Red clay soil, wet from a day of rain, seeped into Brandon “Brannu” Fulton’s boots as he held the reins of an eye-catching Perilino horse he’d purchased three days prior. As the horse, with its ivory body and its gold mane, trotted along beside him past buildings under construction and steel containers, it was as if they were following a cadence only they knew. On Fulton’s 27 acres of land, poised for a dream and tucked away on the corner of Butner Road and Camp Creek Parkway, man and horse were right at home.
For the 44-year-old horseman and Clark Atlanta University graduate born in Brownsville, Brooklyn — long deemed one of New York’s most dangerous neighborhoods — it’s what dreams are made of. Dubbed the “Urban Cowboy” for riding horses through Atlanta’s streets, Fulton shared that his love of horses started with his grandfather, who would periodically take him riding at an academy in Jamaica Bay. As a kid, it was a means of escape and one of his only outlets, but because it was on the other side of Brooklyn, the riding academy was hardly accessible to him without taking the bus and walking.
“It was something I knew I’d enjoy, and I felt it. But when you’re still finding yourself and you’re a boy, it’s hard. We all have the ability to feel something, but we just don’t know how to identify it,” Fulton said. “And if you don’t have that environment or influence around you to drive that interest, then it kind of falls to the side.”
Dream Deferred
The reigns were soon tucked away, and the turntables came out, as Fulton explored a life of professional DJing. It took him everywhere, from spinning at college parties and touring across the U.S. to entertaining big celebrity parties and becoming the DJ for hip-hop artists such as St. Louis rapper J-Kwon. From the outside looking in, Fulton was living life. But the reality was that he felt lost. The fight to fit in, from the designer clothes to perming his hair and navigating the politics of the business, became unenjoyable.
“My spirit was starting to become stronger versus reality, and I just became depressed. I got so depressed, I wanted to commit suicide — I tried to. Because I felt like I didn’t know anything else. Horses were so out of my realm of thinking. I was like, “What am I gonna do?”
When he wrote the question, “Who are you?” On a piece of paper, the answer wasn’t that he wanted to sell out stadiums, own a diamond chain, have a platinum record, or drive a Ferrari. “It said, I just want to be happy. Be in a beach island environment, have a Jeep Wrangler with no doors, rusted. Have a simple little boat. Be around good music and ride horses.”
Believe Kingdom
An unfulfilled dream was calling him. When Fulton encountered a horseman in Tijuana, Mexico, he realized that his dream wasn’t so out of reach — that it didn’t have to look a certain way and that he didn’t have to be wealthy to pursue his dream. The image of the unassuming man owning a bunch of horses resonated with him so much that he vowed to go all in once he left the life of DJing.
What started in a Brooklyn neighborhood soon began to flourish in Atlanta’s metro area. Fulton didn’t have any land or horses; all he had was an idea. He knew he still loved music and making people dance, so he incorporated that into his dream called Believe Kingdom, a place where the horses would become his records. His vision was to create a riding academy with American Paint horses, a breed known for its beautiful coat patterns.
“One of my hitting gems in the paint Academy was that it’s gonna be like a school, but the school will use horses as instrumental tools. I chose Paint Horses because I was drawn to them. When people looked at that Paint Horse, it didn’t matter if the horse was white, brown, or black; you just saw the horse for what it was. And the message would be to the kids that it doesn’t matter if you’re white, brown or Black, just be pure and healthy.”
After he bought his first American Paint, which he named Spinderella, Fulton found a facility in Loganville that housed horses. Soon, the duo began being booked for kids’ parties, entertaining crowds with tricks and spins. As his knowledge of horses grew, so did his number of horses, with names such as Hip-Hop, Rhythm and Blues, and NeoSoul. He later became a stunt coordinator for films, which allowed him to purchase his 27 acres of land for $150,000 in January 2016.
Legal Troubles
However, his vision was halted a year later. In 2017, Fulton was charged with twelve counts of animal cruelty after complaints were called in. Fulton County later arrested him and seized seven of his prized horses. While he was cleared of animal cruelty charges a few months later, Fulton’s horses were never returned to him. He is now battling the county, suing directly under the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause, which states that, “nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”
Fulton said it was never about the horses, but about him owning the land and the desires of outside developers.
“There are gatekeepers in everything, and I didn’t know that. I’m not perfect, but I have heart. I didn’t have a criminal record until I came to Atlanta. I’ve never been arrested in New York City; never been in any gang.
“Here, I realized that everything has an expectation of how it should look based on how people are programmed to circumstances. And for me, being here, there are a large group of people who don’t have the ability to see the beauty in what I’m doing the way I’m doing it, because to them, they haven’t been taught that that’s beautiful. I’m over here, walking through mud, dealing with the weather to keep them alive, to keep myself alive. It looks like a mess to you, but I’m trying to create something. And to create something, especially when you’re one person, it’s not as easy.”
The Dream Lives On
However, the one-man army that is Fulton hasn’t let his troubles deter his vision. He still plans to create a safe community for children who want to ride or learn about horses but don’t readily have access to them.
He enthusiastically stood between his land and the stream of Camp Creek that runs through it, an area he’s named Brooke. He outlined his plans for different parts of Believe Kingdom, including picnic tables and hammocks, a barn for staging the horses, cabins, and a souvenir shop. He also plans to incorporate a race track, a natural trail, and an area where wellness, music, and arts are the focus.
“I guess I’ve been chosen to be the person or the energy to create opportunities so other people won’t find themselves stuck at a job that they hate, and say, ‘Man, I wish I could have…’ For some reason, I was instilled with a spirit that’s given me the strength to go through all of this, because I was once the one deprived of it. So my story and everything they put me through actually helped me. Everything they put me through didn’t deter me from the goal.”
Fulton’s journey and the obstacles he’s had to jump over are now highlighted in a documentary directed by Adelin Gasana and produced by Julia Griggs.
‘The whole thing with me is showing that as long as you stay in your lane, you’ll make it no matter what you are. But you’ve got to go through some pain. You’ve got to be willing to take a few blows.”