You might not expect to see a group of Black horsemen riding through the streets of North Philly. But for Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club, that unexpected image is the whole point.
Founded officially in 2004 by Ellis “El-Dog” Ferrell, but rooted in a culture that stretches back over a century, Fletcher Street URC is a non-profit that uses horseback riding and urban horsemanship to uplift at-risk youth. With a mission rooted in mentorship, legacy, and community care, the club is more than just a stable. It’s a safe haven.
We caught up with Vice President Darrin Ferrell, Ellis’ son and lifelong rider, to talk about the club’s impact, its deep cultural roots, and why being an “urban cowboy” means more now than ever.
QG: Fletcher Street has been a cornerstone of Philly’s equestrian culture for decades. For those unfamiliar, how would you describe the mission of the club?
DF: In three simple words: Horses, History, Community. Philly’s history with horses goes back, way, way back to the 16th-1700s at the founding of the city. But in our neighborhood, on Fletcher Street? We can track that history at least back to the mid-1800s. The difference is that, over time, as reliance on horses in everyday life decreased, there were still people who tended and cared for horses. Horses and horsemanship are a way of life for us Black urban riders– it’s in our blood. And nothing can take that from us, not even technology advancing, not development, nothing.
For our club specifically, we want people to see horses, become interested in taking care of them, and ride them. But most importantly, we want our club to be known as a safe place. A place where people can come, just take care of the animals, and find a bit of peace from the stress of the world. For us urban riders today, preserving horsemanship holds together the community.
QG: What inspired your dad, Ellis Ferrell, to start the club?
DF: My dad has been riding horses since he was a kid. When he came to Philly from Tallahassee in mind 1900s, he joined other horsemen in the area, and kind of helped revitalize a piece of history that was dying. No one needed horses anymore in the city-and with city development, we kept losing more land that would be used for grazing. So there were several generations of people in Philly’s Black community that didn’t even know that Philly had horses, let alone centuries of Black Horsemen/ Cowboys.
My dad, El-Dog, started a few different riding clubs in the city, but when he moved his horses to the stables at Fletcher Street, that was a game-changer. He saw the lack of opportunity – the lack of things for kids to do in the area. It’s easy to fall into selling drugs or stealing if there are no other opportunities. But my dad saw horsemanship as a way to get kids off the street. By working with animals, learning to take care of the horse, it builds a sense of pride in oneself, and opens doors to other opportunities.
QG: Philly has deep Black cowboy roots. How does Fletcher Street carry that forward today?
DF: I just want to continue doing what I’m doing. I work to keep our facility up and running, welcoming people. I have a few people that I can really rely on to help me. Just trying to be there on a daily basis because, as you know, you can sit there and on any given second somebody can come up, “Oh, can the kids see the horses, can my daughter ride, can they ride?”. It’s important to keep this going. At the very least, to preserve the history, but mostly, because I’ve seen people who have come to work with horses, and have changed the whole trajectory of their lives. And that’s what I want to keep going.
QG: Mentorship is a big theme in your work. What does it mean for young Black boys to see Black men leading in such a unique and powerful space?
DF: Mentorship means a lot. More troubles come with this generation. People are intense now, in the past 10 years, people seem more eager to fight over small stuff. Plus, the internet and phones are a huge distraction; we didn’t have that back in the day. Kids used to be 200% interested in horses. But now, we have to find other ways to keep kids active, in the club, and off the streets.
I talk with the kids; they confide in me. I do try to do little stuff to help. The kids see me as a friend, even though they look at me as a disciplinarian, which I don’t mind. A lot of the kids don’t “want to let me down”. And so they work hard. We had a kid, recently got into a bit of a scrape, we’ll let them know what they did was wrong, and of course, there are consequences. But we’ll always be there for them. I never want any kid to be scared to call me, no matter how bad the situation.
QG: There’s something radical about seeing horses on city streets in 2025. What does it feel like to ride through North Philly—and what kind of reactions do you get from people?
DF: I believe in “Reach one, teach one”. I might see 100 people on a ride out, but if I can reach out to one, change his life, and become a horseman, or just get involved at all, I feel like it’s worth it; I’ve made a difference. Different back then vs now because the rules and kids were different. It’s harder to police it now. Harder to do urban equestrian. It was easier back then to ride out in the neighborhood without getting shot at on motorcycles. So we have to be careful.
QG: Urban riding challenges mainstream ideas of what it means to be a “cowboy.” How do you define the modern-day urban cowboy?
DF: Modern-day urban cowboy is a who deeply loves his horse, wants to care for that horse, and bond with it. In the city, horses are a type of therapy. You’ll talk to any man, woman, or young person on the street who has a bond with their horse, they’ll tell you when times get tough, they’ll come to the stables. Horses won’t let you down. But horses also tell you how it is. You have to earn their respect. And there’s a life lesson in that, one that we try to teach the kids, but they often learn from horses before they will listen to us adults.
But beyond that, as urban horsemen, we have to navigate the realities of a changing world. Philly is a horse city. There used to be stables on every block in their neighborhood. But it’s much more expensive to care for horses now, and with more and more development, there is far less access to land. And gentrification has really impacted us. Back in the day, people in the community would naturally help each other out, and we could essentially keep a horse anywhere. Now, that’s just not the case. There are fewer horsemen in the city, especially here in Philly, which means we need significantly more resources to keep the club going.
QG: What are your thoughts on someone like Beyoncé spotlighting Black cowboy culture?
DF: It’s fantastic to see a megastar like Beyoncé bringing more attention to Black cowboy culture. We’d love the opportunity for her to maybe pop by and expand that awareness to include urban cowboys like us. Even if it’s just a quick pop-over, it would be incredible for her to see how we do things here and experience the community built. Urban Riding is a much different beast.
QG: Concrete Cowboy brought global attention to your story. What did it feel like to see your community represented on that kind of stage, and how accurate was the portrayal?
DF: There are lots of Black horsemen, again, something people just didn’t seem to know. And if they did know, they only heard of cowboys, not urban riders or horsemen. So the movie brought attention to urban horsemanship, specifically. Overall, the movie was about 70% fiction. But there’s a lot that was right on point. The horse in the house- that’s accurate. There was a man who needed somewhere to keep his horse. And if you didn’t have a place, you’d just make one. You’d need somewhere to keep your horse, you couldn’t afford to board your horse, so he had two rooms in his house, just put his horse up inside the house, a house horse!
But when they had the two men standing on top of the horse, that’s very accurate. That’s what urban cowboys do. It’s a rite of passage, it shows your skill as a horseman.
QG: What message do you want young Black kids in Philly to take away when they see y’all ride?
DF: I love stopping. I like to say hello to people along our ride to people. I like to go with two or three people and ride out through North Philly. It’s therapeutic. I get to ride my horse and connect with people. And the people are in awe. They see horses on TV, or maybe somewhere they had a pony ride. It’s a big shock factor with the kids- when I see their faces, I like to stop, talk to the kids, have them check us out, and join. We have a few members who exactly as they said.
QG: Fill in the blank. “Being a cowboy in Philly means _______.”
DF: Being a called a cowboy in Philly is a pretty new thing, really, since the movie “Concrete Cowboy” came out. It’s certainly catchy, but most in Philly just go by “horsemen”. We didn’t have cattle up here, so there was no reason to call ourselves cowboys. But we were horsemen, and we deal with horses. We took pride in our care of the horses that the city at one point truly depended on for its development. And today, most still just go by horseman, urban horseman, just like their fathers and families did in Philadelphia, going all the way back hundreds of years ago.
And it’s not even the black horsemen, because they are all kinds of Indian, Asian, Arabic. You know, it doesn’t matter. Like, the horseman is a horseman.
QG: What drives you to keep going?
DF: I always run across a kid who wants to learn. And any time it gets hard, I stay because even if it’s one kid that once to learn, I can’t leave, no man left behind.
I think and hope my nephew Ellis will take up the legacy. He’s not big into riding – yet – but he loves the stables. He loves being there, he’ll shadow me, help me out, fix stuff, make sure the stables are secure, and the horses are taken care of. For him, it’s so important that the stable is in good shape. He’s made friends here, created some bonds. After all, that’s what we’re about.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club
