Remembering Clint Carlson: How a mild-mannered man in a Hawaiian shirt became the "patron saint of American horseshoes"

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.

Jayne and Clint Carlson. Clint sold horseshoes in a Hawaiian shirt, didn't want to be around horses, and was usually on his way to or from a Jimmy Buffett concert, but somehow he fit right in in the horse world, and changed the way American horses are shod. (Photo by Tim Helck)

I’m going to tell you Clint’s story from my point of view. You will learn how a mild-mannered Jimmy Buffet fan became “the patron saint of horseshoes”, as he was dubbed by Fran Edens. I was lucky to have a front row seat as Clint's legend was forged.

It all started in 1985. I arrived at the American Farrier’s Association (AFA) Convention in Raleigh, North Carolina, ready to launch my new publication. I was there for the trade show, and I was holding my breath; whoever had the booth next to me mattered. Certain neighbors might scare the farriers away. Others might be talkaholics; the farriers would avoid them. You just never knew.

I arrived at my booth and to my surprise, I didn’t recognize my neighbors, though I could tell they were brothers. I didn’t recognize the name, either: “St Croix”--were they from the Virgin Islands? Who were these guys?

I tried to make eye contact. “I’m the girl next door,” I began. One shy, soft-spoken brother shook my hand loosely, and said matter-of-factly, almost in a whisper, “I’m Clint.” He explained simply that he and his brothers and father were going into the horseshoe business. Not because they wanted to, but because they had to. I wanted to hear more.

Curt Carlson, Clint's dad, became
the owner of a horseshoe company
by accident; he and his sons built
it into an empire.

Curt Carlson, Clint’s father, owned a tool and die business in Minnesota. As I remember it, he had come to own a startup horseshoe company called St Croix Forge when it went bankrupt. Curt was their main creditor; his firm had expertly crafted the machining parts needed to make the new shoes, but he was owed a lot of money. Suddenly, he found out he needed to disburse the assets or else start his own horseshoe company.

So he made the daring choice to start making horseshoes.

Curt called his four sons home from all corners of the globe. He was gambling that, between them, Kenny, Bob, Mike, and Clint would have – or learn – the business, tool-and-die, and manufacturing skills needed to run a successful horseshoe company.

One thing they had going for them was that the former owners had already introduced a respectable intro shoe. They had worked for one of the large horseshoe companies and believed they had a better idea of what a keg shoe should look like. They had the idea, but lacked sustainable capital.

The Carlsons would be nice neighbors for the trade show. Aren’t people from Minnesota always nice? Clint had been a hockey star in his youth and went to school in New Hampshire on a hockey scholarship. And as the week went by, they met a lot of people; most of them politely listened to their plans and wished them luck.

But I wasn’t prepared for what I saw out in the parking lot. The Carlsons had traveled from Minnesota to North Carolina in an old Greyhound bus. Clint explained that their business plan was to travel around the USA in the bus, visiting horseshoers and finding out what was right and what was wrong with horseshoes on the market, including their own.

And so, at that trade show, my company and St Croix launched into the market.

For anyone who wasn’t around horseshoes in the early 1980s, “keg” shoes were a problem. Two similar basic shoes, made by two Midwest companies, were used on the majority of the saddle horses in North America. Others had tried to crack the market and failed. It was an era when handmaking shoes was done only by a few farriers, but handmades were about the only alternative to keg shoes. There wasn't much choice.

St Croix’s timing was perfect, as it turned out, since shortly afterwards, “turned” shoes from Europe – in front and hind, left and right, clipped and unclipped versions – started shipping to the Americas. It would take them a while to catch on; availability was sometimes a problem, and they cost more than American keg shoes. There was a brief window of opportunity for St Croix, and the Carlsons leaned into it.

Asking questions

Clint told me many times over the years that followed, “All I ever set out to do was talk to horseshoers. To ask them what they wanted, what could make a shoe better.”

No one had ever asked them before. Plus, Clint would listen as long as they kept talking. He’d remember their names. He’d even pick up the bar tab or the diner check. But most of all, he carried their ideas, their drawings of nail holes and heel shapes sketched on cocktail napkins, back to Minnesota. There, his father and brothers went to work, making not just a better keg shoe – a shoe that had the changes farriers wanted to shoe a horse more efficiently or safely – but changing the way that horseshoes and horseshoers interacted.

Retailers on his side

Another challenge for them was that it is always very difficult to get farriers to change the shoes they ordered, once they were used to using them. For that part, Clint realized he needed to make friends with the few farrier supply houses in business back then. There were not that many of them in the 1980s, and they were mostly ex-horseshoers and their wives. Most seemed content with the status quo, had low expectations of manufacturers, and might not have room to take on more product lines. Existing keg shoes were even sold in hardware stores, until suppliers started hanging out their shingles. Many were just selling horseshoes out of their basements or the back of a truck at racetracks.

But, eventually, they did take on St Croix.

Most of them are gone now, including legends like Murray Madow, Charlie Guimarra, Jerry and Tim Helck, John Breckenridge, Jon Davis, Mike Williams, Bill Pieh, Bill Clark, and so many more. Clint couldn’t have done it if those pioneer suppliers (and several more who are still with us) hadn’t agreed to stock his shoes, and their businesses no doubt prospered from St Croix sales.

In the 1980s, there were no influencers, no big-name farriers giving clinics. No one was wearing polo shirts, jackets, and aprons emblazoned with logos of companies they endorse. Almost no one was flying in from the UK or Australia or Asia. The few farriers who were well known at that time were either the first wave of farrier contents winners, senior farriers no longer with us like Jay Sharp, Bruce Daniels, Bob Skradzio, and Jack Miller, or farrier school owners, like Bob Reaume, Buster Conklin, Danny Ward, Bud Beaston, Bill Miller, Gene Armstrong, Lester Hollenback, Reggie Kester, and Reuel Darling. All of those competitors and educators are gone now.

When St Croix first joined the industry, farriers didn't need to wear logos on their chests. The industry was so small that everyone was known by first name, by face, and (especially) by reputation. There were very few clinics or contests, compared to today, although 1985 was also the year that the late Burney Chapman hit his stride and started giving clinics on laminitis shoeing. PowerPoint didn’t even exist. The AFA Convention was the supreme meeting ground, the place where deals, and sometimes big profits, were negotiated inside that trade show.

The sponsorship question

All that was about to change, of course, and Clint played a big role. St Croix started advertising heavily. Mustad and Capewell were two separate and competing horse nail companies back then. Mustad was new to the Americas in the early 1980s; they invested in sponsoring events and classes and trophies. Contests suddenly offered prize money that would pay for more than it cost to fill your gas tank for the drive home. St Croix pitched in.

Soon, Clint was on a mission to make St Croix’s name known not just in America but all over the world. Along the way, he became known as a high bidder at farrier charity auctions; he amassed an amazing collection of artist-blacksmith treasures. He became a patron of several artists, including the late Charley Orlando, a New York artist-blacksmith-farrier who designed and built amazing architectural railings and sculptures inside and outside Clint’s house, and Virginia’s still-with-us Jessie Ward, who created extraordinary paintings and multi-media artwork for him.

In 1999, Clint surprised everyone by sponsoring the first Women Horseshoers of America (WHOA). Clint and Jayne traveled to Europe with (left to right)  Laurie Fiesler, Jayne and Clint Carlson, Kathleen Poor, Kelly Vermeer, and Alice Johnson, including a ski trip in the French Alps. They let me tag along.

Fourteen years after that day in Raleigh, St Croix came of age. The little company that traveled to its first trade show in a used Greyhound bus was acquired by the Mustad group in 1999. The worth of their work was obvious. Clint would become director of marketing for Mustad.

Of course the brothers, including Clint, stayed on for some transition years as consultants. But Clint yearned to spend time with his wife, Jayne, and children, Melissa and Josh, after so many years on the road. They all learned to scuba dive. They were often off on dive boat adventures in the tropics, and Clint’s future started sounding more and more like he was living his favorite Jimmy Buffet songs, not just listening to them.

Changing shirts

One day early in the new millennium, Clint took off his St Croix polo shirt and put on his bula (“Hawaiian”) shirt, for good.

Next step? Clint and Jayne decided that they would move to Fiji. The last time I actually saw him, Clint flew back to the USA for an AFA Convention to do some PR work for Mustad, and hand out some prizes sponsored by St Croix. I smiled as Clint walked on stage to give out a trophy wearing a Fijian “sulu” (men’s sarong or kilt), with a big shark’s tooth around his neck.

That was the last time I saw him. We talked on the phone sometimes; he’d check in with me on New Year’s Day, which is a nice tradition, but slowly the gaps became wider. 

Clint comes home

Clint finally came home from Fiji last week. His health had deteriorated significantly, his liver was failing, and he was back in Minnesota with his family, where it all began.

Clint died on Friday, June 20, surrounded by his family and dressed in his favorite bula shirt. Jimmy Buffet was playing in the background, of course, his daughter Melissa assured me.

Forty years ago, Clint Carlson asked a lot of questions and, especially in the beginning, he asked farriers all the right questions. They were questions no one had ever asked before.

Outside the scope of this tribute, Clint and Jayne became great personal friends to me, and we enjoyed adventures all over the world. But that's another story.

In the end, I hope Clint got all the answers he was looking for. He and his family certainly improved the profession of horseshoeing in many ways, but more than that, he enriched and even changed peoples' lives, including mine, and maybe even yours, with his friendship and kindness and determination to make a difference--and always -- always -- make a better horseshoe. 

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Disclosure of Material Connection: Hoofcare Publishing has not received any direct compensation for writing this post. Hoofcare Publishing has no material connection to third party brands, products, or services mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Donor's gift makes equine laminitis research center a reality at US vet school

A strategic collaboration between donor Nancy Link and Mississippi State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) will facilitate the establishment of the Nancy Fair Link Laminitis Research Center at the university. The partnership will also include recruitment of top faculty charged with advancing pioneering research in the prevention and treatment of laminitis.

How can horse owners restrict weight gain, prevent laminitis during time of inactivity and extended turnout?

New research from Great Britain shows that a pasture management system known as strip grazing can help prevent weight gain in horses this spring. Horse owners are advised to heed warnings about weight gain and laminitis risk if quarantine conditions are reducing exercise and increasing turnout time for inactive horses.

Vampire Bats: Why horses should be afraid of vampires--and not just on Halloween

Vampire bats in South and Central America love horse hooves. They frequently feed at the coronet, where the blood is close to the surface. Besides being creepy, vampire bats are the leading reservoir of rabies virus in Central and South America and have recently been identified as a host that easily spreads bartonella bacteria. Newly deforested landscapes are now home to domestic livestock; vampire bat populations have flourished with the captive animals so easily available to bite. Officials in Texas are now warning that common vampire bats have crossed the Rio Grande into the United States.

Until recently, most of us only thought about vampires once a year, on October 31. But that is about to change. While Count Dracula may be a figment of literary imagination, the real-life inspiration for his story is alive and well and spreading rapidly through recently deforested regions of South and Central America.

Horses, horseowners and horse professionals: Consider yourselves warned. Like the killer bees who paved the path, vampire bats may be headed your way. And they're bringing dangerous diseases with them.

Research: Direct-Injection Gene Therapy Proven Successful for Soft Tissue Lameness Injuries in Horses

Two dressage horses recovered from suspensory ligament and superficial flexor tendon injuries following direct injection of enhanced equine DNA into the injury site. The research was published this week. (Photo: Catrin Rutland, Assistant Professor of Anatomy and Developmental Genetics, University of Nottingham School of Veterinary Medicine)

Can we use gene therapy to repair injuries? Specifically: Can genetic material (DNA) be injected directly into a soft tissue injury site and repair damaged tissue that is causing a performance or race horse to be lame?

An international group of British and Russian researchers believes that not only can it be done--they’ve done it. Twice. In a ground-breaking pair of case studies, Professor Albert Rizvanov (Kazan Federal University, Russia) and his group confirm that by injecting pure DNA into an injured horses' suspensory ligaments and superficial digital flexor tendons, they were able to completely restore the function in these vital areas.

The authors also stated that the horses presented at the clinic with naturally occurring injuries; the genetic treatment conformed with US Food and Drug Administration and EU standards. Similar treatments had been used experimentally in dogs and humans in tests by some of the team members.

The first case study was conducted on a successful 13-year-old dressage horse. The horse's clinical diagnosis was Grade 2 desmitis of the lateral branch of the suspensory ligament. A second treatment benefited a 9-year-old half-bred Trakehner, also used for dressage; he had been diagnosed with Grade 3 tendinitis of the superficial digital flexor tendon.

"We showed that gene therapy used within a period of 2–3 months after the injury resulted in the complete recovery of functions and full restoration of the severely damaged suspensory ligament and superficial digital flexor tendon," the authors state in the article.

The research also showed that the tissue within the limbs had fully recovered and that 12 months after the revolutionary treatment, the horses were completely fit, active and pain free.

No side effects or adverse reactions were seen in the horses.

The main advantage of gene therapy used in this study was the application of a combination of the pro-angiogenic growth factor gene VEGF164, enhancing growth of blood vessels, and bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2), which plays an important role in the development of bone and cartilage.

To avoid undesirable immune reactions, both genes were derived from horses, thus resulting in biosynthesis of natural horse proteins in treated animals. Both recombinant genes were cloned into single plasmid DNA which is commonly regarded as non-immunogenic and a biologically safe gene therapy vector.

Since these injuries may affect not only horses but many other animals and humans, the study carries potential implications for the future direction of human and veterinary medicine, potentially with fewer relapses and shorter recovery times. Much more work will be needed to investigate safety and efficacy. A larger clinical trial has been started.

Professor Rizvanov formed a collaboration with scientists and clinicians within his laboratories at Kazan Federal University, Kazan, Russia and also with Moscow State Academy of Veterinary Medicine and Biotechnology, Russia and the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom. Working together to heal ligament and tendon injuries has been the primary goal of the work.

Their work has now been published in the international journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science and is titled “Gene Therapy Using Plasmid DNA Encoding Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor 164 and Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 Genes for the Treatment of Horse Tendinitis and Desmitis: Case Reports.”

To read the full article please go to: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2017.00168/full

Full citation:
Kovac Milomir, Litvin Yaroslav A., Aliev Ruslan O., Zakirova Elena Yu, Rutland Catrin S., Kiyasov Andrey P., Rizvanov Albert A. (2017) Gene Therapy Using Plasmid DNA Encoding Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor 164 and Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 Genes for the Treatment of Horse Tendinitis and Desmitis: Case Reports. Frontiers in Veterinary Science. 4. DOI=10.3389/fvets.2017.00168.

For more information, contact Professor Albert Rizvanov: albert.rizvanov@kpfu.ru.

Dr. Rutland's imaging work was displayed on the cover of the September 2017 edition of HoofSearch. She assisted with the preparation of this article.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is the news service for Hoofcare and Lameness Publishing. Please, no re-use of text or images on other sites or social media without permission--please link instead. (Please ask if you need help.) The Hoof Blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a headlines-link email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). Use the little envelope symbol below to email this article to others. The "translator" tool in the right sidebar will convert this article (roughly) to the language of your choice. To share this article on Facebook and other social media, click on the small symbols below the labels. Be sure to "like" the Hoofcare and Lameness Facebook page and click on "get notifications" under the page's "like" button to keep up with the hoof news on Facebook. 

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Disclosure of Material Connection: The Hoof Blog (Hoofcare Publishing) has not received any direct compensation for writing this post. Hoofcare Publishing has no material connection to the brands, products, or services mentioned, other than products and services of Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

The High Tech Vet Tech: Designing a Carbon Fiber CT Table for Horses at UC Davis Vet School

There's a table under those mattresses. Did you ever wonder what structure supports an anesthetized, recumbent 1,200-pound horse when its limbs are inside a CT scanner? (UC Davis photo)

Did you ever wonder what structure supports an anesthetized, recumbent 1,200-pound horse when its limbs are inside a CT scanner? At the University of California at Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, a staff veterinary technician used high tech materials to engineer a lightweight table capable of holding heavyweight animals while their lower limbs are in the CT scanner.

Discipline Committee strips British farrier of right to practice; apprentice complained of bullying

A sculpture honoring the relationship between a master and apprentice above the Craiglockhart Primary School in Edinburgh, Scotland. Photo by Kim Traynor.

The Disciplinary Committee of the Farriers Registration Council (FRC) in Great Britain has announced the removal of a long-established farrier from the nation’s Farrier Register. The decision to “strike off” the farrier--thus ending his ability to practice farriery in that country--came after a much-publicized hearing in London in March, when the FRC publicly investigated complaints of bullying behavior lodged by an apprentice the farrier had agreed to train.

Palm Beach Equine Clinic Welcomes Dr. Stephen O’Grady for Consultation Services this Winter

Palm Beach Equine Clinic (PBEC) in Wellington, Florida shared the news last week that equine podiatry consultant Stephen E. O’Grady, DVM, MRCVS, will join its forces this winter.

Case Notes: Inside Bal a Bali’s Laminitis Recovery

An earlier report on the successful return to racing for Brazilian champion colt Bal a Bali regretted the lack of details about the horse’s fight against laminitis and what types of therapy had been utilized to aid his recovery after he arrived in the United States in July 2014.

Thanks to an interview today with Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital’s Vernon Dryden, DVM, some of the details of Bal a Bali’s nine-month ordeal can now be shared. Dr. Dryden acknowledges the willingness of the colt’s owners, Sienna Farm and Foxhill Farm, to share information that might benefit another horse suffering from a similar problem.

First-Person Research: The Paleopathology of Laminitis in Horses with Lane A. Wallett, DVM

Lane A. Wallett, DVM is a Doctoral Candidate at the University of Florida in Gainesville. She presented an abstract on her paleontology research related to laminitis in the fossil evidence related to horses at the 2013 International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the Foot. Everyone wanted to know how she came to research such a subject, and The Hoof Blog is very happy to share her story, in her own words.

Laminitis Research: Milk Thistle Tested in Laboratory for Possible Endotoxin Neutralization

Researchers in Vienna, Austria have conducted in vitro studies of the 

milk thistle plant to determine its effect on laminar tissue during 

separation caused by endotoxin introduction.

Veterinary Equine Podiatry Group Announced at 2014 AAEP Convention, Will Pursue Board Specialization Status

At the 60th Annual Convention of the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP), held December 5 to 9, 2014 in Salt Lake City, Utah, the Veterinary Equine Podiatry Group, Inc. publicly announced its existence and intended mission.

BEVA Congress Farriery Day Asks Key Questions about Evidence-Based Hoofcare

“What would you do?”

That was the question at the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) Congress Farriery Day earlier this fall in Birmingham, England.  One thing that came out of this day long poking and prodding of contemporary farriery was that you might think a bit before answering that question the next time someone poses it.

Implanted Prosthetic Limbs for Amputee Horses: Be Part of Research!

Six years ago, Molly the Pony turned the world upside down on by wearing a strap-on prosthetic on her amputated limb. If she read the newspaper this week, the peg-leg pony who survived Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans might think she needs to come out of retirement on behalf of her new prosthesis designer, Niki Marie Hansen. Hansen believes it's time for a new generation of artificial limbs for horses.

New Statistics: Lameness Most Critical Health Problem for British Horses; Laminitis Increased in 2014

A new study published today in Great Britain sorts out what is likely to send horses to vets and farriers for treatment there, and you have to look pretty far down to find hoof-related problems (other than laminitis) on the list. 

Great Britain's National Equine Health Survey (NEHS), held annually every May, has confirmed for the second year that lameness is the most common syndrome affecting the UK’s horses and ponies. This year’s top results, compiled in this report, have also revealed an apparent increase in laminitis compared with previous years.

Triple Crown Hindsight: California Chrome's Hoof Bulb Injury in Pictures

The dream is over, and that's horse racing. The champion is just a horse, after all. But a special one.

Who Left Those Hoofprints in the Sand?

The impermanence of art: the incoming tide will wash away the hoofprints on the beach near Mont St Michel, but the FEI has made a grand impression on the world that only 100 days remain before the opening of the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in France. (FEI photo)

It's 100 days until the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games begin in Normandy, France. Something was bound to happen, but who would expect this?

Farrier Photography: Matthew Wright Exhibit Shows Andy Eadie Shoeing on England's Lambourn Downs

Photographer Matthew P. Wright followed farrier Andy Edie around the Lambourn Downs area of England. The result is a photography exhibit that has been made into a book, which can be previewed here.

Royal Recognition: British Farrier Thomas Burch Honored with MBE by Queen

Glimpses into the life of a farrier who might be found on the streets of London or in the rainforests of Central America or helping a horse in Capetown in South Africa: Royal honors have been announced for British farrier Tom Burch for his service to the welfare of horses in the United Kingdom and overseas.

Christmas with Laminitis Video: St Nicholas Abbey Five-Month Update from Coolmore in Ireland

St Nicholas Abbey - Five months on from Coolmore Stud on Vimeo.

This video is shown on The Hoof Blog with permission of Coolmore Stud. Click the "play" icon to begin the video.

It's Christmas Eve and you can count your blessings. Count your blessings especially if you are a horse that doesn't have laminitis.