_45_30.jpg "A Legacy of Horses")
Of Silver And Saddles
- Written by Abigail Boatwright
- Published on November 08, 2011
Clint Mortenson brings a world of experience into making gear for the working and winning Cowboy.
Clint Mortenson was destined to create art out of leather and silver. Raised in Aberdeen, South Dakota, Mortenson grew up working with horses. How he got to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he creates internationally desired leather gear and silver, involves a little Hollywood glamour, some Euro Disney sparkle and a whole lot of horseflesh.
Mortenson graduated from his hometown Northern State University with degrees in marketing, management and commercial art. He’d spent all his life riding and training horses, so he decided he was ready for a change.
“I graduated with three degrees, cut my hair short and bought an Armani suit,” Mortenson says. “I was going to have a business job and stay clean for a while. That lasted for about two weeks and then I started missing the horse.”
Mortenson bought a sailboat and lived on it while he worked at a vintage and custom leather goods store on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, California. He soon began working with horses at Will Rogers State Park in nearby Pacific Palisades. There, he met several interesting people.
“Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver kept their horses there,” Mortenson says. “Billy Crystal used to ride a horse named Beechnut, and he was the horse I rode for my audition for Euro Disney.”
In 1992, Mortenson got a job working for the Euro Disney Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show in Paris. He spent a year performing for the show, and he has repaired gear for Euro Disney for 19 years.
“It was a really fun job,” Mortenson says. “A group of us cowboys would go somewhere and the French would always ask us if we were carrying a gun.”
Back in America, Mortenson enrolled in a saddlemaking school. The program was two months long, but Mortenson stayed a year, then bought out the shop and hired the teacher to work for him.
“I got a leather tanning kit when I was 10,” Mortenson says. “I’d always done leather work and I really enjoyed it.”
Mortenson brings an interesting background to the saddlemaking business.
“My dad was a horse trainer and my mom is an artist,” Mortenson says. “The two actually make sense. Making saddles can be functional art. I know what a rider needs and what a horse does, but I can make it aesthetically pleasing and functional. It’s always been fun.”
Mortenson had a saddle shop in South Dakota for eight years before moving to his current location in Santa Fe.
“I wanted a nicer climate,” Mortenson says. “It’s a nice place to live. I really like it. There is a lot of art and horse people.”
Located between two movie ranches, Mortenson has made gear for many recent Western films.
“We did some work for True Grit, Appaloosa, 3:10 to Yuma, No Country for Old Men and a few others,” Mortenson says. “We made some gear for Sea Biscuit and Flicka.”
Though Mortenson’s tack is a movie staple, his business is most well known for its unique trophy buckles. Styled with a vintage 1940’s and 50’s feel, Mortenson’s buckles even include larger stones and bling.
“We’re not afraid to try different things outside of the normal oval-type trophy buckle,” Mortenson says. “We like to make things look different.”
Using his knowledge of equine mechanics, Mortenson’s saddles convey a vintage look with solid horsemanship appeal.
“We give our saddles a bright vintage look,” Mortenson says. “But you can still move your legs and ride like a cutting or working cow horse saddle. We make them lighter weight and closer contact, but still look like a vintage piece of equipment.”
In his spare time, Mortenson enjoys any activity on horseback, including mounted shooting. He hosts roping, polo and other types of events at the arena on his property.
“I just can’t do enough with horses,” Mortenson says. “I enjoy shooting. It’s fun. I’ve got a lot of guns and I like to shoot a lot. Combining it with horses, it’s fun to feel that old Western romance of running around and shooting.”
Mortenson is expanding his trophy silver work to more associations and events each year, and he says he’s constantly inspired by the world around him.
“I feel fortunate to have worked hard enough to where I’m doing what I like to do,” Mortenson says. “I just want to keep creating new pieces and make the next one better.
For more information about Clint Mortenson Silver and Saddles, check out www.silverandsaddles.com.
