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The Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization devoted to inner-city horsemanship in north Philadelphia. Part of a century-long tradition of black urban cowboys and horsemanship in Philadelphia, local horsemen maintain and care for horses, and teach neighborhood youth to do so, while encouraging academic excellence and providing positive ways to spend their leisure time outdoors. The nonprofit organization has struggled to find funding and a place to operate. In 2015, it acquired federal nonprofit status and the title deeds for a small lot.〔Dana DiFilippo, "New life for an old 'ghetto cowboys' club." Philadelphia Daily News, May 19, 2015. http://articles.philly.com/2015-05-19/news/62328642_1_vacant-lot-big-cleanup-club#disqus_thread〕 The horses used in the program are usually purchased at a livestock auction in New Holland, Pennsylvania, giving a second chance to animals that would likely otherwise be killed.〔Tim Whitaker, "Urban Cowboys." Philadelphia Weekly, August 11, 2004. http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/news-and-opinion/urban_cowboys-38386494.html〕 The Fletcher Street club stables are in the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood of north Philadelphia, on the edge of Fairmount Park. Informal stables exist throughout North and West Philadelphia and in Cobbs Creek Park, on private and abandoned city land.〔Sanjiv Bhattacharya, "Red riding hood." Telegraph. 17 Feb 2007. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3663231/Red-riding-hood.html〕 The horses are ridden throughout the city's streets and parks, and regular races are held on an open strip of Fairmount Park called the Speedway. Experienced horsemen and youth in the area care for the horses, and the Fletcher Street club horses receive additional care from a prominent area veterinarian.〔"Urban Cowboys Come to Devon." Main Line Times, May 21, 2008.〕 The experienced horsemen often ride these horses past the recreational field on 15th street known as 'The Oval'. It is here that the horses catch the attention of many Temple University Diamond Band members. One organized group is the Black Cowboys Association, which Philadelphia Weekly called "a Philadelphia institution that offers kids in the city's toughest neighborhoods the chance to claim a path out of the 'hood on horseback."〔 Another formal horsemanship program for local teenagers is Work to Ride, based at Chamounix Equestrian Stables in Fairmount Park. ==History== In the late 2000s, the city government razed some of the stables and the club house, ostensibly to redevelop the land. At the time, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals publicly investigated allegations by city officials that the horses were being mistreated. The allegations proved baseless.〔James Nye, "The Wire meets the Wild West: Urban cowboys tackle gang violence and drugs of inner-city America." Daily Mail, 28 July 2012. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2180474/Philadelphias-Fletcher-Street-Urban-cowboys-tackle-gang-violence-drugs-inner-city-America.html〕 However, with the land razed and redevelopment progressing, many horses had to be moved. In the subsequent decade, a few dozen horses have remained.〔Sarah Nassauer, "In the Inner City Of Philadelphia, Horsey Set Bridles: Traditional Black Stables Get Booted, as Government And Developers Encroach." Wall Street Journal, September 25, 2007. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119067100738737868.html〕 In 2009, the club planned to bring more formal mentoring and tutoring elements into its programs,〔Suzanne Bush, "Struggling to Keep Hope Alive in an Urban Stable." Pennsylvania Equestrian, 2009. http://www.pennsylvaniaequestrian.com/news/urban-stable.php〕 although tight budgets made this difficult. On Halloween of that year, the program held a benefit event at the First District Plaza in Philadelphia, a collaboration between local fishermen (who also run a youth program), local churches, the urban cowboys themselves, and the local business association, Strawberry Mansion SMART Business Association.〔"First Annual Horseman & Fisherman Youth Benefit." PlanPhilly website, run by PennPraxis. http://planphilly.com/event/first-annual-horseman-fisherman-youth-benefit〕 As of 2014, the club is led by Ellis Ferrill and supported by other local horsemen and community members.〔"Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club Cooperative, Inc." Business listing as PA Non-Profit Cooperative Corporation, Pennsylvania Department of State, accessed December 15, 2009. https://www.corporations.state.pa.us/corp/soskb/Corp.asp?2716726〕 For years, the Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club was a registered nonprofit in Pennsylvania.〔 Friends of Fletcher Street, a supporting organization, was also under the fiscal sponsorship of MAP Holistic Community Development, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. As of 2015, the Club was a recognized federal nonprofit organization with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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