Doc O'Lena (1967–1993) was a

Quarter Horse The American Quarter Horse, or Quarter Horse, is an American breed of horse that excels at sprinting short distances. Its name is derived from its ability to outrun other horse breeds in races of a quarter mile or less; some have been clocked at s ...

stallion A stallion is a male horse that has not been gelded (castrated). Stallions follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cresty" nec ...

, a champion

cutting horse A cutting horse is a stock horse, typically an American Quarter Horse, bred and trained for cutting, a modern equestrian competition requiring a horse and rider to separate a single cow from a herd of cattle and prevent it from getting back to th ...

and a sire of champion cutting horses.Thornton, et al. ''Legends 4'' pp. 190–205 He was inducted into both the AQHA and NCHA Halls of Fame, as was his dam

Poco Lena Poco Lena (1949–1968) was an outstanding cutting mare, and dam of two famous Quarter horse cutting horses and stallions: Doc O'Lena and Dry Doc.Swan ''Legends 3'' pp. 98–111 Life Poco Lena was foaled in 1949, the daughter of Poco Bueno ou ...

. He was the 1970 NCHA Futurity Open Champion, followed by his full brother,

Dry Doc Dry Doc (1968-1997) was an AQHA registered American Quarter Horse stallion by Doc Bar and the second as well as the last foal of the champion cutting mare Poco Lena. Dry Doc was a cutting horse and sire of cutting horses. Life Foaled in 1968, D ...

, who won the title in 1971. As a sire, Doc O'Lena earned recognition as the first futurity champion to sire a futurity champion when Lenaette won the title in 1975. He also sired

Smart Little Lena Smart Little Lena (June 29, 1979–August 30, 2010) was an AQHA registered Quarter Horse, an NCHA Triple Crown Champion cutting horse, and sire of champion cutting horses. He was inducted into both the AQHA Hall of Fame and NCHA Horse Hall of Fa ...

, the first horse to win the

NCHA Triple Crown The NCHA Triple Crown comprises three major cutting horse aged events beginning with the NCHA Futurity for 3-year-olds, followed by the NCHA Derby for 4-year-olds, and NCHA Super Stakes for 5-year-olds. All three events are held at the Will Rogers ...

Background

Doc O'Lena was foaled in 1967, sired by

Doc Bar Doc Bar (1956–1992) was a Quarter Horse stallion that was bred to be a racehorse, became an outstanding halter horse, and in his sire career revolutionized the cutting horse industry. Life Doc Bar was foaled in 1956,Close and Simmons, ''Leg ...

and out of the mare

.Pedigree of Doc O'Lena at All Breed Pedigree
retrieved June 26, 2007 He is one of only two horses in the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame with both parents also inductees; the other is Easy Jet. His color was bay, and his only markings were a small star on his head, and a small white half pastern on his left hind foot.Groves "Doc O'Lena" ''Quarter Horse Journal'' p. 18American Quarter Horse Association ''Official Stud Book and Registry'' Vol. 22 p. 341 He was bred and owned by Dr. and Mrs. Stephen F. Jensen of Paicines, California at the time of registration.

Career

The Jensens had hoped to sell Doc O'Lena as a

yearling Yearling may refer to: *Yearling (horse), a horse between one and two years old *''The Yearling ''The Yearling'' is a novel by American writer Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, published in March 1938. It was the main selection of the Book of the Mo ...

to cutting horse trainer, Don Dodge. Dodge had purchased Doc O'Lena's dam in 1953 from E. Paul Waggoner's Three D Stock Farm in Arlinton, TX., and had successfully shown her to win numerous AQHA and NCHA awards and titles. After seeing Doc O'Lena, Dodge concluded that he was too small to be a cutting horse, and passed on the offer. The Jensens decided to keep Doc O'Lena and get him into the hands of a professional trainer. They contacted Shorty Freeman who, in 1968, was hauling for the NCHA World Championship title showing King Skeet for Adrian Berryhill. On his way to the San Francisco Cow Palace, Freeman stopped by the Jensen's to look at Doc O'Lena. Freeman wasn't concerned about the yearling's small size, and agreed to take him for training. During an interview, Freeman recalled the first time he tried to ride Doc O'Lena as a green broke, long yearling and the colt ran off with him. He said, "I didn't think running off belonged to him, so that didn't really bother me." Referencing Poco Lena he said, "Besides, I knew what the old mare was, so I wanted to ride him." He also said, "I didn't train Doc O'Lena anyway, he trained himself. I knew about 30 days after I got him that he was an exceptional horse... I always had to ride him last in the training program, 'cause if I didn't, I'd be mad at all the other horses in the barn. He was just that good." In April 1970, Adrian Berryhill partnered with Freeman and they purchased Doc O'Lena from the Jensens for $15,000. In December that same year, Freeman rode Doc O'Lena to win the

NCHA Futurity The NCHA World Championship Futurity (NCHA Futurity), originally established in 1962, is an annual cutting horse event, or limited age event, that is hosted by the National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA). It is the debut event for 3-year-old cutt ...

, and "became the first competitors to make a clean sweep of the futurity's preliminary go-rounds, semi-finals and finals", winning $17,357 for his new owners. Doc O'Lena's NCHA lifetime earnings totaled $21,991.93, and he had also earned an NCHA Certificate of Ability.NCHA Earnings for Doc O'Lena
retrieved on July 4, 2007

Breeding career and honors

Doc O’Lena sired 1,310 foals: 321 were AQHA point earners having accumulated 3,978.5 points; 87 earned Registers of Merit in performance events (also 9 amateur, 3 youth); 9 earned Superior performance awards; 4 were world champions; 6 were youth world champions; and 4 were reserve world champions. Among Doc O'Lena's offspring were Doc Athena, Sugar Olena, Lenas Peppy,

, and Todaysmyluckyday.Pitzer ''The Most Influential Quarter Horse Sires'' pp. 30–33 His son Montana Doc is a member of the NCHA Hall of Fame.National Cutting Horse Association
Hall of Fame
Doc O'Lena was the first NCHA Futurity winner to sire a Futurity winner when Lenaette won the Futurity in 1975. His son Smart Little Lena was the first winner of the NCHA triple crown. And in 1978, Doc O'Lena himself was

syndicate A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest. Etymology The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French language, Frenc ...

d for $2.1 million, at that time a record for the cutting horse industry. Doc O'Lena was inducted into the AQHA Hall of Fame in 1997.

Pedigree

Notes

References

*
All Breed Pedigree Database Pedigree of Doc O'Lena
' retrieved on June 26, 2007 * * * *
NCHA website
' retrieved on July 4, 2007 * * *

External links

Doc O'Lena at Quarter Horse Directory

Doc O'Lena at Quarter Horse Legends
{{authority control Cutting horses American Quarter Horse sires 1967 animal births AQHA Hall of Fame (horses)