Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club facts for kids

The Fletcher Street Riding Club is a special group in North Philadelphia. It's a non-profit, which means it's not trying to make money. Instead, it helps young people learn about horses and riding. This club is part of a long history of black cowboys and horse riding in Philadelphia. The people who run the club teach kids how to care for horses. They also help kids do well in school and find fun, healthy ways to spend time outside. Sometimes, it's been hard for the club to get enough money or keep their land.

What the Club Does

The Fletcher Street Riding Club has stables where they keep their horses. These stables are in the Strawberry Mansion area of North Philadelphia, right next to Fairmount Park. In late 2023, they even opened a new stable in another part of Fairmount Park.

Riding and Caring for Horses

The club's horses are ridden all over the city streets and through the parks. Sometimes, they even have horse races on a special track in Fairmount Park called the Speedway. Experienced horse riders and young people in the area take good care of the horses. A local animal doctor also helps make sure the horses stay healthy.

Giving Horses a Second Chance

Many of the horses in the program were bought at an animal auction. This gives these horses a new home and a second chance at life. Otherwise, they might not have survived.

Catching Attention

The skilled riders often take their horses past a sports field called 'The Oval.' Here, the horses often get noticed by members of the Temple University Diamond Band.

Club's History

The idea of the Fletcher Street Riding Club has been around for over 100 years! The current organization was officially started in 2004 by a man named Ellis Ferrell.

Challenges and Changes

In 2008, the city government tore down some of the club's stables and their clubhouse. They said they wanted to build new things on the land. At that time, some city officials said the horses were not being treated well. However, an animal protection group looked into it and found that these claims were not true. Still, because the land was cleared, many horses had to move to new places.

Helping the Community

In 2009, the club wanted to add more programs to help kids with schoolwork and mentoring. It was hard to do this because they didn't have a lot of money. That same year, they held a special event to raise money. It was a team effort with local fishermen, churches, the urban cowboys themselves, and local businesses.

Becoming an Official Non-Profit

For many years, Ellis Ferrell and other community members led the club. Since 2015, the club has been a recognized non-profit organization. This means people can donate money to them and get a tax break. It also helped them get their first piece of land, which was donated by a local real estate company.

New Land and New Challenges

In 2019, the club moved onto this newly acquired land. However, the Philadelphia Housing Authority later bought the land for a very low price and started building houses there.

Support from a Movie

In April 2021, a movie about the club was released on Netflix. After the movie came out, Ellis Ferrell and the Fletcher Street Riding Club started a fundraiser. This helped bring support to their real-life programs, which Ellis and his friends and family had mostly paid for themselves for many years.

Other Urban Horse Programs

The Fletcher Street Riding Club is not the only group that helps kids learn about horses in cities.

In Philadelphia

In Philadelphia, another group is the Black Cowboys Association. They help kids in tough neighborhoods find a positive path through horses. Another program for teenagers in Philadelphia is Work to Ride. It's based at Chamounix Equestrian Stables in Fairmount Park.

Across the United States

Black urban horsemanship programs exist in many big cities across the United States. Some examples include Horses in the Hood in Los Angeles and the Federation of Black Cowboys in Queens, New York City.

In Dublin, Ireland

In Dublin, Ireland, teenagers in some neighborhoods have also had a tradition of keeping and riding horses since the 1990s. Some of these young people are from Irish Traveller families. A newspaper once called Dublin's horse culture "a fascinating example of what happens when the poor appropriate the pleasures of the rich."

See also

• African-American trail rides
• Compton Cowboys
• Oakland Black Cowboy Association