Name: Laredo Stevens
In Town: Laredo Stevens is an auctioneer with an office on Spur Drive in Marshfield, Mo. He does a variety of auctions, from charities, land, real estate, farm auctions, estate sales, to bankruptcies. "We’re a full-service auction company.” He also auctions horses, but not cattle.
Robert Gault and Larry Stevens serve as Ring men at the auctions. His cashier is Link McIntosh, and clerk is Whitney Day.
In the Country: Laredo lives on the farm with his parents. His father owns 60 Missouri Fox Trotters. “I’ve been raised up with horses my whole life,” Laredo said. Perhaps that is why he envisions owning a home in the country and a few horses, in the not-so-distant future. “That’s where I was raised and I can’t see myself living anywhere else.”
Being an Auctioneer: “Nobody in my family has been an auctioneer,” Laredo stated. But his love of the profession began early. “I would go to horse sales, when I was a little kid, and I was totally overwhelmed with the auction chant. I could actually pick up and do the auction chant when I was eight or nine years old, and that’s what I’ve always wanted to do.”
Learning the Trade: Laredo went to the Missouri Auction School in St. Louis, Mo. He said the course was three weeks, non-stop. "Every morning you’d wake up at six and you wouldn’t be done till nine. At the end, you take about a four hour test. They teach you the basics, but most of the school is legalities; teaching you how to hold a sale and how to do the paperwork part of having one.”
The World Fox Trotting Horse Show held in Ava, Mo., was given to Laredo by an auctioneer out of Illinois about three years ago. He said, “People come from all over the world and we sell everything from trail horses to show horses. But they’re all registered, pretty much blue-papered, Missouri Fox Trotters.”
On the Auctioneer's Chant: Laredo explained, “We’re not really talking fast. It’s all an illusion.” He said breathing at the right times is what creates the illusion, and people do understand what he’s saying, “especially my bidders that come to all my sales. They know the way that I am, and I know them. They can blink their eye at me and I know by their facial expressions that they’ve bid. So I like to get to know my customers.”
By Lue Brinkley
