Ol’ Mahan crawled out from behind a couch and said:“Jack, as far as I can seeMistakes are only horses in disguiseAin’t no need to ride ’em over’cause we could not ride them different if we tried
— Guy Clark, Ramblin’ Jack and Mahan
One of the great ones has gone up the trail.
ProRodeo Hall of Famer Larry Mahan, arguably the biggest superstar in rodeo history, passed away on May 7. He was 79.
Mahan was the all-around world champion in 1966-70 and 1973. He also was the bull riding champ in 1965 and 1967. He qualified for the NFR a combined 26 times from 1964-75 in bareback riding, saddle bronc riding and bull riding. He was inducted in the inaugural class of the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colo., in 1979.
I believe that Mahan and Guy Clark are presently in Valhalla — which looks strangely like the bar at the Driskill Hotel — getting cowboy’d all to hell.
Brian H. says
Green grass and sunshine, bright lights come nighttime, every try goes a full eight, riding in the arena of the greats