MILESTONE EQUESTRIAN

Why does inclusivity matter to your brand?

Inclusivity matters to my brand because growing up in the horse world, I noticed a major lack of representation and often felt on the fringes of horsemanship due to my lack of ability to afford certain brands and fit in with the rest of the show world. I’m biracial—my father is Black—and despite being very white-passing myself, my hair made me stand out in a crowd as I have textured curly hair. Even the simple fact of me having different hair from so many of my peers made me feel alienated. My natural hair was much quicker to be viewed as messy, unkempt or unprofessional. Because of this, I learned to assimilate by frying and straightening my hair on a near constant basis despite the fact that it didn’t make me feel happy or good about myself.

I genuinely cannot remember a single time I ever saw any model with textured hair, or a model of color for that matter, in equestrian magazines or brands for the entirety of my childhood. Until social media blew up, I literally did not know there were other biracial riders and riders of color to the extent that there are in the industry because I never heard about them.

If I’d grown up and seen models who looked like me or my family members, it could’ve provided me comfort and confidence in being my authentic self and learning to love my natural hair, my culture, and who I was, instead of indirectly being taught to hide it and be ashamed of it.

I am incredibly privileged compared to a lot of the horse world and even still, I experienced situations that made me feel othered in this industry. I know that equestrians of color, plus-sized equestrians, disabled equestrians, and LGBTQ equestrians experience a lot of this in our industry and in starting my own brand, I wanted put more of an effort into providing representation and support of minority groups of people who are often made to feel invisible or unwelcome in our industry. Everyone deserves to feel good in their own body and to show up as their authentic self. They deserve to see models that look like them and to have their presence in the industry known instead of hidden.

I hope to increase inclusivity in the sport and allow for people to feel more comfortable in their own bodies through my brand and my social media because I don’t want anyone to grow up feeling unheard and unrepresented. There’s room for all of us in this industry and we all deserve equal recognition, support, and access.

In what ways is your brand inclusive?

Our clothing sizes in most of our apparel are offered in sizes XS to 4XL. I’ve also tried to do most of our apparel patterns to be compatible for unisex sizing if you size up, as clothing really doesn’t have a gender and no one should feel obligated to have to choose between a binary when selecting clothes. They are just clothes—inanimate objects that you place on your very animated and dynamic body to give them life.

I have also started doing equestrian ball caps with satin lining to protect curly and textured hair. I never realized just how much damage unlined hats could do to my hair until recently, and I know that a lot of equestrians of color struggle with damage to their natural hair because of how our hats and helmets are lined. The satin lining is much gentler on textured hair and doesn’t result in the same amount of frizz and breakage as unlined hats can.

With pricing, I also try to be inclusive by keeping prices affordable, offering frequent discounts and sales and trying to offer a wide range of clothes to serve for the empowerment and comfort of people of all types. Many of our apparel options are also made from recycled fabrics.

How do you plan to continue incorporating inclusivity and diversity in your brand?

I hope to continue to expand my brand so I can offer more products and diversify sizing even more. I think that it would be beneficial to start to offer sizes in Short/Tall and Slender/Curvy cuts to further allow people to select the perfect sizing for them as there is so much variation in what an equestrian looks like. I think offering sizes like this would open the door for people to get a “semi-custom” fit without the same price tag. So, this is my goal as we continue to expand and funds allow.

Additionally, I hope to start offering bursaries, scholarships, and more sponsorships to riders. I think that accessibility is a huge hurdle in the horse world that is so difficult to overcome and I don’t believe that a rider’s lack of financial privilege should deprive them of access the horse world. There are so many amazing horse people we are likely missing out on due to their inability to enter the sport in the first place, or even if they do, the inability to stay in it or get platformed and seen in the way they need to.

My hope is also that if I start being what I hope to see in the industry, other brands will look at what’s being done and be inspired to do the same. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our equestrian community could offer meaningful opportunities and inclusivity to enrich our sport?