Crazy Faith Riders member Deneen Marshall-Mike and Cinnamon, the horse she bought last year.
Long before Buffalo Bill and the Wild West shows and John Wayne and Hollywood popularized the idea of the rough-and-tumble horsemen, riding the range and protecting their herds and families, enslaved men of African and Spanish descent were working cattle in Mexico and the Caribbean.
Last year DNA analysis of bones linked to African cattle were found in Mexico, indicating that the first cowboys in North America likely were Black, researchers say.
A number of groups in the U.S., led by the New York City Federation of Black Cowboys, have made it their mission to recognize and celebrate that rich equestrian culture that has thrived despite discrimination and segregation. Among those groups today, the Crazy Faith Riders of New Jersey.
In 2006, at a federation prayer breakfast, New Jersey’s only African American faith-based riding club was formed.
Shortly after the group’s creation, Tammy Harris met one of the founders through her work in real estate and the next thing she knew, she caught the horse bug, joined the group – becoming its first female member – and bought a farm in Hunterdon County, the heart of the New Jersey horse country.
Soon she not only owned a horse but was boarding other members’ horses.
Harris, now the group’s president, said she had farming in her blood; her family farmed on the Jersey Shore generations ago, but for years she had no interest in farm animals. Then, “I fell in love with horses,” she said.
Today she saddles up for the trail rides, team penning and parades and helps organize country line dances that raise funds for the group. The club gives back through an annual coat drive each fall.
Perhaps most impactful, Harris said, is the ‘hood ride. The group organizes street rides in downtown Newark and other cities to introduce horses to young people who may have only seen them in pictures or videos. Harris says, “they ask questions and take pictures. They see Black and brown people on horses and owning the horses.”
She said on one ride in Newark the group saw balloons flying outside of a house and stopped by, hoping to bring joy to the birthday party. A woman came out in tears. It turned out one of her sons had been killed, probably in gun violence, said Harris. The woman told the group that he loved horses and felt their arrival was her son saying, “it’s ok.”
Harris said she believes horses can change lives.
“When you go out in the community they see themselves in the riders,” said Harris. “It begins the dream and plants the seeds.”
Member Deneen Marshall-Mike said her faith plays a big role in her love of animals and involvement in the group.
“Animals are a blessing from God,” she said. A co-worker told her about the group, and she initially said, “I don’t do animals.” But Marshall-Mike had been looking for a stress reliever in her life and in 2016 she began working with a pony program run by Harris. She loved learning how to care for horses and sharing her love with young people.
Soon Marshall-Mike came to discover horses were her spirit animal.
“Animals help you out no matter where you are in life,” she said.
Earlier this year she was told of a horse that was available for sale. That’s how Marshall-Mike and her 8-year-old mare, Cinnamon, came together. Now her daughter and grandchildren are interested in horses.
She said she’d like to see the club grow, perhaps develop a therapeutic riding program and support older members while nurturing young members.
“I’d like to start a new legacy that teaches young people about the role African Americans played” in western culture and equestrian world, she said. “We want the next generation to come in. So our history doesn’t die.”