Larry Mahan, 79, eight-time world champion rodeo cowboy, died May 7, 2023, at his home in Valley View, Texas.
Bucking his way into American stardom, Mahan starred in an Oscar-winning documentary. He endorsed his own line of Western wear and appeared on “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson.
Bobby Steiner, rodeo cowboy and close friend, confirmed Mahan’s death from bone cancer.
More than any cowboy before or since, Mahan’s fame transcended the geography and conventions of traditional rodeo, Steiner said.
He grew his hair long, wore bright-colored shirts, psychedelic chaps, and piloted his own Cessna airplanes to competitions. Sportswriters likened his fame to Elvis Presley’s and his achievements to Hank Aaron’s.
“Even for people who didn’t know what rodeo was or anything about cowboys, Larry was interesting. He just carried himself like a real successful cat,” Steiner said. “The smile, the gleam, the sparkle he had, he was just the whole deal. Larry Mahan made rodeo cowboys cool.”
Mahan attributed his success to entering as many rodeos as he could, typically 90 a year. He learned to fly and bought his own plane, which allowed him to compete in several competitions per weekend.
Unlike some other cowboys, Mahan avoided saloons. He stayed at Howard Johnson motels because he liked ice cream.
Mahan was a bull savant, keeping notes on their mannerisms and tendencies. He both respected and feared them.
“Bulls are the meanest, rankest creatures on earth,” Mahan said. “Horses don’t try to step on you when they throw you off. Bulls love to step on you or whip your face into the back of their skull, break your nose.”
To hang on, “You have to transform yourself into some kind of a small beast,” Mahan said. “In my opinion, the three riding events fall into the category of extreme sport.
“That seemed to create a lot of interest in the sports media world. Suddenly, I was being interviewed on the right and the left and underneath and on top. So, I had to step up to the plate.”
Born in Brooks, Oregon, on November 21, 1943, Larry Edward Mahan grew up on his family’s farm. His parents bought him his first horse when he was seven years old. “I fell in love horses and riding,” he said.
In 1957, Mahan entered his first rodeo and won a buckle now displayed at the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado. After graduating from high school, he moved to Arizona, hoping to join a college rodeo team. But tuition was too expensive, so he went on the rodeo circuit.
By his early 20s, Mahan was a champion and a star of the sport. His specialties included saddle bronc riding, bareback riding, and bull riding. In 1965 and 1967, Mahan was the world bull riding champion.
He won his first of five consecutive world all-around champion titles in 1965. After several difficult years, Mahan came back to win the all-around champion title again in 1973. That competition was featured in the “The Great American Cowboy,” which won the Academy Award for best documentary feature.
His rodeo stardom helped popularize the sport with a mainstream audience.
Mahan retired from rodeo in 1977, but he remained involved in the sport. “The ground got too hard. It used to be much softer,” Mahan said.
During his rodeo career, Mahan broke a leg, a foot, his jaw, and several vertebrae. “And my heart has been broken 17 times,” he said.
He hosted “Equestrian Nation” on RFD-TV and was briefly a rodeo color commentator.
His line of Western wear included popular boots and hats. Mahan appeared in movies, including “The Good Old Boys” and “Six Pack Annie,” and he recorded a country music album.
In 1979, Mahan was inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in its inaugural class.
In recent years, Mahan has continued breeding, training, and showing performance Quarter Horses.
“It’s pretty amazing all the ups and downs life has for a person,” Mahan said. “But the only thing we have control over is our choices. Maybe some could have been better choices. But all of them, the good ones, the bad ones, are what got us where we are today.
“Do I feel like I’m deserving of all the things God’s made available to me? No.
“But I’ve sure learned to appreciate it. And that’s a different take I have now than when I was rodeoing. That’s a very important part of this journey, to know where we are now and enjoy the moment,” Mahan analyzed.
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