Meet the 'Urban Cowboy': Former drug dealer is helping kids avoid a life of crime

Freedom Zampaladus, who founded Urban Equestrian Academy in Leicester in 2016, believes horse riding can help break the cycle of violence for inner-city youths.

Ex-drug dealer, Freedom Zampaladus has become known as the 'urban cowboy' after turning his back on a life of crime to teach kids how to care for horses.

Freedom can often be seen taking to the streets of Leicester on horseback, in a bid to encourage children to take up horse riding at the Urban Equestrian Academy, which he founded in 2016.

He now hopes the local riding school will curb rising youth violence in underprivileged communities.

Appearing on Good Morning Britain, he tells Ben Shephard and Susanna Reid: "For young kids with behavioural issues and young kids with special needs; horses are the perfect type of animal to increase their self-esteem and confidence.

"You see a massive difference [when you take kids] from the city out into the country. There is a massive change, they become so much calmer and so much more happy."

Before falling in love with horse riding, Freedom was involved in criminal activity including drug dealing and training pit bulls to attack, but turned his life around after helping out in the stables while living with his uncle in Antigua.

"The horses were my escape, so when I wasn't dealing with the horses, everything else [ in my life ] was negative - the horses were the positive," Freedom explained.

He added: "I did go a bit wild - that came with the territory, we are the products of our environment and a lot of young people get categorised and put into stereotypical way of thinking."

Freedom was inspired to create the Urban Equestrian Academy after observing a lack of ethnic minorities in British horse riding.

"I found out [horse riding in the UK] was a very different world, " he recalled.

"It was very privileged and very elite. I faced racism and social isolation because no one could understand how I fitted into this particular world."

The Urban Equestrian Academy now has 80 young people attending horse riding classes every week.