The Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization devoted to horseback riding north of Philadelphia.
Part of a century long tradition of black urban cowboys and horseback riding in Philadelphia, local horsemen nurse and care for horses and teach youth neighborhoods to do so. They encourage academic excellence and provide positive ways for local youth to spend their free time outside the home.
Nonprofit organizations have struggled to find funding and secure and maintain their operating venues. By 2015, the company gained federal nonprofit status and ownership certificates for 7.500 square feet of empty land, and revived fundraising efforts. Many were donated to organizations by Good Bet Trading, a local real estate company owned by native Philadelphia, Adam Ehrlich.
The horses used in the program were originally purchased at auction cattle in New Holland, Pennsylvania, providing a second chance for animals likely to be killed.
The Fletcher Street clubhouse is in the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood north of Philadelphia, on the edge of Fairmount Park. Informal Stalls exist throughout North and West Philadelphia and in Cobbs Creek Park, in private and abandoned city lands. The horses are ridden along city streets and parks, and regular races are held on the open strip of Fairmount Park called Speedway. The experienced horseman and youth in the area took care of the horses, and the Fletcher Street club stall received additional care from a prominent veterinarian. By 2017, it changed its location to a donated property.
Experienced riders often ride these horses through recreational fields on 15 roads known as 'The Oval'. This is where the horses catch the attention of many members of Temple University Diamond Band.
One organized group is the Black Cowboys Association, called Philadelphia Weekly as "a Philadelphia institution that offers children in the toughest urban neighborhoods, the chance to claim a way out of the 'horse riding'. Another horse riding program for local teenagers is Work to Ride, based in Chamounix Equestrian Stables at Fairmount Park.
Video Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club
History
In the late 2000s, the city government destroyed several stables and club houses, as if to rebuild the land. At that time, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals publicly investigated allegations by city officials that the horses were being treated badly. The charge proved unfounded. However, with the ground leveled and redeveloped forward, many horses have to be moved. In the next decade, several dozen horses remain.
In 2009, the club plans to bring more formal facilitation and guidance elements into its program, although a tight budget makes this difficult. On Halloween that year, the program held a charity event at the First District Plaza in Philadelphia, a collaboration between local fishermen (who also run youth programs), local churches, urban cowboys and local business associations, Strawberry Mansion SMART Business Association.
In 2016, the club is led by Ellis Ferrill and supported by local horsemen and local community members. Over the years, Urban Fletcher Street Equestrian has been registered as a nonprofit in Pennsylvania. Fletcher Street's friends, a support organization, are also under the fiscal sponsor of MAP Holistic Community Development, a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization.
In 2015, Club is a federally recognized nonprofit organization with a tax-exempt status of 501 (c) (3), which enables it to receive tax deductible donations, including its first ownership deed on a small piece of land.
Maps Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club
In popular media and literature
The Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club has been mentioned in NPR's
The song "Feel the Love" by Rudimental features Fletcher Street horses, men and boys in the music video, which has been seen over 72 million times.
In early 2018, Google displayed the club in a video advertising its Pixel 2 smartphone.
Other urban riding programs
Black urban riding programs exist in major cities across the United States. These include Horses in the Hood in Los Angeles and the Black Cowboy Federation at Queens in New York City, the subject of the 2003 film produced by Zachary Mortensen.
Internationally, the most famous related program is based in Dublin, Ireland. These urban cowboys, known as Pony Kids, have access to 3,000 horses (per year 1996). The horses are interesting and engage the youth in a difficult, low-income neighborhood. They face many of the same challenges with their American counterparts. The English newspaper The Independent described the "Dublin suburban horse culture" as "an interesting example of what happens when the poor match the pleasures of the rich." An anthropological study of the Dublin program examines community development programs in the context of anti-poverty efforts. The television series documented the story of five foals chosen for the ride and a tour of the more beautiful horse world.
References
- Lisa Thomas, "Island of Hope: Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club," December 3, 2015. http://www.horsecollaborative.com/fletcher-street-urban-riding-club-island-of- hope/
- Kristen Kovatch, "Friday Standing Ovation: The Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club," June 20, 2014. http://www.horsenation.com/2014/06/20/friday-standing-ovation-the-fletcher- street -urban-riding-club
- DiFilippo Funds, "Enough Stalling?", The Philadelphia Daily News , September 15, 2008. http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20080915_Enough_horsing_around_.html
- Steve Volk, "Who Killed Mecca Harris?", Philadelphia Weekly , December 14, 2005. https://web.archive.org/web/20120305141841/http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/news-and-opinion/cover-story/who_killed_mecca_harris-38403464.html
- Sanjiv Bhattacharya, "Red riding hood", Telegraph . 17 Feb 2007. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3663231/Red-riding-hood.html
- "Street Riders" and "Hoofbeats on Fletcher Street" LIFE Magazine (Cover), April 22, 2005. http://www.life.com/image/52735208 (cover), full scanned copy at https://web.archive.org/web/20100827085718/http://johnnydwyer.net/clips/pdf/hoofbeats.pdf
- The Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club website, created by photographer and supporter of Martha Camarillo, accessed December 15, 2009. http://www.fletcherstreeturbanridingclub.com/main.html
Note
- Facebook page for clubs prepared by supporters.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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