CHICAGO — Hannah Tapling was born to ride a horse.
The 18-year-old Marist senior just inked an equestrian scholarship to Texas A&M University, the country's top-ranked program. The Garfield Ridge resident has been riding horses since she was 6 years old, first introducing herself to the animals at her aunt's farm in Alabama.
Since then, her family has owned two horses — geldings "Oh So McDreamy" and "Only Looking" — which she rides, or "shows," at equestrian events around the country. Tapling does not jump the horses over obstacles — that's the Olympics version of the sport — but instead showcases how stoic she can ride the horse and how the horse comports itself during the competition.
Welcome to Aggieland, Hannah Tapling! #12thMan pic.twitter.com/qbT0CJBrSl
— Texas A&M Equestrian (@AggieEquestrian) November 14, 2016
"Some people have a natural feel for the ice in ice skating, some people have a natural feel for the piano, and Hannah has a natural feel with a horse and how to bond with it as a team," said her trainer, world champion rider Brad Kearns of Kearns Quarter Horses in Grayslake.
At the collegiate level, Tapling will ride random horses during events. That process intrigues her because Tapling's favorite part of equestrian is building a partnership with the horse.
"What's so cool about this sport is you're competing with a 1,200-pound animal and you have to maneuver that horse and make it listen to you," she said. "It's just a graceful sport, and I can just get on a horse and kind of figure it out in not that long a time. Before I get on a horse, I try to figure out its personality, try to get to know its demeanor."
It's been that way since she was a little girl, first learning to ride in kindergarten at Fitzjoy Farm in Palos Park. Each weekday evening, from about 7-10 p.m., Tapling is at the farm with "Oh So McDreamy," feeding him and letting him run around the farm's arena. Tapling, who is an only child, said the horse has become like a sibling to her.
"He's the love our our lives," Tapling said of the horse's relationship to her family.
She trains in Grayslake every weekend, making the one-hour drive from Garfield Ridge to the far northern suburb. While "Oh So McDreamy" resides at Fitzjoy, "Only Looking" stays in Grayslake.
Tapling takes pride that she comes from Chicago. While Texas A&M's roster is filled with riders from throughout the country, almost none come from cities. When she tells other equestrian riders she's a Chicago resident, Tapling said they're shocked.
"It's so strange to them that I have a Chicago accent," she said.
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