Growing up in Southern California, Chanel Rhodes loved horses but saw few people like her riding them. “I asked my mother, ‘Do Black people ride horses?’ because I didn’t know,” she said. Her mother told her, “You can do whatever you want to do.”
Rhodes worked at a stable to рау for riding lessons. Today, she owns a paint horse named Lady and competes in various riding events.
Her journey to equestrian entrepreneurship began in 2019. “I wanted to contribute something creative to Black History Month,” she said. “So I decided to make a prototype wig for my horse.”
Using synthetic hair from a beauty supply store, she designed a wig for Lady and called it, “Afrocentric Pony.”
Rhodes wanted to design a product that would be relatively affordable, easy to use, and available in a wide variety of colors. “I kid you not, I probably сгапked oᴜt 40-50 some-odd prototypes,” she said.
