Erin Brown, the Concrete Cowgirl, on one of Philadelphia’s most iconic streets. Photo by Ricky Codio of The Mannequin Factory.
Erin Brown’s love of horses has taken her far, but not far from home. She’s a Philly girl, with all the “baggage” Philly girls carry. Proudly. She’s loyal to her friends, kind to horses, not afraid to speak her mind and always ready help others. On top of all that, there’s the movie thing. Concrete Cowboy? The movie filmed last year in Philadelphia, starring Idris Elba. “During the movie I was a consultant. You may see me in a couple of scenes as an extra and as a stunt double; you may have to just figure out which one is Erin. Riding,” she laughs. It turns out, she’s also modest.
Before Hollywood came knocking at the door of Philadelphia’s internationally famous urban riding scene, before she became a top competitive rider, before she taught riding, Brown was a wide-eyed little girl, visiting an exotic farm in the city.
She was just six years old when her father introduced her to Fletcher Street Stables. It was there that Brown first started riding, and where even in her little-kid eyes, she recognized something profound. “My dad took me by there one day—there were horses, cats and chickens.” And something else. “It was history right there.” She cherishes that history, carries it with her and is dedicated to protecting and preserving it. In fact, Fletcher Street, in the Strawberry Mansion section of the city, has been home to riders and stables for more than 100 years.
In 2017, the Fletcher Street Stables were even showcased in an art exhibition at the Barnes Foundation. Algerian-born French artist Mohamed Bourouissa had seen a book of photos—in Paris!—of the Fletcher Street riders and was so inspired that he moved to Strawberry Mansion for almost a year, to live near and get to know the people who ride and care for the horses of Fletcher Street. For months he photographed, rode with and inspired local artists to help celebrate the stables. Their work was shown along with Bourouissa’s at the Barnes.
From Fletcher Street to Chamounix
As she became a more competitive rider, Brown moved to Monastery Stables on Kitchens Lane in the Mount Airy section of the city. Soon after, she moved on and boarded and rode at Chamounix Stables, home to the nationally recognized Work to Ride program where disadvantaged urban youth learn to ride and to compete in equestrian sports, such as polo. “When I was 19, I went back to managing Fletcher Street, and also around that time I was a riding instructor at Work to Ride and ran the program for new attendees.”
Now 36, Brown regards the network of urban stables in Philadelphia as an important avenue for young people who have the potential to be great equestrians, but who lack access to the suburban equestrian centers that receive far more attention.
A Friendship, an Opportunity, then Tragedy
At Fletcher Street Stables, Brown met Eric Miller, whose passion in life was horses. According to Miller’s sister Elise Bey, he kept horses and gave neighborhood kids the opportunity to ride and enjoy horses. “To give them an escape from the everyday life in an urban neighborhood,” she told ABC News. Miller was, according to people who knew him, a kind, funny and generous man. Brown says that Miller kept his horses at Fletcher Street, and they became good friends.
Miller had a troubled past, but Brown said he got involved with a project that might have changed everything for him. Ricky Staub, the founder of Neighborhood Film Company and co-owner Dan Walser got to know Miller while they were developing a movie, Concrete Cowboy, about Fletcher Street Stables. The larger themes of the movie are based on Greg Neri’s book, Ghetto Cowboy. But in Miller the producers found a real-life person who could give the ideas in the book dimension. “He helped the producers write the movie,” Brown says. “The producers went off a lot of his story, and they became good friends.” Through Miller, Brown met Staub and Walser.
“Fast forward to a month or so before they started filming,” she says, “my friend got killed. He was shot up. He never got to see the movie come into being.”
Concrete Cowboy, it turns out, became much more than a movie. Staub, Walser and Staci Hagenbaugh, the film’s location manager, embraced the history of Fletcher Street Stables and dedicated themselves to protecting its future. “The producers knew my involvement with Eric. They started Philadelphia Urban Riding Academy (PURA),” Brown says. They wanted a formal organization which could continue to serve the community and grow with it. “Because Fletcher Street has never been an actual organization,” she says, “the producers wondered what they could do to keep this amazing thing going. Once Eric was killed, they asked if I would step up, and I said ‘of course!’”
They set it up as a non-profit and are looking for a permanent home in Philadelphia. “The backyards (where the urban stables had existed) have been gentrified,” she explains. “Philadelphia Urban Riding Academy (www.thepura.org) is an extension—an outgrowth of the original Fletcher Street Stables. It was just starting as they were creating the movie. Ultimately, it’s to carry on the legacy of the Philadelphia urban cowboys.”
Joining a Larger Conversation
Brown says that over the years a lot of people have profited from the stories and history of Fletcher Street Stables. “A lot of times people have come through Fletcher Street,” she says. “Different people who want to tell a story. They pay you and you never hear from them again. But Ricky, Dan and Staci really care. They’re on my executive board (at PURA). They’re friends, family, in it for the long haul.” And there are others, from outside Philadelphia who have become partners.
Missy Clark, one of the nation’s top equitation coaches, is co-owner with her husband John Brennan of North Run, an elite training and boarding facility in Warren, VT and Wellington, FL. Clark encouraged Brown to get involved with the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF). “She opened the door for me to get involved with the USEF External Thought Leaders Program,” aimed at fulfilling the USEF Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Action Plan. The goal, according to the USEF website, is to “ensure a welcoming environment for people from under-represented and under-served communities and evolve US Equestrian’s policies and practices to create a more inclusive sport for all participants and fans.”
With Clark, Brown established a program called “Concrete to Show Jumping.” She says it’s a way to “give children in the inner city the chance to see what life is like on the Grand Prix circuit. We thought the title was catchy, because I’m the Concrete Cowgirl.”
A Unique, Life-changing Experience
Brown says they’re currently working with the City of Philadelphia for a permanent home for PURA. “We want a location that will be ours, that we can continue to bring back what Fletcher Street was for me growing up and for generations before me and after me.” Nothing final yet, but she says it will likely be in West Philadelphia. “We still have to go through a few little hurdles.”
She says the movie itself was an amazing experience. “Never in my life could I have imagined being around these celebrities whom I’ve watched on TV and in movies. They were interacting and talking with us just like we were all friends.” She says she was on the set every day during filming. “And then I saw the movie in its entirety a month ago. Actually watching it—they did an amazing job of telling Eric’s story.” She thought a moment about her friend’s violent death. “It was such a huge loss for us all. They (Staub, Walser and Hagenbaugh) became really good friends with Eric.”
There’s an incredible opportunity that came out of the tragedy and loss, an opportunity whose implications would likely have thrilled Eric Miller. Brown, the Philly girl, the Concrete Cowgirl knows that it will take grit and determination to turn PURA into a fitting tribute to the Fletcher Street legacy. She looks forward to the many young people who will be inspired by all that PURA will offer, and believes that now is the time and Philadelphia is the place to make an enormous difference. “Someone can tell you a million times ‘no,’ but there is that one ‘yes,’” she says. “If it’s in your heart, you go for it.”
Concrete Cowboy had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 13, 2020. It’s available now to watch on Amazon Prime.