Work To Ride is a Philadelphia non-profit organization created by Leslie Hiner in 1994. This program was designed to provide urban Philadelphian youth (ages 7-19) equestrian activities. The members learn a lot about horsemanship, teamwork, dedication, and education. Although WTR is separate from school functions, students are still required to complete all assignments before riding.

Practice always…

“Good grades are allow us to travel,” said 17-year-old Tasha Harris.
She’s finished with her high school work and is currently attending classes at Eastern University. As the oldest out of 20 students, she is expected to be a role model for the younger ones. Some times she even has to look after them and help Leslie with the driving.

Coin Toss in Nigeria

WTR has deeply impacted Tasha’s personal growth. She’s been able to travel and experience all kinds of new things with the program. She attends WTR 5 times a week; the schedule conflicts with other activities with friends and family. This factor doesn’t keep her from loving WTR any less.

Kevin, Kareem, Tasha and Brandon

“My favorite activity is Polo,” she said.

Polo seems to be the favorite activity at WTR. This is to be expected as WTR had an excellent Polo team. In 1994 it was the first all black team created in the entire country. In 2005, they won the Eastern Regional Interscholastic Polo tournament. They were even featured in Sports Illustrated. This summer, Tasha, 3 other members are traveling to Nigeria to participate in the Nigerian Polo Tournament.

“I expect to see wild animals such as elephants and giraffes,” said 12-year-old Brandon Reese, the youngest member. This will be Brandon’s first time traveling with the group outside the country.

“I don’t know what to think,” said Tasha. “My sister went to South Africa and told me all about it.” Although she is a little worried about the food safety, she’s looking forward to cultural interactions and learning new polo skills.

Despite the success of the polo team, WTR had a very difficult start. Many polo teams were not use to seeing an all black team; many other clubs doubted their skills.

“I was scared at first,” said Tasha, “but soon they realized that WTR are legitimate competitors. We even made friends with the other riders from different polo clubs.”

WTR definitely proved they’re worth in the Nigerian Polo competition. The team competed very well and even came in as the runner up. They were able to scrimmage with other teams in order to improve their game. The students exceeded their expectations and amazed everyone, including Uche, their counselor.

“They had a good time at the competition,” he commented, “I’m very proud of them. They learned to appreciate who they were. They felt very comfortable being with fellow black polo teams. One of the students commented, ‘even the goalies are black.’ This was a wonderful experience and they learned a lot.”

Uche Ojeh and the WTR team

The WTR is hoping to return to the Nigeria again. They are looking to incorporate this tournament to the cultural exchange aspect of the program.

“It is very important for kids to experience life outside of the U.S,” said Uche, “ We’re not sure if we will continue to compete in that specific tournament, but we will travel more often. We are hoping to travel to participate in other tournaments in South Africa, Brazil, and many other places in the world.”

For more information on Work to Ride visit, www.worktoride.net/
Photos appear courtesy of Uche Ojeh and Work to Ride.