Every time he marched across Fletcher Street stables, the strapping frame and cappuccino-colored mane of the American Quarter Horse drew the attention of Philadelphia’s Black cowboys and cowgirls.

His name was Streakin’ E Class. The quiet equine had a grandeur and presence that matched that of partner and former owner Eric “E” Miller, founder of the Philadelphia Urban Riding Academy.

Miller purchased his four-legged friend from the New Holland Horse Auction in 2017, nicknaming him “Chuck” in honor of a childhood best friend who passed.

On Sunday, Chuck died at age 29. His passing was felt across Philly’s horse-riding community, with several Instagram users commenting Monday on PURA’s announcement. “Rest well Big Chuck,” one user wrote. “I’m glad I gave you extra treats last night.”

“Everyone that visited the barn loved him because he was just so pretty, and he was just the man,” said PURA executive director Erin Brown, who goes by the moniker Concrete Cowgirl. “People adored him. He was just so beautiful and strong-looking, and even the other cowboys noticed he had this presence just like [Miller].”

Chuck was one of several horses Miller owned but wasthe first he bought after his release from prison in 2017. Miller’s interest in horses was rooted in his childhood. His father, who went by Butch, owned a stable in North Philadelphia.

In January 2019, Miller founded PURA, and the nonprofit became an outgrowth of the Fletcher Street barn, where Miller kept his horses and employed locals to care for them. His vision was to teach horsemanship to riders young and old and to preserve the history of Philly’s urban cowboys, bringing their stories to the general public.

His work led to the making of the Netflix film Concrete Cowboy, released in 2021, which starred actors Idris Elba, Caleb McLaughlin, and Jharrel Jerome. Brown said Miller was “the voice behind the movie and script.” But a month before filming began in North Philadelphia, Miller was shot and killed inside his Roxborough home.

Brown, who met Miller as a teenager at Fletcher Street, was determined to fulfill Miller’s vision for the movie and to care for Chuck. “I just knew [Miller] would haunt me if I didn’t,” she joked. “I knew how important it was to him.”

Brown said that Chuck was Miller’s “baby boy” and that he never missed an opportunity to brag about his dashing looks.

After Miller’s death, Brown took up the executive director role at PURA and ownership of Chuck. Recently, the horse’s health began to worsen. “It was best to let him go out like a G,” she said. “You could tell he was really tired.”

The long-time horse rider gifted braided pieces of Chuck’s mane to Miller’s four children. It’s a custom among cowboys and their fallen horses, and Brown felt it was the best way to honor Chuck’s legacy and the bond he and Miller shared. “I knew he was special to [Miller],” she said.

Miller’s daughter, Emani, said Chuck was like an older brother.

Chuck even joined Emani during her prom send-off last spring. The horse’s shoulders were adorned with images of him and her father, bringing the teenager to tears. “I couldn’t believe the amount of joy I felt,” Emani said. “It just made the presence of my father feel so real.”

Looking back at photos of her and Chuck, Emani said that she is saddened at Chuck’s death but that knowing he and Miller are now “reunited in heaven” has brought her a sense of solace.

“I know how much my dad loved his horse,” she said. “It felt so good to receive a piece of Chuck’s mane, and I was able to have a piece of him I will forever hold near [and dear] to my heart.”

Brown didn’t ride Chuck much but on commercial sets, he was the “grumpy old man” she entrusted for the job. He even appeared in Concrete Cowboy alongside Elba.

With support from Philadelphia and Councilmember Curtis Jones, PURA is set to open a new stable in Cobbs Creek next spring. The roughly $1.2 million project will convert an existing structure into a climate-controlled barn, Brown said, and Chuck was to be the first horse to walk through its doors.

Jones said the project will not only provide added resources for PURA, which currently boards its horses at the Dream Park in Logan Township, Gloucester County, but it will pass the “the baton” for future cowboys of color and protect the history of Philly’s urban cowboys.

“If this city were left to its own devices, it would totally erase the rights of cowboys out of its city limits,” he said. “Brown is not only fighting for the rights of the cowboy of color ... assuring there will be riders in upcoming generations.”

Brown said that a plaque honoring Milller and Chuck — and stories of them together — will be placed along the stable’s walls.