Black In The Saddle

Black people have worked with horses for thousands of years. Despite their erasure from historical text, their legacy lives on across disciplines, continents, and cultures. Black In The Saddle podcast explores this continued passion, nuanced culture, and diverse lifestyle as Black horsemen and horsewomen continue to thrive today.

Black In The Saddle is a society podcast hosted by Abriana Johnson, with 124 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Abriana Johnson hosts Black In The Saddle, a society show with 124 episodes published.

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  Episode #11

  Belonging to Yourself in the Horse World with Preshuslee Thompson

  Oct 2, 202652 minS9

  Preshuslee Thompson came to horses with no background, no gear budget, and no one in the barn who looked like her. Six years later she's an equine-assisted psychotherapist who can name the shift from calling herself "green" to handling horses with confidence and supporting clients thorough that same transition. Abriana and Preshuslee met at a HERD Institute conference, and this conversation picks up where her session left off. She walks through her work as a clinical and occupational social worker, her path from implicit bias research to trauma-informed care, and the session with two mares, Heidi and Joy, that finally let her answer one question honestly. They also dig into cultural humility, who gets credit for experiential knowledge, and why belonging to yourself is how you belong anywhere, including in a horse world that doesn't always make room. Preshuslee is speaking at the Kinship Conference, November 6–7 in Greensboro, North Carolina. Mentioned in this episode HERD Institute and Dr. Veronica Lac Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity EAGALA model of equine-assisted psychotherapy Cultural humility framework Kinship Conference, November 6–7, 2026, Greensboro, NC Connect with Preshuslee Thompson on LinkedIn and with Preseli Equity Consulting Group 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.

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  Episode #10

  Gymnastics on Horseback with Mikhail Proctor

  Sep 25, 202659 minS9

  At five years old, Mikhail Proctor went for one pony ride at a fair and spent the rest of the day brushing horses and asking questions. Nobody in his family rode, so he found his own way in, cleaning stalls while friends took lessons and copying what he saw once the owners let him ride. That do-it-yourself grit carried him through show jumping, into equestrian vaulting, and eventually to co-founding Fleurs de Lis Vaulters, a nonprofit competitive vaulting club built on one rule above all others. The team is a family, and the horses are the MVPs. Mikhail gets candid about why he'd never recommend his own path to anyone, how he coaches kids who talk back to their parents, and why he'll hold a team out of the ring until the horse is properly warmed up, whatever the schedule says. He also traces a career that ran from equine anesthesia to property management to equestrian marketing and now full-time photography, and explains what changed when he finally took the blinders off. The conversation closes with a preview of his Kinship Conference session and a challenge for parents of horse-crazy kids. When your child names a big dream, skip the reasons it won't work and ask how they plan to get there. Mentioned in this episode Fleur de Lis Vaulters, Mikhail's nonprofit vaulting club Mikhail's mentors and coaches who pushed him for more Goliath, the rescue horse who chose vaulting for him Kinship Conference, November 6–7, Greensboro NC Connect with Mikhail on Instagram at @mikhail.proctor 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.

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  Episode #9

  Building the Next Generation of Ranchers with Jamon Turner

  Sep 18, 202641 minS9

  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.

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  Black In The Saddle

  On Sisterhood and Horses with Natasha Gordon

  Sep 11, 20261h 4mS1

  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.

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  Episode #6

  When Horses and Leadership Collide with Dr. Letita Mason

  Aug 28, 20261h 5mS9

  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

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