Kareem Rosser is a world-class polo player and decorated intercollegiate champ. He’s modeled for Polo Ralph Lauren, earned a degree in economics from Colorado State University, and traveled to almost every continent. But two decades ago, when he was growing up in West Philadelphia, he didn’t know that he’d make it there.
“I was one of the many young people in my neighborhood trying to figure out how to survive,” he said.
Rosser, one of six kids raised by a single mom, grew up in Mantua, a predominantly African American community in West Philly that some call “down the bottom.” The neighborhood borders Fairmount Park and is north of, but very separate from, the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University campuses. There, the family “dealt with the typical things you would see in a place like Parkside and Mantua: gun violence, drug addiction, families that are just incredibly poor, everybody’s trying to get by each day, most families weren’t educated,” Rosser told me. “We were all kind of dealing with the same thing, quite frankly, poverty.”
He found safety in an unusual place: The stalls of Work to Ride, one of several equine therapy groups in the wider Philadelphia area. Now its executive vice president, Rosser hopes to do the same for the young people the program serves.
Work to Ride is a nonprofit prevention program centered on horsemanship, equine sports, and education. It teaches young people how to develop relationships with each other through caring for horses. In exchange for the lessons, the kids help maintain the stable. The idea is that activities like mucking stalls can provide a therapeutic break from the daily challenges young people face. The empathy necessary for the task, program directors say, is a key component for keeping kids safe, including from violence, in the long run.
Research has shown that working with horses can increase confidence, and reduce stress and anxiety. Competitive sports and team building helps build social skills, like conflict resolution. At Work to Ride, students get a bit of both: therapy and training.
“As a young boy, Work to Ride was the place where I felt most safe. It was my home away from home. I never wanted to be in the neighborhood and walk the streets, especially at night,” Rosser said. “Work to Ride was where I could be free and essentially that was all I needed.”
Rosser credits the program with saving his life — and he believes that Work to Ride, and programs like it, can transform lives, just as it did his own.
“Work to Ride exposed me to a completely different world that I had no idea existed outside of my few blocks that I grew up on,” Rosser said.
Other groups across the city and state have also tapped into horsemanship as a way to heal and promote safety. On the other side of Pennsylvania, Hope on Horseback works with the Crime Victim Center of Erie County to provide equine-assisted healing for trauma and sexual abuse survivors. And on a little block in North Philly, a man affectionately known as El-Dog, Elliss Ferrell, isn’t turning away any child that comes to his Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club. That riding club, which Ferrell started after observing the effects of gun violence on kids in his area, will soon celebrate 20 years of programming.
Each equine program “provides a different service,” said Nicole Bryan, a volunteer and staff member with Ferrell’s program. “We are first and foremost a community center,” she said. “That makes us different from other programs that focus solely on the art of equestrianism.”
In areas like North and West Philadelphia, there isn’t always a lot for young people to do outside of school. Only about half the youth they see at Fletcher Street actually ride. Some, Bryan said, might just come to hang out with their chickens and horses.
“We’ve heard plenty of stories about how libraries are being taken away because of funding, community centers are lacking. When you remove all of these third spaces, what else are you to expect the youth to do?” Bryan said. “And no, do 100 percent of them stay out of trouble? But the ones that know that they do, they know that they still have somebody that they can talk to. And that’s really what we’re trying to build. We use horses as a gateway to the community. Our angle is just to be a safe place that they can come to and know that they have reliable people there and just have fun.”
We use horses as a gateway to the community. Our angle is just to be a safe place that they can come to and know that they have reliable people there and just have fun.
Nicole Bryan, a volunteer and staff member with Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club
That’s been Marc-Anthony Harley’s experience with Work to Ride, too. The high school senior has participated in the program for eight years. Although he will be the captain of the Work to Ride varsity team and is hopeful to win a trophy this year, things are a little bittersweet.
“I’ll miss being in the program,” Harley said. “I’ve learned throughout my eight years a lot about dedication and responsibility. Showing up, being early, never showing up late, no calling out. I’m looking forward to starting off my year pretty strong and going out with a bang.”
Harley resides in South Philly. He understands the dangers of his neighborhood but also has a great love for his community.
“Growing up in South Philly is not like any other place. I’ll tell you that. Of course, it’s not the safest or a lot of people’s first choice in living but it’s the card I was dealt, and I wouldn’t change where I’m from if I could be from anywhere else because it taught me a lot,” Harley said. “Looking back, my childhood and the way I grew up, it made me who I am today. It’s home.”
Building community is one of Work to Ride’s primary goals — along with building empathy.
“There’s so much in their daily lives where empathy doesn’t exist,” said Work to Ride founder and executive director Lezlie Hiner, before explaining how the trait is crucial for stable work. Caring for horses teaches empathy because participants are responsible for noticing — and tending to —anything that goes wrong before they can first saddle up. If a teen didn’t look closely and “missed the fact that maybe the horse stepped on a rock, and now it has a bruise on its foot, and now it’s limping,” they’re the ones who lost out on a ride that day.
Hiner believes that building empathy can help prevent gun violence. For Rosser, it’s personal: When he was 9, he lost one of his best friends, Mecca Harris, to gun violence. Then, early in the pandemic, he lost his brother David, too. It’s one of the reasons he’s still dedicated to Work to Ride.
You are not alone
If you or someone you know has been affected by gun violence in Philadelphia, check out our Up the Block resource guide.
In 2022, Rosser introduced the city to the first-of-its-kind annual Philadelphia Polo Classic on Edgely Field in East Fairmount Park. In the world of polo, it’s rare to host matches in an urban park, let alone on an annual basis. “We’re bridging two worlds,” Rosser said. “You’d never think of polo being played in North Philadelphia, one of the poorest areas of the city. But again, it’s connecting people.”
The Classic pairs current Work to Ride participants and alums with out-of-town players. Proceeds benefit Work to Ride. This year’s classic will take place just over a month from now, on September 21.
“The big thing for many kids who grew up in places like myself, down the bottom, or any other place here in Philly, is simply removing them from the risk, and the exposure to the violence and the drugs. It gives individuals a chance,” Rosser said. “That’s what Work to Ride has been doing for the last 30 years. Giving individuals a chance at life.”
This story was also featured in the latest edition of The Trace’s Philadelphia newsletter, a monthly dispatch from local engagement reporter Afea Tucker. Learn more and sign up here.
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