Grant Johnson said it was his brother, Mitchell Johnson, who started helping a family friend's daughter take care of Clydesdale horses.
Eventually, Grant Johnson's parents, Dennis and Linda Johnson of Springfield bought their first Clydesdale in 1990. The family stable, Linden Clydes, still has seven of the iconic horses.
Grant Johnson now works full-time for Anheuser-Busch-In Bev's eastern hitch of Clydesdales in Merrimack, New Hampshire, but he's back in Springfield this week for the 2021 National Clydesdale Sale that begins a three-day run at the Illinois State Fairgrounds beginning Thursday.
The sale is open to the public, Johnson said.
Johnson said his entire family, including another brother, Dustin from Morton, volunteers with the sale, which has a connection to Springfield and the fairgrounds going back to the mid-1980s.