Hannah Famulak
Palm Beach, Florida
Eighth-grade student at Palm Beach Day Academy
How long have you been part of the horse world?
Since I first did pony camp when I was 5 years old
What part do you play in the horse world?
I am a junior rider and train with Erin and Don Stewart. I compete in the Junior Hunters, Children’s Jumpers and Equitation.
What’s your favorite thing about what you do?
That’s a really hard question to answer and to only pick one, because I love so much about our sport. Here are two of my favorites.
First, our sport allows us to have such a strong and special bond with the horses. I love getting to know each pony and horse that I ride, and figuring out who each one of them is. They each have such distinct personalities and unique character traits. I love spending time with them to build a bond both in the show ring and at home. That’s how you find out that you have a horse who loves bananas while another one only eats the peels, or a pony that loves to share your sweet tea so much that you put it in a spray bottle for them.
Second, I love that our sport allows us to travel so much and get to know different parts of the country. We meet such incredible people along the way. I’ve made so many great friends over the years that I know I will have in my life forever. I love my horse show family.
What’s your biggest achievement?
My biggest achievement so far has to be learning to juggle all the parts of my life and the time-management skills you have to have to be successful. The horse show world is so all-encompassing — training both in the ring and in the gym, mentally preparing for horse shows and physically trying to get to them. You don’t find many showgrounds in the middle of cities. And you have to marry that with school, family and friends. It gets more challenging as you get older. Sometimes you have to do homework in the stands in between rounds at a show, or sitting on a trunk at the barn. You have to make a lot of hard choices about training, showing and studying over social outings. But it never gets old. I still get just as excited when we pull into the barn or get to a show.
Before moving to Palm Beach, we lived first in New York City and then in London. Both were amazing places but getting to a barn or to a horse show was really challenging — lots of hours in the car and on planes trying to cram in homework and sleep. 
What are your goals for the future?
My general goal is to keep working hard and improving as much as I can, and to be more consistent in the ring.
More specifically, my goal is to one day win the Maclay Finals. I just moved from ponies to horses this year and am having so much fun in the Junior Hunters, Children’s Jumpers and Equitation. I can feel myself getting closer to doing the Maclay. It’s so exciting!
What’s the best thing about your life?
Having such a loving and supportive family tops the list. I know this goes without saying, but I wouldn’t be able to do a fraction of what I do without my parents. They spend countless hours helping me reach my goals both in and out of the ring. And there are so many other people and things I’m grateful for.
Best kept secret about what you do!
I actually set multiple alarms each day to help me manage my life. My family gets annoyed when they hear yet another alarm, but each one has a specific purpose. For example, I have between seven and 10 alarms from the time I wake up to the time I walk out of the house every morning for school or the barn. It sounds crazy, but it tells me exactly what I need to do next and whether I’m on track or running late.
What’s something people might not know about you?
I’m Canadian and was born in Hong Kong.
