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Kamilah Kashanie (KK): Is that a horse? Is that a horse? Is that a little pony?

Lauren Smith (LS): Yeah it’s a pony.

KK: Oh my god it’s a little pony.

KK: It’s the StoryCorps Podcast from NPR. I’m Kamilah Kashanie.

And in this episode, we’ll head to the streets of South Central, Los Angeles to meet a helper on horseback.

Lauren Smith (LS): Urban Saddles. There it is. 

KK: Urban Saddles. 

Ghuan Featherstone (GF): How y’all doin?

KK: That’s Ghuan Featherstone, he grew up in LA in the 70s. As a kid, he really wanted to be a cowboy, but he only got to ride a horse once as a child.

Eventually, he enlisted in the Army, and served overseas for a while.

GF: When I came back from Europe, you know, my mind was all over the place. And when I got with the horses, I didn’t want to do nothing else. It just calmed me down. It just —

KK: And that’s why he started Urban Saddles, a place where he could teach folks in the neighborhood how to care for and ride horses.

GF: The thing about Los Angeles, it’s violent. So, you know, the time that I grew up, I got to see a lot of stuff I probably shouldn’t have saw. As far as, you know, friends getting killed, friends going to jail for life. I thought gangs were going to just fade away, but they haven’t. You know, the police are always on somebody. The helicopters are always out. Not because they want to be, you know. But they got to be. That’s why this place is important.

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GF: So, if someone asks you why you ride horses, what would you tell them? 

Jordan Humphreys (JH): I would say that I ride horses because I think it’s fun and it’s another way to stay out of trouble.

KK: That’s 13-year-old Jordan Humphreys, who rides at Urban Saddles. They sat down for StoryCorps together.

JH: Describe the first horse you ever had of your own.

GF: The first horse I ever had was Thunderbolt. I loved that horse. He thought he was the biggest horse around, man. You know, you would be going full speed and then he’d give you a little buck to see if he could get you off his back. 

JH: Better get ready for this buck!

GF: Yeah. [Laughs] But me and him bonded ‘cause he couldn’t get me. You know, I remember when we first got Princess. It took forever to try to get her out of the stall.

JH: And at first she didn’t let no grown ups go in there.

GF: Yeah, she didn’t want to see nobody bigger than her. But you hopped on and started riding. 

JH: [Laughs] 

GF: She kept bucking you off and you’d get back on, you know. I was like, ‘Look at Jordan!’ And that’s what showed your resiliency right there and your determination. For real, It wasn’t just because you never fell off, or…

JH: She don’t do none of that no more.

GF: Nah she don’t do none of that no more. Now you could touch her head, you know. Yeah, you did a great job. You like riding on the city streets?

JH: Yeah. 

GF: Yeah, me too. What you like riding on the streets for?

JH: I think it gives, like, more connection for people.

GF: Mmm Hmm.

JH: It makes them happy seeing us on a horse and then they be smilin’. 

GF: I believe that when we come through, we give them a sense of hope.

JH: Why did you start the stables?

GF: For you. And all the other kids out there. 

My hopes for your future is greatness. Imagine all of the things you could think about other than thinking about your safety, walking around on the street or going to the store. You could be president.

JH: And then, like, I could help the other kids like you did for me. What’s the most important lesson that you want to teach kids?

GF: Respect for all life. We’re respecting the animals and we’re respecting each other. No matter what color, no matter what religion, no matter what sexual orientation. We’re respecting people because they people. Bottom line.

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KK: That’s Ghuan Featherstone, speaking with his mentee, Jordan Humphreys.

[sounds of horses whinnying]

KK: We’ll take a tour of the stables …

KK: I cannot even. 

KK: after this short break

I cannot even

KK: Stay with us.

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LS: Will you tell us about your horses? Can we walk?

KK: Yes. Can we — Can we get a baby tour? 

GF: Yeah. For sure

LS: Yeah. Awesome.

GF: This is Shay

KK: Ghuan took us through the stables and showed us all of the horses. The other voice you hear by the way is my colleague, Lauren.

GF: And this is Mr. knight. This right here is my ace. What’s up, boy? This the one I ride all the time. Now this is Big Spooky

KK: Hello Big Spooky 

GF: Yes. Big Spooky. His name is Showtime, but I call him Big Spooky because he’s scared of everything. When we first got him, he would have ran to the back of the stall. Eyes would be buck like that big. But see now he’s calmed down a whole lot. Mmhmm. But he’s still Big Spooky. See.

KK: He jumped! [laughs] Come on now.

GF: Yeah. And this is Princess.

KK: Oh, this is Jordan’s horse.

GF: Yeah, this is Princess.

KK: One thing that Ghuan and Jordan talked about in their StoryCorps recording, is how they sometimes ride their horses through the streets in the city.

KK: What does it feel like when you roll through, like, you know, 6 deep on some horses through the city and people are looking like, what is that like? 

GF: It’s a great feeling because, one, you know that they don’t expect to see it. And when they look at you they automatically think something different about you. Now they don’t think ‘thug’ because you’re on a horse. You see it from the police officers. If we’re on a horse, you know, they’re excited as well. The gang members. ‘Oh, cuz. Look, look cuz, You know, like big kids. You know what I’m saying, ‘You want to touch it’. ‘Naw, naw, naw’. [Laughs]

You know, most of the time you see people they don’t want to speak to you. If they don’t know, you know, don’t want to make that connection. We don’t know how. So I believe that if people in an urban setting can learn to make bonds with nature, it would make it easier for them to bond with their fellow man.

KK: Ghuan talks a lot about respecting people because they’re people, period. He told me about a moment where he actually had to check himself; when he went to speak at a school in Montana.

GF: You know, thinking about going there, I’m like, man, ‘what is this gonna be in Montana? They gonna try to string us up?’ [laughs] You know?

KK: [laughs] That’s real.

GF: But when I tell you, we were greeted with open arms and nobody looked like me. And at the end of that the kids were asked a question like, ’What was your perception of people from South Central?’ And it got quiet. And next thing you hear, ‘drugs, gangs, robbery’, they just went on. I mean, it was like everything bad that you could think of. And then, uh, they asked me, ’So what did you think about Montana?’ ‘Ropes, sheets, burning crosses’. That’s what life has done to all of us. You know, we don’t want to have these preconceptions but we do. 

KK: The stables where Urban Saddles is, there’s other people who ride there too. And they’re all from completely different walks of life, which is kinda perfect for the work Ghuan does.

GF: This place is kind of like a melting pot because you have Blacks, Hispanics and whites. The common denominator is the horse. Next thing you know, you’re talking. And then you find that we’re more of the same, than we are different. 

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KK: One of the guys Lauren and I met there is Caesar.

Caesar: I was born in Mexico, so I grew up around my dad with animals and stuff. Cows and other horses. And I loved it.

LS: What do you like most about horses?

Caesar: Just how big and muscular and strong they are. So friendly, so welcoming. You really have to establish a trusting relationship. He’s got to trust you that you’re not going to hurt him, and then you gotta trust that he’s going to behave.

KK: You know, I was thinking about Big Spooky, and Princess, how they were scared at first, and how that kind of change must happen with the kids who come there too.

KK: Do you feel like since you’ve had Urban Saddles open for a while, that you’ve seen elements of that change happening like, there are moments where you’re like, ‘Aw dang, this is it. This is why I did this.’

GF: Well, I see it here. I see change in everybody that frequents here on a regular basis. But when I go outside of this environment, I don’t see it that much. So it makes me feel like we’re not doing enough, you know. But that’s what keeps me going. Because this isn’t it. This is just the beginning.

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KK: Growing up in Brooklyn, I’d never ridden a horse before. And I never really thought I would, until right before Lauren and I were about to leave.

Caesar: Well, you know, too bad you guys are leaving, you know we could’ve put the saddle on and you guys couldve gotten on him.

KK: I would love to ride a horse, please!

Caesar: You got time?

KK: Yes! Yes! 

Caesar: [chuckles] Sure.

KK: Yes! Yes! Caesar, Yes!

KK: Ok so, I was a little excited. And while I was riding, I started to understand what Ghuan and Caesar had been saying.

KK: I was telling Caesar it’s something like, it feels like there’s something just sort of majestic and kind of magical about horses.

GF: It is. You weren’t off when you thought that. It is. It really is. You know, and I tell that to people too, like the majestic power of the horse. That connection is something else, but I can’t explain it. I’m still trying to figure it out.

KK: You think you’re going to be riding horses for the rest of your life?

GF: Oh, yeah. This is me now. Yeah. This is — ever since I got on the horse, I haven’t been off one. Yeah, I haven’t been off of one.

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KK: That’s all for this episode of the StoryCorps podcast. 

It was produced by me and edited by Jasmyn Morris, who’s our executive editor. Our lead producer is Eleanor Vassili. Our technical director is Jarrett Floyd. Our fact-checker is Natsumi Ajisaka. Special thanks to Jey Born. 

 To see what music we used in the episode… go to StoryCorps – dot – org… where you can also check out original artwork created for this season by artist Lyne Lucien.

For the StoryCorps podcast, I’m Kamilah Kashanie. Catch you next week.