Credit: Jennifer Sheffield
Ask Imani Uzzell, 19, how she knows how to ride, and she answers by sailing over 2’6”-2’9” obstacles on her new 17-hand, OTT thoroughbred, Coraggioso, whom she calls C.J. It’s not that she is staying silent. It is because in the whitewashed equestrian world of eastern Pennsylvania, her goals as a young woman of color have to rise above being bullied by a judge or competitors who approach her trainer, Leah Saltzman, 21, with questions such as, “How does she own a horse?”
These, along with assumptions that she is a groom at a show in which she is clearly competing, are symptomatic of the systemic racism that persists in the show rings of the hunter-jumper circuit.
Uzzell and others who are speaking out since the Black Lives Matter protests, hope that by doing so, unfair rules will be changed, those they look up to in the sport will be held accountable for comments made, and brands will notice that this generation of black equestrians is cover-worthy for the next tack catalogue.
“With everything going on now, companies are highlighting different cultures wearing their clothes,” said Uzzell, “but hopefully, they really mean to put a different message out there. Because we can’t wait,” she added, “until something bad happens again.”
Uzzell, who also plays volleyball for Harcum College in Bryn Mawr, PA recently hosted a YouTube panel along with Canadian trainer Shelby Dennis, Las Vegas Junior “A” jumper, Nana Sarfo, and Michaela Nelson of North Carolina. They discussed safety concerns like stuffing their natural or braided hair into a helmet that is three sizes too big, and how hard it is to excel in one discipline since “barn hopping” is a common Black experience.
“Luckily in the barns I’ve chosen, I haven’t felt like I have to be anyone except myself,” she said. “If I wasn’t at a barn like this, I would totally have to flip the way I act, my speech pattern, or my clothes to fit in, and then end up not fitting in anyway, even if I did those things. Friends have told me this is how certain barns are and it’s a problem.”
Uzzell started riding nine years ago at Chamounix Equestrian Center in Philadelphia, known as the home of the non-profit Work to Ride program and polo team for at-risk youth. "What was great about it,” she said, “was that the people who surrounded me looked like me."
In addition to learning to jump and playing on Chamounix’s first all-girls polo team, Uzzell served as a counselor from 2016-2018 at the Girl Scouts’ Camp Woodhaven in Pine Grove, PA. A basketball injury flared up soon after, and she was diagnosed with the rare disease PVNS, which causes benign tumors to grow in her knee, requiring surgery. She returned to riding in January 2019 to rebuild her strength.
Now competing out of North Wynd Stable in Gilbertsville, she feels she has the best chance there to bond with C.J., whom she bought in May during a break from classes due to Covid-19. “It’s a big difference from jumping on and off lesson horses,” she said. “We are working together every day, and I have to make sure I am teaching him good manners.”
Breeding Kindness
Manners are what Saltzman, who in addition to being Uzzell’s trainer also serves as North Wynd’s manager, wants to normalize for her team. It is important for her business that kindness is a non-negotiable rule. “Caring for one another means more than respecting another’s horses or equipment,” she said. “It means that we support each other. You never know when something can be hurtful,” said Saltzman, “and I don’t want anyone to have to deal with it on their own.”
Saltzman started riding when she was six but had to earn her own money to buy her horse. At 17, she was teaching at Sunset Valley Stables in West Chester while showing in “AA” level arenas and competing on West Chester University’s IHSA team.
Her move to North Wynd, the former Phox Phalian Farm known for breeding Hanoverians and producing dressage horses, enabled her to invest in her more serious students. Hannah Supplee, who grew up in Montgomery County, volunteers at the barn and said, “Leah makes our barn what it is. Everyone is friendly. I love that my horse family is so carefree.”
That is her vision, but Saltzman admitted that “it has always been a challenge,” referring to pressures she has felt, due to classism and ageism. “To me, we’re all the same kind of rider,” she said. “So in my barn we don’t discriminate. If we take that attitude to shows, we lead by example. No one should have to feel like so much of an outsider, for any reason, that they lose a desire to show. It’s even more important these days that we evaluate all riders with the same criteria.”
For Imani, this means making sure that her performance stands above the assumptions made about her because of her appearance. “People have asked Leah if I am a nice person,” she said, “but how can you hate people who love horses? We all love something really special that not everyone can be around all the time, so we can’t take it for granted that we share that experience.”
Getting Better
Uzzell said that boarding C.J. 40 minutes from her home near the city meant leaving her comfort zone, but it has come with great reward. “It’s taught me not to be afraid to try new things,” she said. “I was worried about it, and so were my parents, but the best thing was finding out I had everything I needed and that it felt normal.” Saltzman said it also helps that riders of color communicate both positive and negative experiences.
“Since I live outside of Philadelphia, I wasn’t used to coming out into the rural area so it was culture shock,” said Uzzell. “Luckily, my parents don’t have a problem with it, but a lot of people are afraid to come out to where they don’t see people like them.” However, as she told the kids who attended Camp Woodhaven, “It’s hard, but you definitely have to believe in yourself and be willing to take the chance.”
Uzzell is facing more surgery but is not slowing down. In just her first three months at North Wynd, Uzzell has competed at Molasses Creek, Buxmont Riding Club, Windswept Acres, and in the Silver Moon Horse Shows Series. “I hope to get a blue ribbon before I’m out again,” she said.
When it comes to her dreams of jumping at the Devon Horse Show, and of someday building her own barn on the 600 acre North Carolina farm her great-grandmother owns and where her father grew up, Uzzell is cautiously optimistic. “I went to Devon three years ago,” she said, “and a Caucasian woman came up to me and said, ‘I didn’t think colored people could ride horses,’ so I asked her why. She walked away, but we still have to educate people (and do it) with a ton of class,” said Uzzell, whose immediate future includes leaving volleyball behind, and transferring to Delaware State University or Delaware Valley University to ride.
Issues of equality may be her greatest hurdle, but for Uzzell nothing is too much to improve her sport. "Lately, it has been great to get support from people across the country," she said. "I have come such a long way, and I hope that because as a community we are great, we can be even greater.”
This is how Uzzell is taking her setback, too, saying, “I’ll surely be back better than ever.” With that, C.J. stamped once in his bell boots. He, too, was ready to get to work.
To reach North Wynd Stable, located at 210 Oberholtzer Road, Gilbertsville, PA 19525, call 610-955-8321.