Don't Call Him Django, This Atlanta Cowboy Has Real Heart

When they see him, people can’t help but crack a smile. It’s not often that while sitting in Atlanta traffic, you can look over and see a young African-American man in a cowboy hat and cowboy boots on a regal steed.

Some yell out their car windows to 25-year-old Brannu Fulton, Atlanta’s own Urban Cowboy, calling him “Django” or giving him a hearty “Yippee-kai-yay.” Sometimes they hurl insults or criticism that he’s riding the creatures in an urban setting.

But Brannu, called Atlanta’s most famous cowboy by Scoutmob and once hired by Usher to throw a party for his son, said people just don’t know his story and his love for horses. It’s not a gimmick. It’s not pretend. This cowboy is for real.

"When I'm riding, I don't think I'm better than anyone else," Brannu said. "I have a story behind my ride...I want people to understand the heart behind the man on the horse."

Brannu's story starts in New York City. Brooklyn isn’t known for horses, but that's where Brannu grew up, in a high-rise housing project, raised by his grandparents.

If someone would’ve told him back then that he’d have his own horse ranch where he gives riding lessons in the country, just outside of Atlanta, he’d never have believed them.

The kids from around the projects were sure to tell Brannu over and over that horses were for rich white kids– not them.

"It was something people in my environment made me feel could never happen, something I needed to stop thinking about...(because it's) not possible for people who come from my neighborhood."

Brannu was first introduced to horseback riding by his grandfather, who would take him to Jamaica Bay Riding Academy when he’d saved up the money.

His grandfather had seen the world as a soldier in the U.S. Army and wanted his grandson to be exposed to life outside the few blocks that made up Brannu’s world.

As he became a teenager, Brannu folded up his dreams of horseback riding and began working on his talent as a DJ.

It was deejaying that brought the Brooklynite to Atlanta in 2003, where he began stints with then up-and-comers like J-Quan and Akon. He traveled with the hip hop crews as they toured.

But after a while, the fabulous life just couldn’t do it for him anymore.

It was on a beach in Mexico that Brannu saw a man with a group of horses all roped together for the tourists to ride for a fee.

That was the end of Brannu’s DJ career.

“It was the first day I felt complete...I just totally walked away from that world and never looked back at it again. Some people who see me riding a horse around are like, ‘I can’t believe you gave up that opportunity.’ I’m happy. Some people say it doesn’t make sense,” Brannu said.

“With the horses, I feel free. When I’m riding down the street, I feel free. This is all I do every day.”

Brannu has 10 horses. He runs Brannu Paint Academy, where he offers riding lessons to people from all walks of life, including special needs children.

He bought his first horse, Spinderella, only a year old at the time, because “she was the only filly that paid attention to me,” he said.

When he bought Spinderella–named after the DJ from the hit 80s rap group Salt-N-Pepa, people from the horse farm wondered why Brannu would buy such a young horse when he’d never owned one before.

He would just sit and watch Spinderella every day. Once he got other horses, he’d observe how they interacted with each other, and that’s how he learned to train them.

Besides Spinderella, Brannu has never purchased a horse. All the others have come from various places. People who had wild horses on their property would tell Brannu “if you can catch him, he’s yours.” And Brannu always took them up on the offer.

Brannu has sacrificed for his horses. At times, he didn't eat just so his horses could. He often naps in the barn with the horses, and the majority of his time is spent with them.

“I’m not doing it for the money,” he said. “If I have horses and a ranch, I’m good.”

When he’s giving riding lessons, he wants those who ride with him to embark on a spiritual experience.

"The horses and the barn became my church in a sense...I was in a broken home, but luckily I didn't slip through the cracks. When people ride with me, I want it to be more than a horseback ride. I want it to be a motivational journey.

"I feel like I have to ride my horse in the street and that little boy or that little girl can see me and think, 'I can, too.'"

Eventually, he wants to create a ranch that could be a local resort for horse-lovers and horse-riding novices alike to come spend a weekend riding.

“Something like Ralph Lauren, real fly, upscale-looking barns, no Bentleys or Ferraris. There’s just really beautiful-looking healthy horses parked in front of the neighborhood fresh market."

Brannu's grandfather, who still lives in New York City, is proud. And Brannu said it was his grandfather who taught him to follow his dreams, not the crowd.

It’s why Brannu isn’t a drug dealer or in jail, he said, like others who grew up in his neighborhood. He hopes that others can learn to take risks and follow their dreams as he has.

“If you’ve got the ambition to be, let’s say, a drug dealer or to run a credit card scam, you know that's wrong. If you have that much heart to take that risk, if you have the guts to do that, then you have the guts to do something that is out of the norm," he said.

The Scoutmob deal has not yet expired. Take a "Neiigh-borhood Horseback Ride through Inman Park with the Urban Cowboy" for $65. It's an hour-and-a-half trail ride starting at Irwin Street Market and meandering through historic Inman Park and the Old Fourth Ward. PS: Bring a pair of new or gently used shoes with you, and you can help Brannu serve children in need through his "Making Great Strides" program.