In Town: Clyde has been the Executive Director for the Wright County Farm Service Agency (FSA) since 1990. “We handle farm programs,” he said. “We make a lot of payments to farmers through various programs that are available. I feel that FSA has always had a good track record trying to help as many people as they can.”
On the Farm: Clyde keeps Fox Trotters on 56 acres adjacent to the Missouri Fox Trotting Horse Breed Association show grounds in Ava, Mo. “I have the 2006 World Grand Champion. I am one of the few that bred, raised, trained, shod and showed my own horse. The year he won it, at the age of 11 years, he won four world championship titles. Dr. Samantha Mullin, a dentist in Marshfield, Mo., and I each rode him to two championships.”
How did you enter farming?
“Horses are in my blood, I guess – on my maternal grandmother’s side, we go back to the Clay family of Kentucky. The Clay family raised two horses that won the Kentucky Derby at its very start. My family has always had horses, but I’ve been most interested in Fox Trotting horses. I got my first registered horse in about 1968.”
How does the farm complement the work?
“It’s a good stress reliever,” he stated. “Most people like to have something that they can do separately from their work duties. In my FSA job, I am more tied in with cattle. With the horse deal, it’s just strictly horses. It gives me another avenue to be involved in agriculture.”
Story and Photo by Jane Kinser
