Federation of Black Cowboys

Deep in the heart of Queens, the Federation of Black Cowboys keeps some 40 horses at Cedar Lane Stables. Viewing the stark contrast of the stables and rodeo ring with the Howard Beach tract development, it is hard to imagine finding a comparable situation anywhere else in New York City, but somehow it seems to make sense. And the cowboys are glad they have this space.

The Cedar Lane Stables utilize a portion of about 25 acres of city-owned land with a corral the size of a football field, a 50-year-old barn (held over from the land's farm days), as well as a portable holding office for the federation. Behind the office is Debbie's Reins and Things, a tiny store selling horse tackle and Western fashions. The stables and horse stalls are being upgraded, but for some years were dilapidated and structurally questionable. The horses held within are by contrast extremely well groomed, healthy, and, even in the middle of a January cold spell, happy.

While the federation owns the majority of the horses, a few are held over from the stables before the cowboys took them over in 1998, when they won an open-bid lease from the NYC Parks Department. The stables have what is known as "rough board," which means that the horses are given a place to stay but must be fed and groomed by their owners. This means that cowboys visit their horses once or twice daily.

The federation was formed in 1994 by a group of like-minded horse riders, most of whom were members of another (still extant) organization, the Black Cowboy Association of Brooklyn. While the Black Cowboys of Brooklyn had a primarily social and fraternal function, the federation lists community service and youth involvement as its primary goals. Application for membership is open to all, but each application is reviewed with an eye to character and a record of community service. With regard to cowboy activity, each applicant must at least have access to a horse and, as cowboy Lenard Herbert slyly adds, "You gotta have a cowboy hat." Although the federation's name is gender-specific, membership is open to women, who ride as the Cedar Lane Jewels.

See the cowboys on video [1]

The cowboys ride publicly at a variety of high-profile parades and marches, including the African American Day Parade in Harlem and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and hold semi-annual rodeos that can draw over 5,000 people. The federation's primary activity, however, is working with "inner-city youth," teaching them the fundamentals of horsemanship and the history of black cowboys in the American West. While the last part of their mission may sound like an obligatory footnote, the cowboys show a real knowledge of this history and a willingness to look at it with a critical eye. Warren Small, a court officer and the cowboys' de facto spokesman, spoke of both the glories of the West and the tortured, complicated relationship that black cowboys had with Native Americans, "Black cowboys were freed slaves and had much in common with Native Americans. We worked together but were also adversaries; it was a paradox because the black cowboys, like other cowboys, were fundamentally freedom-loving people and wanted the same things that other Americans had, even when that came at a cost to other groups." The cowboys have now collaborated on a joint pow-wow/rodeo with members of the Cherokee nation.

As with everything that is leased and not owned in New York, the future of the Federation of Black Cowboys and the stables cannot be certain. The federation's long-term goal would be the construction of a museum dedicated to the history of black cowboys in the American West, a professional-quality riding facility, and classroom space. In January 2003, though, the cowboys were out on South Conduit Avenue and Linden Boulevard, wearing chaps and sandwich-board signs that proclaimed "Help save our barn," by which they meant their entire stables. At the time, the cowboys owed the city $60,000 in back rent. The financial disagreement, though somewhat unclear, was certainly serious, but the cowboys seemed confident that the matter would be resolved, as it was.

Of more serious concern was the approaching renewal in 2007 of the lease with the Parks Department, which has owned the land since 1938. The cowboys are not the most popular neighbors in Howard Beach, an area that, Herbert says delicately, "is not too partial to diversity." Complaints about the horses' odors and the stables' appearance are common. Nearby privately held stables are turning into two-story developments and, despite the Parks Department's ownership of the land, the decommissioning of the stables did not seem too remote a possibility. While cowboys were meant to roam, it's hard to imagine the federation setting up shop anywhere else in the city. [Editor's note: as of January 2007, the federation signed a renewal lease with the Parks Department and will continue their activities at Cedar Lane Stables.]

Sources:

Burke, Kerry (Columbia News Service). "Brooklyn's Black Cowboys Ride an Urban Range." March 13, 2002.

Estep, Maggie. "Even Cowboys Get the Blues." Village Voice. June 11, 2002.

Federation of Black Cowboys. http://www.federationofblackcowboys.com [2].

Holley, Brandon. "The Wild, Wild East." Time Out New York. November 6-13, 1997.

Interview with Lenard Herbert, January 12, 2003.

Interview with Warren Small, January 12, 2003.

New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Cedar Lane Stables Historical Sign.

Ruhling, Nancy A. "Urban Cowboys." New York Newsday. June 1, 2001.

Tucker, Eric (Associated Press). "Black Cowboys Hit the Trail in New York." January 7, 2003.

Vanden Brook, Tom. "Black Cowboys Pass on Love of Horses to Schoolchildren." October 5, 2003.