INTERVIEW | Jess Childress

I don’t know how to introduce today’s Interview, except by saying that the day she agreed to be on Buckaroo Barbie I went screaming through the house with excitement. I’ve been reading her interview all week and each time I am just amazed at how inspiring she is and wishing I had had a friend like her when I was young. I know you’re going to feel the same way!

Jessica Childress was born and raised on a large cattle ranch in southeastern Oregon and was riding horses before she could walk. Her father ran the family ranch for 16 years and Jess was right there beside him every chance she got. When she wasn’t in school, she day worked, helped her dad and attended as many brandings as she could fit in all over Lake County. After high school Jess went to Boise State University on a full-ride volleyball scholarship. At BSU she got the incredible opportunity to travel across the United States and compete in the Junior Olympics with a NIKE sponsored team.

After she graduated with a degree in Health Education, Jess returned home to work for the family ranch and the BLM. A friend introduced her to the reining cow horse world, and she was hooked! “The first time I showed a 3-year-old I was in the wrong lead the entire pattern!!” Jess says laughingly. She decided she wanted to learn more and worked for reined cow horse trainer, Clayton Edsall for a year, where Jess says she learned more than she could ever put into words. “Clayton is and always will be a hero in my book for his horsemanship and handle with a rope. Traveling to Texas for the World’s Greatest Horseman and meeting my other hero, Boyd Rice, will always be one of the most fondest memory of my life!”

Today, Jess is back home in Lakeview where she works for Oregon Department of Transportation and day works for local ranchers on her days off. Any free time she has, Jess is out branding calves and competing in ranch rodeos.  

What makes home home is….although I love my home here in Lakeview, I try to be happy and feel at home no matter where I am in the world.  Being able to be happy no matter where you are or what you’re doing…that’s home!

If I could achieve anything in the world it would be…to have a family of my own and raise my children to love cowboys, cattle, and good horses.  And maybe along the way, inspire even one woman to chase her dreams, no matter the cost.

The one piece of advice I would give to girls who are interested in the cowboy world is …don’t be afraid to work hard for what you want, no matter how long it takes or who tells you you can’t do it, keep your head up and pull your hat down, because anything is possible!

My most prized possession is…my silver bits and most recently, my first custom saddle made by Jeff Hansen!

As a kid I was always…wishing I was a horse, playing with Breyer horses, watching the horses in the fields, riding horses, but mostly wishing one day I would wake up and be a horse.

My favorite non-cowboy activity is…laying by a pool, drinking a cold cocktail, shopping and maybe getting dressed up to go to a fancy dinner party!

I knew I was on the right track in life when…when I decided that my life was my own and no one could make me feel inadequate.

My ideal day would include…waking up before dawn to hot coffee, saddle up, drive out to the desert somewhere far from town, jump my horse out of the trailer as the sun peaks out, and head out to gather pairs to brand with good friends.

My favorite cocktail is…I’m partial to Vodka, any Vodka drink!

If I could be friends with anyone in the world, dead or alive, it would be…Michael Richards, who plays Cosmo Kramer on Seinfeld! That guy is hilarious!!

My favorite beauty product is…my tinted face moisturizer with SPF, I put it on every morning!

I’m not afraid to risk failing at something!  I’m just as comfortable in the saddle, as I am in heels and lipstick…and that is what makes me a Buckaroo Barbie!