A local teenager is willing to do anything it takes to achieve his Olympic dreams By Victoria Munro
Fabian Williams and his horse Apple (credit: Ben Rowe)
Fabian Williams – an 18-year-old who describes himself as “the UK’s Black cowboy” – is willing to do anything it takes to keep his dream of becoming an Olympic equestrian alive.
Last month that meant filming a viral video riding his horse Apple through the drive-thru at Leytonstone McDonald’s and, before that, working “almost 24 hours a day” to save up the money to buy her.
While now he can be proud of his passion, as a child being teased at school convinced him to give it up for five years, instead becoming someone “no one could make fun of” by getting involved in crime.
However, two years ago, a charity programme funded by Redbridge Council providing free boxing lessons to troubled teenagers convinced him to take up the reins again.
(Credit: Ben Rowe)
Fabian told the Echo: “Ever since I could speak, I’ve wanted to get on a horse. No one in my family rides, not even my extended family, and the support is there but they don’t really understand it.
“This is a god-given ambition and a god-given talent. I can’t explain the feeling I get when I ride and go over my jumps and fences but it’s different to anything I’ve ever felt before.”
Fabian now lives in the south of the borough but grew up in Ilford and started volunteering at a stable near his home at the age of just ten years old.
However, after his classmates found a picture of him taking part in the stable’s Christmas Parade – dressed as an elf on a horse dressed as a reindeer – he spent the next five years determined to be “that guy no one can make fun of”.
He said: “I went through a lot in those five years, I was on the road, I was [dealing drugs] and there was no purpose in my life.
“I got charged with my first crime at the age of 11 and spent about six or seven months in a young offenders’ prison; if you knew me then, you wouldn’t believe I could be where I’m standing now.
“I got out of that lifestyle through [charity] BoxUp Crime, they helped get me onto the right path and I found God. They gave me the confidence to be different and forget what people say.
“Now I’m bringing respect to horse riding and showing people still doing what I was doing that they can actually change their life. When the video came out, I had people replying saying they remembered me [from before] and they were proud of me.”
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(Credit: Ben Rowe)
After reigniting his love of riding, Fabian spent about a year and a half retraining Apple, a 16-year-old ex-race horse who had “never jumped or done dressage in her life” and lived near her then-owner in Kent.
That meant leaving the house with his mother at 6am so they could drive to her stables, where he mucked her out, trained and then headed back in time for his mother’s shift at 9am.
Since then, he and Apple have competed in three shows and placed in the top three each time but Fabian knows he will need a sponsorship to buy a younger horse to have a shot at his dreams.
It is in a bid to attract enough attention to secure this funding that he filmed his recent stunt in Leytonstone, after a period where he was “mentally broken down” and considered giving up.
(Credit: Ben Rowe)
He said: “I know my talent but I have to work with what I have and this whole time I’ve only been funded by myself, doing shift work almost 24 hours a day.
“Recently my coach Allison Crow found me a horse that was £7,000 and I raised £5,000 – do not ask me how – but I couldn’t make enough and that left me mentally broken down for a while.
“I started to think I couldn’t do this and I was going to give up, there were three whole days where I was gone. I was still looking after Apple but I wasn’t riding her at all.
“But I prayed and prayer saved me, God gave me the idea to film the video. I knew in my head the response it would get but I didn’t know it would be this much and that was God showing me how many people’s lives I can touch.
“I want to do this for the next generation of horse riders because I want them to have an easier time than I’ve had. One day I want to open a stable where everyone can do this.
“I’m going to be a five-time Olympic medallist and that will mean going down a hard road but I’ve prepared myself for that. Right now, God is in control.”
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