story by BreAnne Benson
“My favorite thing about KK is the people I’ve met over the years… I’m going to college with the girls I’ve met now,” said Adriene Steffen. The 18-year-old member from Sisters, Oregon, recently graduated high school and is attending college at Cal Poly while being and active member of their rodeo team. For Adriene, KK was the perfect transition from smaller stages to competing at a higher level. “Kenna (Kaminski) and Kelly (Kaminski) do a really good job creating a great atmosphere and helping everyone.”
Adriene is a true all-around cowgirl, not only has she qualified for the KK finals in Vegas this year in both barrel racing and pole bending; in the Oregon high school ranks she was the state breakaway, barrels, and all-around champion. Additionally, she competed in the Junior Worlds last year and found success in all three events. She will also be competing in goat tying for her college team this year. Her family has always been supportive of her decision to pursue rodeo. Although neither of them rodeoed, their kids have made a name for themselves. Her sister Jen was Miss rodeo Oregon in 2007 and her brother Andy, calf roped and steer wrestled for Blue Mountain Community College. Outside of horses, she likes to ski and played volleyball since second grade through her school and club programs.
She got her start in rodeo when her parents realized she like horses, much like her older brother, so they bought her a pony and from there it was history. “I stole my brothers calf horse later and figured out I like roping,” and her passion for horses and competing progressed. Her pole horse that she will be competing on in Vegas is “Bully,” a 23-year-old gelding who is a completely different horse when he’s not competing. “Bland” is how she described him outside of the arena, “he loves his job, he doesn’t really care to do anything else but run poles.” Though he may not seem like a tough competitor, “he turns it on,” when it’s time to go and back in 2020 he was the reserve world champion in Fort Worth, Texas. Her 16-year-old barrel horse “Sister,” couldn’t be more different from Bully. She’s owned her for a year now and laughs at her loud personality, “she likes to talk, snort, and tell you her opinion.”
Last year in Vegas Adriene had a different struggle than years prior, she was sick and run down between all she was trying to accomplish between roping and running in the KK finals. While years prior her focus was to try and build confidence for herself, “this year was more about having fun and enjoying the moment.” Her game plan was to, “stay calm, confident, and focus on what was in front of me instead of how I was feeling.” Despite some tough luck in the short go, she impressively won the first and second round of barrels. Her long-term goal right now is to make the college finals, and short term, she is hoping to hold her number one position in the barrel racing at the Northwest Professional Rodeo Association regional finals.
