Ebony Horsewomen Inc. brings horses and healing to inner-city youth

When racist taunts made Patricia Kelly’s childhood painful, she found relief in a saddle.

Her family was the third Black family in a predominantly white neighborhood in Hartford, Connecticut. They were welcomed with epithets, not potlucks.

But when a Jewish grocer and Holocaust survivor took Kelly aside and let her ride his horse, it helped her cope. Horseback riding became her passion – and her power.

Today, Patricia Kelly continues to bring that passion and power to inner-city youths in Hartford through her organization, Ebony Horsewomen Inc., now in its 37th year.

Kelly founded the organization in 1984 after she and a group of friends decided they wanted to share the feelings of peace that horseback riding brought. They wanted to focus on Black children and on children living in urban areas without nearby woods and trails, let alone horses.

“We were riding through the projects and the kids gathered around us,” Kelly told me, for a 2019 article for The Undefeated. “One of them asked, ‘Is that a horse?’ and I said, ‘Yes.’”

“He turned to the other kids and said, ‘See, I told you.’”

“I said, ‘Oh, my, we have to do something about this…’”

That something has been a nonprofit that serves around 300 children annually in the Hartford area, largely by using horses as a route to teaching math, science and other academics; to compete in equestrian contests; and, perhaps most consequentially, to help them deal with poverty and trauma through equine-assisted therapy and equine-assisted psychotherapy.

That therapy is, in many ways, the crown jewel of the organization. It’s done at Ebony Horsewomen Equestrian and Therapeutic Center in Hartford’s Keney Park – which is billed as a place to “Ride, Relax and Connect with Nature.”

Equine-assisted therapy, according to Kelly, is pretty much anything done with a horse – riding the horse, brushing the horse, feeding the horse – that provides a sense of calmness and grounding. 

Equine-assisted psychotherapy is more intense: It requires a licensed psychotherapist in using horses to help youths and others work through the roots of trauma and anger.

“She [Kelly] established it as an outlet for young people,” said Melita Arms, who, in a video, lauded her experience working with the center as part of her social work degree program at the University of St. Joseph in West Hartford.

“We teach them how to pick out their horse, and they learn to care for the horse,” Arns continued.

Said James Kratzke, who also studied at the center as part of his social work degree program at St. Joseph: “I’ve even had kids say: ‘I’ve learned more about my anger issues from working with a certain horse, because the horse had anger issues.”

Equine Benefits

It’s not difficult to see how exposing youths to horses and, by extension, nature, is healing and healthy.

According to the website, Horse Nation, horseback riding is not only good exercise for youths, but also a way to reduce anxiety, develop patience and social skills, and learn to respect animals and nature.

But, as Kelly learned more than three decades ago, Black children and children of color had little access to experiencing the benefits of horseback riding not only because of the expense of owning or riding a horse, but because stables and areas to ride were often far away from their urban environs.

That’s when she set out to bring the joy and the benefits of horseback riding and equine appreciation to youths who, unlike her, likely wouldn’t be introduced to it by a kindly neighbor.

Kelly was honored as a CNN Hero in 2014 for her work with youth. Now in her early 70s, it’s a passion that keeps her going — and one that ensures that she won’t be riding off into the sunset anytime soon.

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