Meet El-Dog Ferrell’s Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club.
“All the hay off? Hurry up, cuz they’re waiting for me – I gotta go back and get another load!”
Sitting in a chair near the front gate at Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club, founder Ellis (El-Dog) Ferrell keeps a straight face as he yells to the group of teens in front of him to reclaim their focus. Two of the teens, El-Dog’s great-grandsons, stop running and sigh, but quickly resume their duties of unloading and stacking 3 weeks’ worth of hay before the impending rain. “Got to break their spirit,” he says through a slight smile.
It’s a seat and position that El-Dog, now 83, has taken for the past 40+ at the helm of this Philadelphia-based club, which bases its work around nurturing sometimes auctioned, sometimes donated horses, as well as the children who heed its calling.
As we begin to talk, a man and his small daughter walk through the large sliding wooden gate, which immediately signifies just how open and accessible this space really is to the community. It happens that this man was a member of the Club years ago. “It’s been a minute since I rode – I knew Ellis since I was a puppy. I don’t live in this city anymore, but I always come back. Always.” His daughter wanted to find the pony and see the rabbits. And El-Dog notes that there are 4, 5 Club kids-turned-adults sitting right down the street from where we are.
There’s likely no other club around that embraces its members so inclusively. So much so that, as El-Dog’s son Darrin notes, some of the rabbits and chickens and goats that roam the property arrived as donations, and his father decided that “well, yeah, we’ll take ‘em.”
The land on which Fletcher Street sits is not large. Roughly a neighborhood block in size, with a nearby triangular lot reserved for smaller rides, the Club is equipped with 13 (and counting) stables that Darrin, a construction worker who spent his teen years on this property, built himself using salvaged wood. Also nearby – a pavilion under which the rabbits and chickens live, chairs for those who need them, a cooler for water when someone works up a thirst. There are at least 3 cats who run the land but are no longer the hunters El-Dog once knew, post-spay and -neutering. “Much better at laying around these days.”
El-Dog grew up in Tallahassee, FL, with dreams of one day owning a horse. As a child, he was able to ride – and ride fast and freely – but a horse was the one thing his grandmother could not provide for him. So, post-graduation, he went to the local farm auction and bought one horse, then another…and ended up with 23 of them. He moved to Philadelphia and began riding in Pennypack Park and various other locations in the city before settling on the land that Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club now sits on.
Sitting in a chair near the front gate at Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club, founder Ellis (El-Dog) Ferrell keeps a straight face as he yells to the group of teens in front of him to reclaim their focus. Two of the teens, El-Dog’s great-grandsons, stop running and sigh, but quickly resume their duties of unloading and stacking 3 weeks’ worth of hay before the impending rain. “Got to break their spirit,” he says through a slight smile.
It’s a seat and position that El-Dog, now 83, has taken for the past 40+ at the helm of this Philadelphia-based club, which bases its work around nurturing sometimes auctioned, sometimes donated horses, as well as the children who heed its calling.
As we begin to talk, a man and his small daughter walk through the large sliding wooden gate, which immediately signifies just how open and accessible this space really is to the community. It happens that this man was a member of the Club years ago. “It’s been a minute since I rode – I knew Ellis since I was a puppy. I don’t live in this city anymore, but I always come back. Always.” His daughter wanted to find the pony and see the rabbits. And El-Dog notes that there are 4, 5 Club kids-turned-adults sitting right down the street from where we are.
There’s likely no other club around that embraces its members so inclusively. So much so that, as El-Dog’s son Darrin notes, some of the rabbits and chickens and goats that roam the property arrived as donations, and his father decided that “well, yeah, we’ll take ‘em.”
The land on which Fletcher Street sits is not large. Roughly a neighborhood block in size, with a nearby triangular lot reserved for smaller rides, the Club is equipped with 13 (and counting) stables that Darrin, a construction worker who spent his teen years on this property, built himself using salvaged wood. Also nearby – a pavilion under which the rabbits and chickens live, chairs for those who need them, a cooler for water when someone works up a thirst. There are at least 3 cats who run the land but are no longer the hunters El-Dog once knew, post-spay and -neutering. “Much better at laying around these days.”
El-Dog grew up in Tallahassee, FL, with dreams of one day owning a horse. As a child, he was able to ride – and ride fast and freely – but a horse was the one thing his grandmother could not provide for him. So, post-graduation, he went to the local farm auction and bought one horse, then another…and ended up with 23 of them. He moved to Philadelphia and began riding in Pennypack Park and various other locations in the city before settling on the land that Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club now sits on.
The club essentially started itself. For El-Dog, taking care of and working with horses – his “pride and joy” – satiated an inherent affection for and appreciation of these creatures, but he soon realized that, as nearby children made their way into the stables and showed interest in working with him, it was an important opportunity to empower them and keep them occupied. There is no set schedule – kids come and go as they like, but those who develop a kinship with the horses do find their way back, and faithfully. There are usually about 10 in their program at any given time, a program which sometimes includes special events like camping trips where, last year, they worked with draft horses and learned how to harness/saddle.
El-Dog’s favorite horse was a thoroughbred named One-Eyed Dusty (there are actually several horses at the Club with just one eye). “Turns out Dusty was my best friend,” El Dog says, despite the fact that Dusty once bucked hard and threw him during a run in nearby Fairmount Park. “He and I would go out every morning at 6:30. If I got stressed, I’d just get on him and we’d go race out in the park, on the speedway. He was so fast. And when I said ‘time’s up,’ he’d stop and walk over to me. He was (like) my grandson.”
(Honorable mentions to Babbles, Lady, Rowdy, as well.)
We sat for nearly 2 hours, talking and reminiscing as El-Dog “recouped” from his solo drive to NJ to purchase much-needed hay. He and his son aspire to acquire more land for the Club, as what’s currently available doesn’t yield them much opportunity to grow. “The Club is becoming what we want it to be, but we’ve just got so much stuff,” Darrin adds.
What sits behind the gate, however, is something that time and technology can’t seem to hold a torch to. There is endless love and devotion here. And any person, horse, goat, cat, chicken, or goat lucky enough to make its way to Fletcher Street is absolutely welcome with open arms. And once there, it’s safe to say your membership is guaranteed, for life.
Support the Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club – visit their GoFundMe page.
El-Dog’s favorite horse was a thoroughbred named One-Eyed Dusty (there are actually several horses at the Club with just one eye). “Turns out Dusty was my best friend,” El Dog says, despite the fact that Dusty once bucked hard and threw him during a run in nearby Fairmount Park. “He and I would go out every morning at 6:30. If I got stressed, I’d just get on him and we’d go race out in the park, on the speedway. He was so fast. And when I said ‘time’s up,’ he’d stop and walk over to me. He was (like) my grandson.”
(Honorable mentions to Babbles, Lady, Rowdy, as well.)
We sat for nearly 2 hours, talking and reminiscing as El-Dog “recouped” from his solo drive to NJ to purchase much-needed hay. He and his son aspire to acquire more land for the Club, as what’s currently available doesn’t yield them much opportunity to grow. “The Club is becoming what we want it to be, but we’ve just got so much stuff,” Darrin adds.
What sits behind the gate, however, is something that time and technology can’t seem to hold a torch to. There is endless love and devotion here. And any person, horse, goat, cat, chicken, or goat lucky enough to make its way to Fletcher Street is absolutely welcome with open arms. And once there, it’s safe to say your membership is guaranteed, for life.
Support the Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club – visit their GoFundMe page.