Black In The Saddle

Jamon Turner is back on Black in the Saddle three years after his first appearance and Just Believe has grown well past where it started. What began as half-day and full-day horsemanship camps is now a full youth development pipeline: a Western Playgrounds program that pulls in welders, fabricators, cattlemen, and cryotherapy coaches alongside horse trainers, an intern program where kids manage and pay other kids, and a colt-starting curriculum that teaches gun safety, critical thinking, and horsemanship ethics side by side. This episode is a masterclass in running a mission-driven organization without burning yourself out funding it. Jamon breaks down the actual math of nonprofit horse programs, why leasing horses will bankrupt you, and gets honest about what it takes to bring on coaches and clinicians who have to see the vision of the program. The technical skills are great, but Jamon creates ways for students to practice leadership, community economics and team building. Starting with just a stock trailer in a small Texas town, Just Believe has evolve so much since our first conversation. I think you'll enjoy hearing just what the process requires. The conversation closes with a preview of what Jamon's bringing to the BITS Kinship Conference this November in North Carolina and why he said yes to it. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like and subscribe! It helps get the podcast out to new listeners. I mean, while you're at it you should share it with a friend! I'm sure they'll enjoy this episode as much as you did. Join Us at Kinship Conference Mark your calendar: November 6–7, 2026 in Greensboro, NC. Kinship is a two-day gathering for Black horse folks across every discipline. The FIRST event of its kind, Kinship is built on connection, mentorship, skill-sharing, and honoring the stories that shaped us. If you're looking for real community and real pathways forward in the horse industry, this is where you belong. ✨ Grab your ticket(s) TODAY: https://www.blkinthesaddle.com/kinship Let's Keep in Touch: Support the podcast on Patreon→ @blackinthesaddle Join the newsletter to be the first to know EVERYTHING BITS : https://blkinthesaddle.kit.com/3e1170... Follow Black In the Saddle on Instagram @blkinthesaddle Follow Abriana on Instagram @theabrianaj Advertising Disclosure Some links or mentions in this episode may be promotional or include affiliate partnerships. We only share what aligns with the values of Black in the Saddle and serves our community.

Join me as I sit with my good friend and horse girl sister, Natasha Gordon, for an unfiltered catch-up on ALL THE THINGS. Natasha walks us through buying her first horse, how she landed on her mare Tessa after nearly buying three other horses, refurbishing a $700 trailer from scratch, hauling Tessa twelve hours from Charlotte to Toledo after her grandmother's passing, and the six-month hoof injury that tested (and ultimately built) the trust between them. Natasha traces her path from a childhood in a mostly white Ohio town, where she was told horses weren't for her, to discovering Compton Cowboys in San Diego and realizing there was an entire community of Black and brown riders she never knew existed. We talk about what it means to finally belong somewhere, and what they're each building next: land, education, and space for kids who never got the access they did. In this episode: - Finding her heart horse - Refurbishing a $700 trailer and learning to haul solo - The hoof injury that nearly ended Tessa's riding career - Building community, land, and legacy for the next generation - Natasha's creativity practice Connect with Natasha: @tashas.belle - or- TikTok and Instagram and search "Tasha Belle" If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like and subscribe! It helps get the podcast out to new listeners. I mean, while you're at it you should share it with a friend! I'm sure they'll enjoy this episode as much as you did. Join Us at Kinship Conference Mark your calendar: November 6–7, 2026 in Greensboro, NC. Kinship is a two-day gathering for Black horse folks across every discipline. The FIRST event of its kind, Kinship is built on connection, mentorship, skill-sharing, and honoring the stories that shaped us. If you're looking for real community and real pathways forward in the horse industry, this is where you belong. ✨ Grab your ticket(s) TODAY: https://www.blkinthesaddle.com/kinship Let's Keep in Touch: Support the podcast on Patreon→ @blackinthesaddle Join the newsletter to be the first to know EVERYTHING BITS : https://blkinthesaddle.kit.com/3e11701aaf Follow Black In the Saddle on Instagram @blkinthesaddle Follow Abriana on Instagram @theabrianaj Advertising Disclosure Some links or mentions in this episode may be promotional or include affiliate partnerships. We only share what aligns with the values of Black in the Saddle and serves our community.

Dr. Letitia Mason has spent over two decades living in two worlds most people assume don't touch: elite academic admissions leadership and a horse program she and her mother ran out of High Point, North Carolina for 25 years. In this conversation, she traces it all the way back to a conversation with her grandfather about "a horse of a different color," through the founding of the HUD-funded Eagle Mounted Scholars Inner City Youth Initiative in 1982, into her PhD research on leadership self-efficacy, and finally back to the barn where she's now applying the very model she built in academia to youth equine work at Green Pastures Still Waters Barn. In this episode we cover why she kept her horse life separate from her career for decades, the outcomes her program produced (zero dropouts, zero teen pregnancies, 25 years of kids going on to college or a trade), the story behind the Mason Leadership Self-Efficacy Model, and a real conversation about wild horse roundups, BLM policy, and why the internet's outrage cycle rarely tells the whole story. Dr. Mason is speaking at the Kinship Conference this November. In this episode: The origin story behind Eagle Mounted Scholars and its 25-year run Building the Mason Leadership Self-Efficacy Model from lived observation, not a lab Why she hid her horse work from her academic colleagues for most of her career What she's looking forward to sharing at the Kinship Conference

Samir Geiger didn't grow up around horses. He grew up in the Bronx watching the Harlem parade go by, catching a glimpse of Black cowboys and cowgirls at the tail end of it, and soaking up Westerns at his grandparents' house. That glimpse turned into Be Worthy Horsemanship, a program built for kids in the New York and New Jersey school systems who'd never so much as touched a horse and in some cases, don't see one for the first four weeks of the program on purpose. In this conversation, Samir walks through the injury that changed how he approaches horsemanship, the "goldfish club" icebreaker he uses to get kids thinking differently before they ever meet a horse, and the frameworks that turn a riding lesson into a lesson in patience, focus, and self-trust. He talks about building relationships with riding academies, running a roping clinic in the heart of Newark, and what it means for a kid to watch a Black man teach him how to read a horse. He's speaking at the Kinship Conference in November, and this episode is just a glimpse of what he's bringing. Mentioned in this episode: Be Worthy Horsemanship 101 Federation of Black Cowboys (Keisha Mars) Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club Jersey High School Rodeo Tom and Bill Dorrance, Ray Hunt, Buck Brannaman

Ifa Simmonds is back on the podcast after four years. That's a long time. When he was last on the podcast, he was training clients in a cold New Jersey barn and had just launched Equestrian Fitness Academy. Today he's studying equestrian sport science at Hartpury University in England, expanding his business internationally, and preparing to bring his work to the Kinship Conference this November. In this conversation, we talk about what it took to leave everything behind and go back to school across the world, not just logistically, but mentally. Ifa gets into what entering equestrian culture as an outsider taught him about asking questions no one else is asking, and what it's been like to find community with Black equestrians in the UK through an organization called Cool Ridings. We also get into what he's looking forward to at Kinship, what he wants attendees to walk away from his session feeling, and the moment at the end of the episode when he pulls out a note he's kept on his desk since listening back to their first conversation. Topics covered: Returning to school after 10+ years and why he had to go to England to do it Entering the equestrian industry without growing up in it, and what fresh eyes reveal Rider fitness vs. horse fitness: why the industry consistently prioritizes one over the other Cool Ridings UK and Lydia Haywood's work building Black equestrian community in England Bringing it all to the Kinship Conference, the morning wellness session and what he's most excited about Find Ifa: www.ifafit.com www.instagram.com/ifafit If you enjoyed this episode, take a quick second and leave us a 5 star review! It helps get the podcast out to new listeners. I mean, while you're at it you should share it with a friend! I'm sure they'll enjoy this episode as much as you did. Join us for the Kinship Conference: blkinthesaddle.com/kinship Mark your calendar: November 6–7, 2026 in Greensboro, NC. Let's Keep in Touch: Join the newsletter to be the first to know EVERYTHING BITS Follow Black In the Saddle on Instagram Follow Abriana on Instagram Subscribe to BITS on Youtube Advertising Disclosure Some links or mentions in this episode may be promotional or include affiliate partnerships. We only share what aligns with the values of Black in the Saddle and serves our community.