by Tracey Merrett
A mature rider reflects on choices to be made and what they mean - really
"It happened the week before Thanksgiving. I was walking my trusted trail horse into his stall in our barn. One of the other horses was also being walked into his stall. Everything seemed routine. But something spooked somebody and there was a short burst of gelding energy before settling down to nibble on sweet feed. When the dust settled, there was a fifty-something woman in a heap on the stall floor.
It wasn't long before I was listening to the risks and benefits of having my fractured leg pinned vs. letting it heal on its own in a long leg cast. Aging and osteoporosis - I still find it impossible to think these words apply to me. Asking my husband to cook turkey for ten people is something most self respecting women would avoid in any way possible."
...
"If I chose to quit riding because of an injury, it would mean a huge resignation of something I love. If I were pushed into boarding my horses so I wouldn't have to worry about the stall care, that would mean a resignation of my precious barn time. And if I chose to sell the horse that spooked in the stall, it would mean that I would be losing a very dear and trusted friend because of a single mistake that had two participants, one of which was I! Any of these resignations would have monumental consequences for me."
Read the rest of Tracey's article - find out how the turkey turned out, and if she continued to ride here.
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".)
