When Tammy Adams says a love of horses “is just born into some girls,” she’s talking about her granddaughter, Letty McMillan. As the owner of Santiago Stables, Tammy got Letty on horses before she could walk. Now, Letty is an 11-year-old fifth-grader at Poseyville’s North Elementary School and has found success competing on Hackney ponies.
“It’s been a fun year,” says Letty’s mother, Alissa McMillan. “We just jumped in headfirst, and we’re living in her coattails.”
Letty is following a path similar to that of her grandmother, aunts, and cousins. Her aunt Remi competed on a roadster called Drumbeat (nicknamed “Jake”), the same horse Letty rides today. Despite being 19 years old now, Jake helped Letty win their first show together in March 2025 while wearing the same silks as Remi. Letty pursued horseback riding for “the freedom and the way it made me feel. I had a connection with it,” she says. “When she has free time, she’s here with me. She knows the responsibilities,” says Tammy, who trained her daughters and granddaughters — including Letty’s younger sister, Sage — in the same discipline. “It fills my heart with happiness.”
In August, Letty and Jake qualified for the 2025 World’s Championship Horse Show in the Junior Exhibitor class of the Roadster Pony Under Saddle division. The pair competed against 16 other horse-and-rider combinations, and although they did not win a ribbon at the contest in Louisville, Kentucky, Letty found the experience thrilling. “She can say she showed as one of the top 17 riders in the world in this division,” Alissa says. This March, Letty took home first place in the Hackney pleasure pony under saddle class at IASHA’s Spring Warm-Up in Cloverdale. Along for the ride: Pleasure pony Heartland Weatherman, or “Harley.”
“I love the rush you get every time you go in the ring,” says Letty, whose favorite division is roadster pony under saddle. “I like having a controlled pony but also the freedom to go as fast as you can.”
Her dedication to the sport also earned her the American Hackney Horse Society’s 2025 Spirit of Youth Medallion national award, which she accepted in January at a reception in Las Vegas, Nevada. Meanwhile, Letty keeps straight As in school, competes on her school’s volleyball team, and serves on the student council and safety patrol team.
“Her journey has definitely been the highlight of our lives. She’s very driven and works very hard,” Alissa says. “I love watching her come home with a smile, no matter what. We wouldn’t change it for the world.”
KNOW YOUR SHOW:
Hackney Pony: a breed developed in Great Britain that is known for its high-stepping trot.
Roadster Pony Under Saddle: a class in which hackney ponies must demonstrate three distinct gaits: jog-trot, road gait, and “at speed.” Hackney ponies and riders are judged on presentation, speed, quality, and manners.
Pleasure Pony Under Saddle: an English-style class in which hackney ponies and riders must demonstrate a smooth, relaxed ride at a walk and a trot.
