This Land Is Your Land

I am, wholeheartedly and indefinitely, what they refer to on Tik Tok, Instagram, Twitter, and other social media platforms of the like, a “horse girl.” I also happen to be a very proud wearer of this title. 

Ultimately, being a horse girl changed my life, and the lives of my entire family, hopefully for generations to come.  

I adopted the title at age twelve, as an incredibly bubbly seventh grader, eager to devour her newest passion, a character trait that now at twenty-one, has landed me in credit card debt at JOANN fabrics, as well as making me the loving owner of a Target wicker basket full of clay, wax, and other such trinkets. My father knew of my desire to experience it all even at that age, and during the thick, warm days of August, he introduced me to the owner of a farm we regularly passed by as Elena, his daughter who wanted to learn how to ride.  

It’s been nine years since that first introduction between who I came to know as “Ginette”, owner of Been There Farm. In the time that has passed, I’ve competed summer after summer, bringing home ribbon after ribbon. I’ve gained both two, and four-legged friends. I’ve taken a dip in the local lake at 8 p.m....with my horse. I’ve experienced heartbreak and gut-wrenching pain over the loss of both loved ones within the community, and my own friendly giants. And while I cannot say that my experiences have differed so drastically from any other teen experiencing the trials and tribulations of growing up, I can say that in the past three years, my experience took a hard right…and then floored the gas.  

Along the ride (pun intended), my mom got involved and next thing I knew, she was combining her experience as C.E.O of a company designed to assist those with developmental disabilities, with her passion for such sentient creatures to create what is now known as Sharing Horses With Humans LLC. After we both experienced just what good this venture could do for the community, it wasn’t even a thought as we began our new journey. 

Here’s where the flooring the gas part comes in.  

We bought a property.

A seventy-five-acre farm situated in a part of New Jersey where no person of color has ever touched the land, besides the one-room schoolhouse on the edge of the cornfield that used to house Black schoolchildren.  

This is exactly why I wear the title of “horse girl” so brazenly. Being a horse girl has opened the door to generational abundance and wealth. Being a horse girl has opened the door to an entire community consisting of thousands and thousands of black individuals who embody exactly what it means to be a “Cowboy”. Being a “horse girl” has turned into a lifelong passion leading me to much more than I could have ever imagined in almost every single facet of my life.  

So, yeah. Take it or leave it, I am a horse girl, and I wouldn't change it for a thing.