“Originally, I wore only American straw hats. The brand was looking to expand farther into the western industry, outside of rodeo with their partnerships,” said NRCHA Trainer and rider Erin Taorimino. “I already had a close relationship with American athlete Jackie Crawford, and so it all just worked itself out.”
Erin said her favorite hat she has been wearing recently is American’s 100X Black Cherry felt. “It’s a really great color,” she said. “I used to wear a plain solid black felt, but the Black Cherry has won my heart.”
Originally from Saskatchewan, Canada, Erin Taorimino, a now household name in the National Reined Cow Horse Association, said she moved to Texas after graduating high school and her final trip to the Quarter Horse Congress.
“I met some people at the Congress show and had the opportunity to come down to Texas to show my youth all-around horse,” she said. “I ended up selling him at that show and just never went back.”
Erin said she started her career as an assistant in charge of riding a string of two-year-old prospects at the Jim Babcock Ranch in Gainesville, Texas. While there, she met Million-dollar rider and NRCHA Hall of Fame inductee Ron Ralls.
“That is how I really got into the industry,” she said. “He was in charge of the cow horse at that ranch, and so I fumbled my way through learning as I went with his help.”
American Hat Rider, Erin Taormino and her son.
After Ralls left his position there, Erin said she went with him and worked as an apprentice under him for four and a half years. While working for Ralls, Erin met her husband, Anthony Taormino. Together, the couple moved from Ralls’ ranch in Texas to live in Idaho briefly before moving again to work under NRCHA Two-million-dollar rider and NRHA Million-dollar rider Todd Bergen in Oregon.
“We stayed under Todd Bergen for five years,” she said. “From there, we moved to work with Garth and Amanda Gardiner at Gardiner Quarter Horses in Ashland, Kansas. We stayed there for two years before moving to Oklahoma and working out of Stuart Ranch for Terry Forst.
“That’s where we started our business, at Stuart Ranch,” she said. “Terry was amazing. She really opened the door for us to start our own program.”
Since then, the Taorminos have moved back to Texas, where they started their journey as independent trainers. Taormino Performance Horses is located at their home in Lipan, Texas.
She said she is most proud of what she has accomplished aboard roan stallion Hazardouz Material (Metallic Cat x Scooters Daisy Dukes). “I won the NRCHA Stallion Stakes on him in 2021, and I made the World’s Greatest Horseman Finals on him last year,” she said.
Erin also said her plans for her career are constantly changing and evolving.
“I’d love to win the Snaffle Bit Futurity, going back to World’s Greatest Horseman next year and becoming a million-dollar rider are at the top of my list, also,” she said. “I want to keep climbing and be one of the best trainers in the industry as long as I can.”
Erin said she does not keep track of her winnings to know how close she is to attaining her goal of being an NRCHA Million-dollar rider. According to the NRCHA, Erin has a lifetime earning of over $900,000.
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