Jada June Totten recently spent seven months living in the Valley, just outside of Scottsdale, to take advantage of the weather and practice her sport. The 17-year-old teen, who just graduated high school and was homeschooled her last year so she could be in Arizona, is an up-and-coming rodeo star. She is also well-known on social media, with almost 150K followers on TikTok and 18K on Instagram who all enjoy watching her rodeo and lifestyle content.
The Beginning
Totten was born in Santa Rosa, California, and grew up in Hidden Valley Lake, California, and it was her babysitter—Cambra Owen—who originally got her into rodeo, she explains.
“She lived on a ranch and after school she would teach me how to ride,” she says.
Totten was 9 at the time, and she discovered that she liked horses and she liked competing. At 10, she competed in her first rodeo event.
“It was all of my school friends and I was still in the Pee Wee class, and you just kind of walk the pattern,” she says, laughing. “It was a small event.”
It was around that time when Totten got her first horse, who she named Izzy.
Then, in 2015, the Totten family home burned down in a wildfire. Instead of staying and rebuilding, they decided to move to Idaho.
“It was kind of a blessing in disguise though,” Totten says. “It was such a small town, you just knew everybody, and it’s kind of like everyone who grew up there doesn’t really leave. When we moved to Idaho, it opened all of my opportunities way more.”
Izzy would move to Idaho with the family, but within a year of the move, Totten needed a new horse—one who was faster.
“After I moved to Idaho, I started to travel a lot [for rodeo] and became competitive,” she explains. “I basically live on the road with my parents. They help me follow my dreams, which is rodeo.”
Life in Arizona
By October of 2021, Totten was in Arizona so that she could continue to train.
“I can’t really rodeo in Idaho [in the winter] because of the snow!”
She would complete all her schoolwork on the weekends so that she could spend her weekdays practicing and then go compete in Jackpots in Wickenburg.
“Jackpots are quick competitions, and you can win money,” she explains.
Totten loved the times she would spend in Wickenburg, saying it was like “a little cowboy town”—but also loved spending time at places like Scottsdale Fashion Square mall while she was living in Arizona.
She lived in her horse trailer on someone’s ranch, and she had four horses with her here—Hick, Bobby, Buck, and Molson.
“I do so many events at such a high competition level that I have one for each event,” she says. “They can all do multiple events, but since I travel so much I don’t want to keep using just one—it would tire them out.”
In April, Totten—who was the 2020 Idaho High School Rodeo State president and had been named the 2020 District 2 All Around Cowgirl—left Arizona to head back to Idaho to compete in high school rodeos. She made the state finals, and is scheduled to compete in Breakaway, Goats, and Poles.
Turning Pro
In rodeo, you can turn pro once you are 18—which Totten has her sights set on after her birthday in November of this year.
At that time she’ll get her pro card, and her new goal will be competing in the National Finals Rodeo (NFR).
Still, that might not happen right away, she explains.
Qualifying for the NFR requires a lot of travel for competitions, and Totten has committed to attending Tarleton State University this coming school year and being part of the Tarelton Rodeo Team, which she is excited about.
“Right now, I’m just wanting to accomplish my college goals with rodeo, but then after college I want to try to qualify for the NFR,” she says.
Launching Her Company
As do most teens, Totten had a social media presence and she enjoyed posting about her life.
She has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, but found she liked TikTok the most.
“I like it because I can show people my everyday life without it looking like my life is perfect, not like on Instagram. You know how on Instagram it just looks like everyone has beautiful lives? On TikTok you can actually see that not everything is perfect. Also, it’s more engaging,” she explains.
Her account would prove to be not only a way to connect to others and to share her rodeo life, but a platform when she launched her company, Rodeo Trippin (RodeoTrippin.com).
“I wanted to be like a normal kid and have a job,” she explains, “but I was on the road so much and I couldn’t figure out a way with my schedule.”
Her parents own numerous businesses, including a print shop, and so her mom suggested she start a clothing line.
Totten loved the idea, and so worked with the wrap shop’s graphic to design merchandise.
Rodeo Trippin launched as an online shop in 2020, and Totten also promotes it via TikTok. It offers apparel, accessories, equine care, hats, jewelry, tack and supplies, and wild rags.
“It’s going super good, actually,” she says.
Just like her rodeo career.
