Buzz
the
HORSIN’AROUND
GOING ONCE, GOING TWICE,
SOLD! BY JOANN GUIDRY
R
YAN MAHAN WANTS TO SELL YOU A HORSE. MORE SPECIFICALLY, MAHAN’S JOB AS A THOROUGHBRED AUCTIONEER IS TO PERSUADE YOU TO BUY THE PARTICULAR HORSE IN THE SALES RING AT THAT MOMENT.
“There’s a lot of emotion and excitement involved in the Thoroughbred business,” says Mahan, 60, who has been a professional auctioneer for 38 years. “So, as an auctioneer, I have to tap into that when I’m selling a horse. If I’m excited about a horse, it comes through in my voice. I have to convey a sense of urgency and make buyers feel like they might miss out on the next big horse if they don’t bid.” It’s a job Mahan does well as the senior auctioneer for the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company, as well as for Kentucky-based Keeneland Sales, California-based Barretts Equine Ltd. and the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society. He travels from sale to sale 11 months out of the year, auctioning off Thoroughbred bloodstock. At each venue, Mahan works with a sales announcer and a team of bid spotters. Although it might seem like an odd way to make a living, becoming an auctioneer attracted Mahan early on. “I grew up around the Thoroughbred business in the Lexington, Kentucky, area,” says Mahan. “I thought I might become a veterinarian. But every time I went to the
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Keeneland sales, I was intrigued by the auctioneer. I liked the excitement in the sales pavilion, so I decided that’s what I wanted to do.” Mahan officially got his auctioneer license in 1976 and began selling. “I sold cattle, chickens, pigs and goats. I sold cars and furniture, too. You sell whatever you can when you’re starting out. That’s how you build your craft,” he says. “You don’t just start out selling Thoroughbreds for millions of dollars.” In 1977, Mahan became a bid spotter, working sales at Keeneland and Ocala. He graduated to becoming a sales announcer, then an auctioneer in 1981 and eventually a senior auctioneer in 2001. “Every sale is different. Every sale has its own feel,” says Mahan. “The key to being a good auctioneer is knowing the horses, sellers and buyers at each sale. I study the sales catalogs and meet with sellers and buyers before and during the sale. All that preparation is necessary for me to sell each and every horse the best way I can.” Mahan and his bid spotters also have to know how buyers bid. It may be something as subtle as raising a finger, eye contact or a shrug.
While others, Mahan says, “practically jump up and throw the catalog at you.” And he adds that “you have to have a feel to know when to hammer a horse sold and move on.” As for Mahan, he has no plans of dropping the hammer on his career anytime soon. “I love what I do,” he says. “I can’t wait to get to the next sale and sell a horse.”
Want To Go? OCALA BREEDERS’ SALES APRIL 2-YEAR-OLDS IN TRAINING SALES April 21-24 Sale starts at 10:30am each day OBS Pavilion 1701 SW 60th Ave. (Airport Rd.), Ocala obssales.com (352) 237-2154