I lost a friend on Friday. Chances are, so did you. This article is a roundabout way of introducing my readers to Clint Carlson, in case they are young enough or new enough to the horse world not to remember a shy smiling horseshoe salesman in a Hawaiian shirt. It’s also a roundabout way for me to say good-bye.
For 20 years, Clint gave his heart and soul to making and selling some of the very best horseshoes ever manufactured at that time. He did it very quietly. He was an unlikely legend -- and one of the very best friends the horse world ever had.
Monday, June 23, 2025
Remembering Clint Carlson: How a mild-mannered man in a Hawaiian shirt became the "patron saint of American horseshoes"
Friday, January 17, 2025
Summary timeline: What's behind US Equestrian, American Horse Council calls for delay of USDA's new Walking horse soring regulations?
UPDATE: On January 24, the US Equestrian Federation announced that the US Department of Agriculture had indeed pushed back new rules to prevent soring in Tennessee walking horses and similar breeds until April 1, 2025. The article below describes the background to this decision.
Since then, however, sweeping changes in Washington, DC have affected many cabinet agencies, and are expected to impact the USDA. Whether these changes will impact the APHIS horse inspection program remains to be determined.
Readers in the USA may be aware that long-anticipated changes to the federal Horse Protection Act are scheduled to go into effect on February 1. These new rules change the way that Tennessee Walking horses will be inspected at horse shows, and by whom, in an effort to prevent deliberate "soring" practices to enhance gait.
If only it was that easy.
Wednesday, December 11, 2024
Donor's gift makes equine laminitis research center a reality at US vet school
Tuesday, June 11, 2024
SURVEY: Professional Farriers' and Equine Veterinarians' Attitudes, Knowledge, and Opinions Sought by University of Edinburgh Researchers
Tuesday, February 27, 2024
Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital opens doors for International Equine Podiatry Conference April 18-20, 2024
Wednesday, November 15, 2023
Horseshoer Joe Alfano celebrates 50 years of service with Pennsylvania National Horse Show Hall of Fame honor.
Tuesday, May 09, 2023
Hoof bruises 101: Forte's Kentucky Derby scratch had a common but loosely-defined cause
On Saturday, the 2023 Kentucky Derby favorite was scratched from the big race, just hours before the horses headed to the starting gate. Two-year-old champion Forte stayed in the barn that afternoon, after a Kentucky Horse Racing Commission veterinarian scratched the colt following a post-gallop inspection in the stable area.
As tragic as those losses were, it was Forte's scratch that attracted the most attention and discussion on Derby Day. Should he have run or not? Was the colt a victim of discrimination by regulators who feared that such a high-profile and valuable horse might be further injured if he raced? We'll never know that answer, but Forte is safe tonight, and will almost certainly run again.
Thursday, April 27, 2023
Meet University of California at Davis new veterinary hospital farrier Ian Davies
Friday, February 10, 2023
PETA vs the Budweiser Clydesdales: A match worthy of Super Bowl weekend
Wednesday, August 17, 2022
Prevent laminitis: Wellness Ready stallside insulin tests accelerate Equine Metabolic Syndrome diagnostics
Farriers at the Herning 2022 FEI World Championships: Who was minding the forge?
Monday, May 23, 2022
Badminton Farriers Prize 2022: In Search of the Best Shod Horse
And in 2022, just like all the years before, we wanted to know who won the Farriers Prize. As usual that assignment was just a jumping off point to a bigger story. There may be just one winner, but the story is bigger and better, although most people at the event never even knew it was going on.
Sunday, May 15, 2022
Friday, April 01, 2022
Preview: Rood & Riddle Equine Podiatry Conference
Wednesday, March 30, 2022
New HISA racing rules for Thoroughbred horseshoe traction to begin July 1 in USA
A change to how American Thoroughbreds may be shod, including what shoes they can wear, is key to the new rules, limiting the use of shoe traction devices with one national rule for the entire United States.
Tuesday, August 03, 2021
The Olympic (Gold Medal) Hoof: Farrier Jim Blurton's Concave-Maybe Shoeing for British Team Eventer Ballaghmor Class
Saturday, July 31, 2021
The Olympic Hoof: US Eventing Horses Try British Concave Shoes for Tokyo
Hoofcare wisdom has always held that if you want to tell what country an eventing horse is from, you don't need go looking around the stable for a saddlecloth with a flag. Just pick up its feet. You can at least narrow down the possibilities. But after this Olympics, the world map of horseshoes may need to be redrawn.
Thursday, July 29, 2021
The Olympic Hoof: Therapeutic plastic horseshoes helped two US dressage silver medal horses in Tokyo
![]() |
Horseshoes, like Olympic medals, can be made from different metals. But this week in Tokyo, the world saw that they can also be made of plastic...and help bring home a medal. |
Thursday, July 22, 2021
The Olympic (Laminitic) Hoof: Dressage horse diagnosed with laminitis before competition begins
Saturday, April 17, 2021
Remembering Britain's Prince Philip and the Quick-Thinking Farrier
![]() |
Prince Philip's brush with danger at the 2013 Royal Windsor Horse Show has almost been forgotten but it could have ended quite differently. A quick-thinking farrier was the hero that day. |