Decades old Federation of Black Cowboys under threat

(10 May 2016) LEAD IN:
Members of the Federation of Black Cowboys have ridden their steeds through New York's urban horse country for decades.
But the federation is fighting to survive.
STORY-LINE:
From their Cedar Lane Stables and corral in the New York borough of Queens, the Federation of Black Cowboys is carrying on the legacy of thousands of black cowboys who once rode through the Wild West.
They've also mentored young black equestrians, both athletically and morally.
"The African-American cowboy is a cowboy who has not gotten its recognition. One-third of the population who helped to build the West, they were African-American. And that's a story that's not known or spoke about," says federation president, Sheryl Kesha Morse.
Morse is one of three female members among 18 remaining riders of a dwindling, aging group of horse buffs that once numbered about 60 after they were officially incorporated in 1998.
The city license for the Cedar Lane Stables and corral was withdrawn three years ago, when the cowboys faced claims that the premises and some of the animals had been neglected.
Six horses died in 2012. The cowboys said individual horse owners were responsible.
The stables were renovated and the cowboys got their license back in 2014, on condition that they be directly responsible for each animal's welfare.
They pay about $400 a month to maintain each horse on the property owned by the Department of Parks, which issues licenses to private city food services or recreation organisations.
Last August, the city announced a competitive bidding process for a new contract to run the stables. The Black Cowboys released their reins to the winner - the nonprofit GallopNYC, which works with autistic children using horses therapeutically. They'll take over in July, renaming the stables Gemini Fields.
Parks officials said GallopNYC demonstrated the strongest financial solvency, outreach programming, job training, and "potential to make a positive impact on the local community."
However, the city acknowledged the Black Cowboys' "positive historical contribution to the community and to horse riding in New York City."
They'll still be allowed to use the stables for their horses and to keep working with children.
In Queens' working-class Howard Beach neighborhood, kids come running when they see the equestrians' ten-gallon hats and boots. And they often get a ride.
Former auto mechanic and Virginia native, Arthur "J.R." Fulmore has been a member of the federation for more than thirty-five years.
"When the kids see a horse. They come wide open running to you. Running to the horse. Can I ride? Can I ride? So, we get off and give them a ride," he says.
"I understand that there are just some some things that we will not be able to do anymore because the new people coming in they have their own programmes. But we will continue to look at what it is that we will be able to do so that the inner city children will have the ability to be exposed to the area," says Morse.
Morse is in the process of planning the future alongside GallopNYC, but she's not sure exactly what role the federation will play.
She hopes more young people will become members, helping to maintain the stables while being kept off drugs and violent city streets that take the lives of some of their friends or send them behind bars.
Ellis "Mountain Man" Harris is a fellow cowboy - a bearded, blue-eyed 78-year-old also from the South, where black slaves had not been allowed to ride horses, lest they escape.
"I love it all. I love the excitement of it. And the thrill of it. It is a real thrill," he says.
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