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00:01:01.860Hello and welcome to For the Wild podcast. I'm Ayanna Young.
00:01:07.900Today we are speaking with Kiara Wade.
00:01:12.100With being around the horses, they constantly remind us of how to bring ourselves back into
00:01:17.660peace. And by us staying into peace, we're able to put that energy into the world.
00:01:26.520They're just as important to us as we are to them. And we're very aware of what they bring for us
00:01:34.680in a deeper way. But again, that's where it comes in to staying connected within ourselves,
00:01:39.940to be aware of them, to understand that your horse is communicating to you.
00:01:44.960Horses daily remind us of that because we have to communicate with each other, and it allows us to dig deeper within ourselves.
00:01:53.760here Wade is the Compton Cowgirl of the Compton Cowboys she is in the process of pursuing her
00:02:14.020barrel racing career and becoming the first black woman to make it to the NFR horses have always
00:02:20.980been her positive outlook to the traumatic world she grew up in. She believes in giving back to
00:02:26.400younger generations by allowing them to experience the equine world and possibly leading them away
00:02:31.700from the streets and gang violence. She recently moved to Houston to accomplish her dream,
00:02:37.700supported by the Compton Cowboys and the Compton Junior Equestrians Program.
00:02:42.240She is a mother of two children, Taylor and Michael.
00:02:50.980thank you so much for joining us today on the podcast really looking forward to having some
00:03:10.900time with you and yeah just journeying through a conversation together well thank you for having
00:03:18.960me i have been looking forward to having the conversation with you for some time now
00:03:24.480so the day is here yay happy to be here today and yeah it's a summery day with a little breeze
00:03:32.880up here which is nice and um yeah okay goodness so where to begin well i think it would be
00:03:41.880amazing if you could give us some background on how the compton cowboys were founded and then
00:03:48.820the various roles the organization has played throughout the past few years?
00:03:54.660Okay, so the Compton Cowboys was founded in 2017, doing different things in our inner city.
00:04:04.220And we were able to establish the Compton Cowboys in 2017. And with that, we really
00:04:13.740We took our experience from the Compton Junior Posse and turned it into a way that would help us, but also to help us get back to the community.
00:04:27.000So that is the whole brand of what we do.
00:04:32.900So our slogan is streets raised us, horses saved us.
00:04:37.880and that comes from us growing up in Compton
00:04:58.640because we understand that is what's most important
00:05:02.040and then also we're able to work globally
00:05:07.100in the entertainment world and being popular influencers. So with everything that we're doing,
00:05:15.400we're all set to give back to our community and be able to continue to help our youth grow
00:05:23.900with horses and through horses yeah well I'm wondering how has the connection with horses
00:05:37.700been therapeutic and a vital outlet throughout your life and how have you seen this type of
00:05:45.500connection come to help others as well whether that be the youth or the community etc
00:05:51.300So for me, growing up in the household, it was a little hectic. And growing up around gang violence and verbal abuse and alcohol abuse, those things would have trauma effect on me negative ways.
00:06:11.820However, as a kid, you don't understand that.
00:06:14.140You don't know that because I've always had the horses.
00:06:17.240And I feel like the horses gave me the balance to take on everything that I was, you know, enduring in life as a young child.
00:06:27.240And when I went off to college, that's when I really discovered how much horses meant to me.
00:06:33.660And what I can understand is they taught me the absence of horses is to understand how much they meant.
00:06:42.700So being a kid and looking back, it helped me to gain responsibility, respect.
00:06:51.100And respect is a big factor being with the horses because you can't demand respect.
00:06:56.740You have to give the respect and the horses will give it back to you.
00:07:00.140So respect is the main thing that gives you a sense of integrity, humanity, that also allows you to have some level of accountability, a different self-awareness as well.
00:07:17.760and it helped me to communicate and be able to understand my own personal
00:07:25.800trauma issues, things that I was dealing with in life still as an adult today. It's part of
00:07:34.960my healing journey and it's very therapeutic for me. And so for the kids, we have seen the same
00:07:43.480thing. Some kids may have behavioral issues. They might grow up in a different household where some
00:07:50.620of these things are going on, whether it's feeling neglected, whether it's the yelling,
00:07:56.680verbal abuse, or being in foster care, or just absence of parents. Any of those things that
00:08:04.140could have a negative impact on a child, we are able to allow the horses to give them a sense
00:08:11.660of comfort. And with the comfort, it allows the kids to be able to ultimately be able to find
00:08:21.540themselves. So it's a way of you actually communicating with yourself, not knowing
00:08:28.360that you're communicating with yourself. And all that is to help you be a better human being.
00:08:33.980I believe the same with adults people who we know who were riding horses they still have some sense
00:08:42.480of horse attachment you know it's something that you just can never let go of because it brings so
00:08:48.420much peace to your life and I don't think a lot of people look at it in that sense because it's
00:08:55.800just something that we we're just doing as a second nature but for us and really understanding
00:09:02.340how we took this negative and turned it positive we look at it in a different perspective and
00:09:10.060that's how we're able to come up with these different strategies and different influence
00:09:14.560ways to help our community to overcome different obstacles that they may have
00:09:19.900endured or may still be enduring you know the horses can give you some type of balance and peace
00:09:25.120beautiful uh yeah i'm wondering more about the youth and thinking about how formative activities
00:09:38.960like writing really matter for young people and yeah how does your work prioritize valuing the
00:09:48.140experiences and needs of youth and how is your experience as a parent shaped the way you
00:09:54.340understand the need for programs like Compton Junior Equestrians? I believe they both go hand
00:10:01.100in hand with the question because it allows me to do what's in my heart. With riding horses and
00:10:11.060with teaching kids how to ride horses and also being a parent, the way that I interact with
00:10:17.360these children is as if they were my own children. To add to that, a lot of kids don't have somebody
00:10:24.120they can look up to. They don't have a mentor or a positive outlet for them. So with the
00:10:32.000interaction that we have with these kids, for me, it's taken on as being that mentor that they may
00:10:39.940need. And also for me, I didn't have that mentor. I have family members. However, some things that
00:10:48.820dealt with in life, I wasn't able to speak about until I became older. So the importance of it is
00:10:57.200to be able to lead by example. We want to be the role model that someone has never seen or give
00:11:07.080them a different outlook on life and maybe make them want to make better decisions. And the same
00:11:14.720with being a parent. I'm leading by example, and I'm instilling certain things in my kids that
00:11:20.880they're able to appreciate as they grow and get older, because it's teaching them, you know,
00:11:26.120responsibility, respect, self-awareness. And what hard work is, hard work always pays off.
00:11:34.460However, you have to be willing to put the time in. And for us, I just believe that is something
00:11:41.800that's so deeply in our hearts. And we feel so driven by doing this. This is what we're called
00:11:49.820to do. And we're putting our best foot forward every day by being a positive influence,
00:11:58.360being a person, being a parent. And all those things all come back to one, ultimately just
00:12:07.380living with humanity and being an example of what that looks like.
00:12:37.380a fighter they they they carried you you you you you no matter who she be now she she she she she
00:12:46.380carried you you you you no matter what she says or doesn't do she she she she carried you you you
00:12:55.480you don't even have to like her just look at her and love her and know that she carried you
00:13:01.960She too was a child and her little life was wild
00:14:32.520I think the first thing that we have to understand is that just because they're children does
00:14:39.920not mean that they don't have feelings.
00:14:42.080They might not know how to internalize it and express it, but they have feelings.
00:14:46.700So what I was always taught is to treat someone how you want to be treated.
00:14:52.920Same thing I'm telling my kids when I'm talking to these young kids.
00:14:56.420Same thing, because you never know what a person is dealing with.
00:15:01.020However, if we don't allow the children to start off with something that's positive to go after, all we're doing is allowing them to neglect that as they get older,
00:15:17.480which makes it harder for them to be able to define what could be an issue, a pain, a hurt, abandonment, whatever it could be.
00:15:27.760It's going to be hard for them to define it if as a child they felt like they weren't important, that their voice wasn't being heard.
00:15:36.800And it's all in a way of respecting them at their age.
00:15:42.620You have to meet a child where they are and understanding them, taking the time to want to understand who they are.
00:15:51.220If you're not being a parent, you know, so when you're not the parent, you don't know what they've experienced with being a parent.
00:15:59.120They're still growing. So their mind is evolving and you have to respect the fact that is part of life itself.
00:16:06.700because as an adult, we don't always understand certain feelings that we may be feeling at that
00:16:12.240moment. We have to take a step back and sometimes sit within ourselves and say, okay, this happened
00:16:19.320and I responded this way, but why did I do that? Or how am I feeling about it? So I think the same
00:16:27.500with kids, the younger we are able to understand that about their growth and who they are and not
00:16:37.140look at them as they're just a kid. They don't have any feelings or they won't remember.
00:16:43.300I think that we'll be able to tackle it faster because for me, I know growing up, I wasn't able
00:16:51.720to express myself because I was told you're a child and I'm the adult for most cases.
00:16:58.080You know, so that means that I learned to not share my thoughts, whether they were good
00:17:02.120or bad, or something that was frightening to me because I felt that I wasn't heard.
00:17:07.820However, as an adult and on this healing journey, certain things had to come back to me to understand
00:17:17.820that feeling by experiencing that feeling again. And I would have to sit in that and say, okay,
00:17:24.940I felt this feeling when I was a kid. And this is what happened with the situation. Now as an adult,
00:17:31.940I'm feeling the same feeling. Why is that? So now I have to dissect it and break it all down
00:17:38.860and get back down to the root. If we understand that could happen to a child, we wouldn't allow
00:17:47.700certain things to be placed on them so that we wouldn't have to try to correct them and
00:17:56.500kill them. They can grow up and be able to express themselves, understand what it's like to be heard,
00:18:03.720understand it's okay to have emotions, whether they're good or bad,
00:18:07.520and somebody just taking the time to actually listen to them.
00:18:11.020thank you for sharing all that and i wanted to read from the new york times article evoking
00:18:21.180history black cowboys take to the streets you discussed showing up to the 2020 marches on
00:18:27.440horseback saying quote these horses feel whatever we feel and they are hurting right now because we
00:18:33.160are hurting right now too there's so much love and unity within the black cowboy and cowgirl
00:18:38.400community. We're just trying to bring that energy to these marches in a peaceful way, end quote.
00:18:45.340So I'm wondering, how does your connection with the horses provide an emotional outlet and a place
00:18:52.780for solace and strength? Horses and humans have a synergy together. We are speaking the same
00:19:03.640language, but we don't speak the same language. So that's where it comes to, you have to respect
00:19:09.940the horse first and the horse will respect you. So you have to learn the horse's way of communicating
00:19:16.820and then you guys can communicate together versus a human, you know, where it was a verbally speak
00:19:22.720to one another. So, example, say if for me, having an emotional day, I can go down to the barn and
00:19:34.140my demeanor, my attitude, my energy is giving that to the horse. And my horse can recognize that.
00:19:44.780And what the horse can do is take her nose and rub it on me.
00:19:52.300To me, that's a way of letting me know, communicating hi.
00:27:12.420how does care for animals and people and community
00:27:15.040permeate into the culture of your work?
00:27:18.780So caring for animals is something that
00:27:23.360It makes you feel good to do a good deed.
00:27:27.780So for me to care for this animal, for this animal to depend on me, but also to see this animal healthy, to see this animal happy, to see this animal giving me the love.
00:27:42.720That is so rewarding because, again, the way that this animal says thank you is not verbally.
00:27:51.300so it's it's a indescribable feeling and again to make somebody's day so to speak but i'm
00:28:07.060taking care of this animal and i'm providing for this animal the best that this animal could have
00:28:13.880with my knowledge and continually growing to understand how I can continue to meet this
00:28:22.700animal's needs. To me, that's extremely rewarding. And it's what I'm called to do.
00:28:34.000I like to take care of people. I like to make people's day. I like to make my life easier
00:28:39.260because of the way that it comes back to me.
00:32:37.100So again, we're just leading by example.
00:32:40.860So when we're truly, I believe that when you're truly doing what you're set out to do, everything else doesn't matter.
00:32:48.940So we're truly here to give back to our community.
00:32:52.720And we are showing the community through what we do with our community that we love these animals.
00:33:00.980and the way they let us know that they're not being harmed or we're taking good care of them,
00:33:06.120that we do actually love them, is by how they reward us.
00:33:11.000We're able to allow these children who have never been around horses before, and they're safe.
00:33:16.960So if a horse in any kind of danger or is not treated properly, they wouldn't be so willing to help us.
00:33:27.960so I think that's just what it is we're just living by example and we're blocking out the
00:33:34.720negative and we're continuing to love these animals the way that we do wholeheartedly
00:33:41.540and how would you like to see the culture shift around equine sports and care in the future
00:33:52.340I would like for it to be more supported in a positive way, because, like, again, we understand what the horses and human synergy brings and what it does for us, you know, so they have therapeutic riding for disabled kids.
00:34:14.340kids. It helps out. It gives them different motivation. And for us, we work with inner city
00:34:22.400kids, you know, and we come from different backgrounds. So the horses have positive
00:34:28.700impacts. I would like to see that the society appreciate what positivity that the horses have
00:34:38.220brought to us and not get so caught up in their own way of thinking, so to speak. Because if you
00:34:45.600look and see what has been done in a positive way, you won't feel the way that you're feeling
00:34:52.320about these animals, I believe. And I want to get back to something we had briefly touched on
00:35:02.300earlier with horses and protests and resistance and marches and the calvin cowboys was particularly
00:35:11.860active in the 2020 black lives matter protests and i'm wondering how have you carried the ethos
00:35:19.720of resistance through the organization and the years following again we're just here to really
00:35:27.560do what we believe. And with that time, you know, with everything going on, that was what we needed
00:35:36.220to do. And it set a tone for us as young individuals, you know, but also we're the
00:35:44.940Compton Cowboys and this is what we stand for. This is what we believe in. We believe in unity
00:35:50.480and our horses have allowed us to unite different people in different cultures.
00:35:57.780So we're standing on that and believing that everything will continue to work out in our favor
00:36:03.720how it needs to, because we are moving to do something from a higher calling
00:45:16.080You know, that you can be just as hardworking and just as dedicated as a cowboy being a cowgirl.
00:45:23.340And I believe that all the women, all the cowgirls are doing something that's true to their heart because it requires so much hard work and then also being undermined in a sense.
00:45:36.280And I believe that over the years, we have been getting more respect because of the hard work and no complaining, you know, and really loving what we do. And that's just something that is just going to have to be where it is.
00:45:52.880I think if we get caught up in not getting the acknowledgement that society said we should get, then that's when things are going to go wrong in how we perceive being a cowgirl.
00:46:08.360but standing your ground and trusting yourself and believing in yourself where you know someone
00:46:16.620can't just push over on you because you know you work hard and you're dedicated to all of the work
00:46:22.480that you have put in to being a successful cowgirl and I don't know where that road will go0.98
00:46:30.460it has opened up more because with women they're looking to give another sport to women in the0.59
00:46:37.600rodeo circuit at the actual high performance rodeo level. And that's a good thing. It took
00:46:45.760all these years. So I just believe that with that, women did not get caught in the fact that I need
00:46:52.960to have a place because we do have a place. We have a voice. We stand and we're showing that0.99
00:46:58.580every time we step into the arena, every time we step out and dealing with these horses. And that's
00:47:05.420That's all we have to do is just continue to move in our own way.
00:47:09.920And again, blocking out the noise and not getting caught up in what society may want to do to us, because you have to have this in your heart to do this hard work and to be able to take all the criticism that comes with it.
00:47:24.720And all you can do is just trust and just move forward.
00:47:33.320And I am really curious to hear more about your journey with barrel racing, as I would imagine that has taken a lot of trust. And you've mentioned that you're in the process of pursuing your barrel racing career as the first Black woman to make it to the national finals rodeo. And so I'd just love to hear more about this journey and the culture around barrel racing.
00:47:57.780yes so i am in the process of continuing my my journey to being the first black african woman
00:48:07.700to make it to the national finals barrel racer and again i just appreciate my childhood
00:48:15.940adversities that i had to experience or you can say disadvantages because i'm you know
00:48:24.200little Black girl and don't really have the funds to pursue this rodeo career how I would like to.
00:48:33.000However, it was in my heart and I just stuck with that. And now on this journey, being a single
00:48:41.540parent with two kids, I'm still facing adversity. However, I have my support of my Something Cowboys
00:48:49.820family and their understanding how I feel about this from being a kid into now. I've found different
00:48:58.280ways to not allow any adversity that I've experienced to hinder me. It may have slowed
00:49:04.940me down, but I stayed true to us in my heart and getting closer and closer, you know, one step at
00:49:11.560a time. But again, I'm trusting through everything and asking for guidance and different people to
00:49:17.320come into my life to support as well because need the support that's something that you know has to
00:49:23.100be in order to do this because it's on a high level and the funding and just the focus and
00:49:30.800I'm just grateful to be at this time in place right now you know it's not easy so I have to
00:49:39.300have my head together so that is the main thing is if your head is not together you won't be able
00:49:46.060to make the right decisions and the right moves and all that could be very vital to your outcome
00:49:52.400of any situation that you're going after. Yeah, absolutely. And what are the things you do to
00:50:01.560keep your head together and keep clear and focused? First thing is I pray. I had to understand also
00:50:10.980what is the difference between my calling, my purpose, and my talent? So I have to understand
00:50:19.440that those should go hand in hand. And that's where the prayers come in, seeking God and
00:50:26.880asking for direction, wisdom, and understanding so that I'm able to stay on course and understanding
00:50:35.040that there's no time on me achieving this
00:50:40.960as long as I stay aligned with my purpose.
00:50:45.020So that could be something that's different
00:50:49.580well, you're this age and you have this
00:50:51.660and it could be all these different things
00:50:53.540that are against you and you haven't made it.
00:50:56.620But I just know that I'm on that journey
00:50:58.880and I know that every step is getting closer and closer.
00:51:02.160So I just, you know, make sure that I block out the noise. And it requires me to not talk to people so much, not to express so much and really understand who I am as a person and what I possess and how to protect that. And that's all protecting of my peace.
00:51:24.860yeah well thanks so much for sharing a bit about how you keep yourself
00:51:34.860clear and focused and ready for what's ahead and uh yeah as we come to a close on this
00:51:43.300conversation i guess i just wanted to ask what kind of future do you hope the compton cowboys
00:53:14.460And we're doing it for the generations to come so that we can be able to leave a positive mark and allow them to experience more than what we've gotten.
00:53:27.340So paving the way for the generations to come and allow them to have things just a little bit easier than what we had to go through.
00:53:37.880mm-hmm yeah okay thank you so much for sharing with us and i really enjoyed imagining the horses
00:53:50.800through this conversation and and you and your connection with them and so i really appreciate
00:53:57.380being able to share this time and hear from you well thank you for having me and i'm glad that i
00:54:05.440I was able just to shed the light on what we do as the Compton Cowboys
00:54:09.900and to have this conversation with you.