November 8-23, 2013, Oklahoma City

Amateur 2-Year-Old Stallions

After taking a year off, Ecredible and Steven Jensen are back to win again.

by Allison Grayson
The American Quarter Horse Journal

In 2010 Steven Jensen and Ecredible took home the gold trophy in weanling stallions. And after taking a year off, they were back to win 2-year-old stallions at the 2012 AQHA World Championship Show.

“We took last year off,” Steven said in his Journal Winning Run interview. “He was kind of in a growth phase. And then this year he’s kind of come back together.

“(And) he’s not done yet,” he said.

This win holds special meaning for Steven for several reasons.

“It actually went better than I could hope it would,” he said. “('Eli') is a third generation baby from our farm. We raised the mother, and raised him and so winning carries with it a lot of sweet emotion.

“When you have the opportunity to raise them and breed them yourself, it’s just a great feeling.”

Eli had an upbringing unlike many other stallions. And Steven says that has a lot to do with his temperament now.

“As a baby, he used to have an open door policy,” he said. “We allowed him to walk around the barn. His stall door was always open (and) he could walk wherever he wanted, go wherever he wanted. He would come in and visit the people in the office all the time. He truly was the pet of the farm.

“He is still the pet of the farm,” he said with a laugh. “Most people do not believe he is a stallion. I mean, I would trust any little child in with him. He has no idea he’s a stallion.”

Eli also gets a lot of his personality from his grand-dam, Lindys Little Step.

“(She is a) mare that we’ve had out at our farm ever since the beginning of our farm” Steven said. “She was one of the first mares I ever bought. Still, my favorite daughters are her daughters.

"One of those daughters is a Top Secret daughter, who is the mother of (Eli).

“Her name is Lindys Little Secret. And she reminds me of her mother. And (he) has her mother’s disposition, which is just sweet, kind and loving,” he said.

With as many generations as Steven has at his farm, it’s clear that he got his start in Quarter Horses fairly early on.

“I started way back,” he said. “My grandfather on my mother’s side was a thoroughbred race trainer. I always had a natural passion for horses. The first word out of my mouth was ‘horse,’” he said. “And my grandfather thought it was an absolute tragedy that his grandson didn’t have a horse, so when I was 8 years old, my grandfather bought me my first Quarter Horse.

“I caught the bug (and) my family caught the bug,” he said. “Next thing you know we went from one horse to 30 horses and I’ve been breeding, raising, training and showing horses ever since.”

Even with a sizable farm to take care of, Steven still has a day job.

“I am a true amateur,” he said. “I play doctor during the daytime, I play horse enthusiast at night. (AQHA Professional Horseman) Tom Robertson has been training him ever since he was a baby, and then this year he’ll be standing at Rick Leek Quarter Horses. So I’ve got some great trainers behind me.”

“(And) like I said, Tom Robertson has done a phenomenal job training this horse ever since he was a weanling,” he said.

Steven had a few people that he wanted to thank for helping his success.

“I’d like to thank all those who have been involved with his training and his breeding, which of course is Tom Robertson,” he said. “Rick and Julie (Leek) have done a great job for me in standing my stallions. I have one other stallion, Kid Coolsified.”