“We Can Build a More Inclusive Community”

Alexa Rahman, a 20-year-old student at Ithaca College in Ithaca, N.Y., says riding Morgans has given her a sense of confidence, responsibility, and lifelong friendships. Now she’s drawing on those as she looks for ways to foster community both in and out of the sport.

by Alexa Rahman

I started riding when I was 3 years old. It was a birthday present, and the barn near my house just happened to be a Morgan barn. I’ve been riding Morgans ever since, although I hope to also show Saddlebreds this year.

I think my favorite thing about Morgans is their personalities. They’re all so different, which is super fun. But I also love how versatile they are. They do a bunch of different things, and they’re usually pretty good at all of them. That’s always impressed me, and it’s fun getting to explore all their abilities and talents, especially with one of my horses, Indian Creek Nathan Hale ("Nate"), who is here in Ithaca with me. Before I got him, Nate was a driving horse and then a hunter. He was a hunter when I got him, and I did a lot of equitation with him, but he didn’t love showing, so I gave

him a little break for a while so he could just live outside and do trail riding and fun stuff. Now we’re going to try dressage.

I have a lot of different interests that I like to explore, too. I’ve been told a lot of times that I can’t pursue my other interests if I want to be a horse trainer, which is kind of frustrating. I’m like, ‘Yes, I can. Watch me do it.’ I’ve been trying to find a bridge between my interests, which include music and law, and also diversity, equity, and inclusion. I have been able to find bridges so far, especially with law.

Being around horses has given me a few things. The most important one probably is confidence. When I was younger, I was really, really shy, I did not talk in class at all.

Having to communicate with my trainers and other competitors, and with my horse, meant I really had to learn to speak up. I had to gain confidence in myself in order to show and to have the confidence of my horses.

Another thing horses have taught me is responsibility. I always had to have that sense of responsibility, because I had to take care of the horses.

Life with horses has taught me a lot about sportsmanship, as well, and it’s given me so many lifelong friendships. Over the years through horses, I’ve met people from all over the country who I’ve formed concrete partnerships with, and I’ve also had so many learning experiences.

As I’ve gotten older, the fact that I am a Black woman started to play more of a role in my equestrian life, especially as I became more confident and outspoken. It definitely has affected some of my relationships within the horse industry, because I have different opinions from a lot of other people. When I’ve been outspoken about certain things, some people have moved away from that conversation, but I do think it’s an important conversation to have.

I think it’s important for the broader equestrian community to understand that the sport can be isolating at times. While we obviously all share the interest in and love for horses, we don’t share each other’s identities, and sometimes that can be really difficult. There are certain struggles we go through just based on how we look or where we’re from, being seen as a lot different from others and sometimes judged differently, too — it can affect a lot of things in our lives, and sometimes there isn’t anyone to talk to.

That lack of a larger community in the horse world has been difficult for me, because there are a lot of things that some people just can’t understand, but I have found quite a few people who also are very supportive and who support diversity, equity, and inclusion, which has been great. All of this has helped me figure out who I can trust and who my supporters are. To people who want to be allies, I would say that I’d rather have people reach out to me and ask, “How can I help? How are you doing?” than to just ignore a situation or take some action without asking first. I think it’s helpful to say, “I’m here. How can I help? What can I do to be a better ally and to uplift this community?”

I’ve found quite a few allies, especially here in my area in upstate New York. And I have

found support within the Black community, as well, from people I’ve met from different parts of the country who I know I can reach out to if I ever need to ask a question, need advice, or want to ask for help.

After a long year of getting in a lot of arguments and focusing on oppression of marginalized communities, I realized that that is just absolutely exhausting and that it’s more beneficial to focus on the liberation of those communities.

I believe equestrians can build a more inclusive community. Personally, I’m really hoping to build some kind of committee, at least within the Morgan world, that focuses on diversity, so we can start to foster that community a little bit more. I’d love to help create better scholarships in the sport for diversity, equity, and inclusion and potentially some awards for people in those marginalized communities and for their allies.

To me, a real equestrian is someone who loves horses, who is engaged with them in some way. It doesn’t have to be riding. I know people who drive or have horses that other people ride. But they are engaged with horses. To me, that’s really what an equestrian is.

To the young Black girl who is thinking, “Oh, I love horses, and I want to ride,” I would say, “Definitely do it!” It can be tough, but find the people you can trust and talk to. That’s one of my goals: to foster a sense of community. And I hope other people will want to join that, as well.

Photos: Shane Shiflet Photography