Chicago may not be the first place that comes to mind when you think of rodeos, but the area has a rich history of Black cowboys and horsemanship that endures today.

Buffalo Bill and his 450-member “Congress of Rough Riders of the World” introduced the city to cowboys of color during the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893 and performed to sellout crowds, according to the BBC.

And children living in Chicago learned about horsemanship in the 1950s through Thyrl Latting, often considered Chicago’s original Black cowboy. Latting competed in rodeos across the country before launching the Thyrl Latting Rodeo Spectacular, a Black cowboy-centered rodeo, in Chicago in 1964.

Horses were common on the city’s streets in the first half of the 20th century. The animals could even be rented on more than 17 miles of bridle paths until the 1950s, when car traffic increased, according to the BBC.

Filmmaker Charles Perry’s documentary The Black Cowboy, currently in post-production, emphasizes the role Black people played in shaping the U.S. — including by helping take care of cattle, horses and other animals wherever their labor was needed.

And the values cowboys hold are the same regardless of where they live, Perry said.

“A cowboy’s a cowboy no matter [where you are],” Perry recently told WBEZ’S Reset. “The love of horses, the love of animals, the outdoors, the riding that’s involved — that part of nature that’s in some of us humans, you know, that part will not go away, especially the connection between horses and people.”

On the South Side of Chicago, the Broken Arrow Riding Club helps keep cowboy culture alive by teaching horsemanship to people of all ages, ethnic backgrounds and physical abilities. The riding club hosts its annual Speed and Action Rodeo and Horse Show, which includes competitions in racing, relays, bareback riding and more.

Some participants have been with the riding club for decades creating a community around riding horses in Chicago.

And being a cowboy isn’t just a man’s game. 

Amber Leslie has been a member of the Broken Arrow Riding Club for about two years and is a bonafide Chicago cowgirl.

Leslie told Reset she got involved after a friend who had a horse told her she should stop by to watch a lesson at the club.

“I observed, I got on the horse and I have been on them ever since,” said Leslie, who recently got her first horse, named Cayenne after the pepper.

Where do people keep horses in such an urban area like Chicago? Most people keep them in the outskirts of the city, especially south suburbs like Chicago Heights and Sauk Village, Leslie said.

“It’s a small community, but we’re growing every single year,” she added.

While Leslie only recently became interested in horseback riding, some others participating in this year’s rodeo said they’ve been interested in horses since they were children.

Korey Flowers, a cowboy from Auburn Gresham, said he was maybe 8 years old when he first got on a horse.

“My dad, he put me on my first horse doing barrel racing … and got the hang of it, got into animals such as calf roping and that type of [rodeo] events,” Flowers said.

The community he found at Broken Arrow Riding Club helped Flowers learn more than just horsemanship, he told Reset, calling the founder of the club a mentor.

“[I learned] being a better man for myself because, you know, staying off the streets,” Flowers said.

The owner, known only as Murdock, said he started teaching horsemanship because he felt like he needed to give back to the community.

Some of his students have gone on to do more advanced activities, such as bull riding.

“I tell people first you need to learn how to ride a horse,” Murdock said. “And once you learn how to ride a horse you can go from there, and that’s what they’ve done. I encouraged them and they look up to me like an uncle or dad or something … makes me feel like a real cool guy.”

Murdock’s work has taught him to be more patient with people. He said at one point he used to get frustrated because his students weren’t following his steps or weren’t focused. But, he said, he would rather have his students get upset at him for yelling than get hurt.

Devyn Branscomb, a cowboy from Roseland who started riding at 4 years old after his father first taught him, has been learning under Murdock on and off for about 12 years. He now owns a company that transports horses between states, but the competition aspect of horsemanship remains his true passion.

“It builds you how to be a team leader,” Branscomb said. “If someone messes up you don’t get mad at him because it’s the horse and it’s them at the same time. It’s hard for human beings to take a wild animal that was once free and didn’t have any responsibilities, that didn’t have any boundaries. … We all need everybody out there — we’re a team.”

Branscomb added that being a cowboy has taught him how to be open around people and how to stay committed.

Murdock’s vision for the future of the riding club is to have a stable and lessons in the city so children who can’t make it out can have the same opportunities as those from the suburbs.

Though that goal to build an equestrian center in the city hasn’t happened yet, the riding club does have other events for those who can make it out.

Next up: the Highnoon Ride and Picnic, a free event held on the last Saturday of July every year. Hundreds will walk and ride their horses throughout Chicago streets — so don’t be surprised if you see more than bikes, cars and pedestrians on the road next month.

Bianca Cseke is a digital producer at WBEZ.

Meha Ahmad is the senior producer of WBEZ’s Reset. You can follow her on Twitter @Meha.