Temecula’s Cowgirl Jessica on the rise

Nineteen-year-old Temecula resident Jessica Tourino is no ordinary teenager. With her abundance of verve, drive, determination, smarts and stunning good looks, Tourino’s world appears bright.

Some of her gifts are genetic, but others are acquired and Tourino’s not about to squander any of them. A full-time student at Mt. San Jacinto Community College, Tourino is also a businesswoman, top-ranked equestrian, philanthropist, rodeo queen, and loving daughter and sister.

“It’s been an amazing experience.” This is Tourino’s response to just about everything she’s known, but it’s a valid point.

Jessica Tourino and her Quarter Horse Scotty perform a sliding stop during a recent horse show. (Courtesy image)

The youngest of three children, Tourino credits her parents and two older brothers with providing her with the nurturing, supportive environment that’s helped her thrive.

“They are amazing,” Tourino says. “We are very close. I really love my family.”

While Tourino’s parents, Johnny and Kim, provided the amazing family unit, they also introduced her to one of her first big amazing experiences: competitive horseback riding in the sport of reining, an event designed to showcase the athletic ability of a ranch-type horse.

“I started riding when I was 13,” Tourino said. “My dad got me my first reining horse, and I really took off from there.”

By the time Tourino was 18, she had become the top-ranked youth rider on California’s reining horse circuit and was ranked second nationwide.

“It’s an amazing hobby and I have an amazing horse,” Tourino said. “Now I’m an adult, so I have to start over [in adult competition], but I’m doing it.”

Fortunately for Tourino, her family helps support her favorite sport.

“We have a ranch here in Temecula,” Tourino said. “We have six horses at the ranch and three in training [offsite].”

It was Tourino’s sport that launched her current business venture. Most horseshows feature vendor booths – food, riding apparel, tack – and this got Tourino and her mom thinking, “Why don’t we do this, too?”

“I love clothing,” Tourino said, “So my mom and I came up with the idea of a mother/daughter clothing line.

“We call it The Dirty Cowgirl,” Tourino continued, but she was careful to clarify. “Cowgirls get dirty when they ride. There’s so much dust and dirt flying around. That’s where the name came from.”

Today, The Dirty Cowgirl operates as an online virtual apparel boutique store as well as a mobile shop at horse shows.

Jessica Tourino's mobile apparel boutique on wheels, The Dirty Cowgirl. (Courtesy image)

“We [mother and daughter] have a store on wheels — it’s a bright pink trailer!” Tourino said. “Every show we go to, we can bring the store with us.”

Tourino said she has plans to attend 40 horseshows this year, and while she won’t be competing in all of them, she will have the pink mobile boutique with her.

But there will be an executive change at The Dirty Cowgirl.

“My mom asked me if I wanted to take over this business this year,” Tourino said. “She’s totaling turning it over to me.”

With the business reins solely in her hands, the creative juices are flowing and there’s plenty of inspiration.

“My aunt has breast cancer, and a couple of my friends have lost their mothers to the disease,” Tourino said. “My boyfriend actually came up with the idea of Ride for the Fight, which benefits the Keep A Breast Foundation.”

To promote the cause, during some horse shows Tourino and a few of her friends do an exhibition Ride for the Fight outfitted in pink, including pink sunglasses from Angel Eyewear. Audience members can buy the sunglasses at Tourino’s mobile store, and a portion of the eyewear sales go to the Keep A Breast Foundation.

“I’m hoping to get other sponsors to come on board,” Tourino said, “to help put an end to the disease.”

Another cause Tourino is campaigning for is that of a role model.

In Palm Springs earlier this month, she was crowned rodeo queen of the 2010 Frank Bogert Memorial Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. In her new royal capacity, Tourino will promote the Palm Springs Rodeo and Palm Springs Wild West Fest, a celebration of western culture, scheduled March 12-14.

“I wanted to support everything Frank Bogert stood for … morals, character, integrity. Before running in the pageant, I researched him. I thought, ‘If I’m going to run in a rodeo, this one is it,’” Tourino said.

“It’s an amazing experience,” she continued. “I might run in the Miss California pageant in October.”

Tourino said that whether it’s pageants, riding, school, business or philanthropic endeavors, she wants to inspire. Her future career plans include transferring to a four-year university to major in communications; she hopes to one day be a television news anchor.

“I want to be a role model for young girls,” Tourino said. “I want them to see that there’s more to life than Facebook and the mall.”

Toni McAllister is SWRNN’s lifestyles editor. She can be reached at toni.mcallister@yahoo.com.

Tags: horseback riding, Jessica Tourino, Mt. San Jacinto Community College, SWRNN, Temecula, The Dirty Cowgirl, Toni McAllister

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 10:58 am and is filed under Lifestyle, Local News, News, Sports . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.