Mark and Jenny Aplin are a husband and wife team that work together to teach, train, and manage Gallop Away.

Jenny Aplin
Jenny grew up locally in Dodgeville, WI on a small horse farm. Her horse career started with her first pony, Mousy, a feisty pony with her own agenda. After it became apparent that Jenny’s horse craziness wasn’t going to fade, her parents bought her a show pony, Lady. Together Lady and Jenny showed in the western and hunt seat rings, with Lady teaching Jenny the ropes. At home Lady was Jenny’s special companion, spending many summer days hanging out together or riding down to the local cheese factory to buy some candy. Pretty soon Jenny outgrew Lady and decided to focus her riding on hunter jumpers. Along came Wink, a kind and experienced equitation horse, perfect to learn to jump on. After that Jenny was hooked on hunter jumpers and moved up to greener, fancier horses. She showed on the hunter jumper circuit, bringing horses and ponies along and then selling them to start the next challenge. (Of course Wink and Lady stayed on the farm, their spot permanently part of the family.) Jenny then went to school at the University of Wisconsin Madison, earning a degree in Communication Arts. While at UW Madison she continued to bring along young horses and sell them, as well as participating on the UW Madison Equestrian Team. While on the team she was team captain and then became assistant coach for a year after graduating. Jenny is a patient, confidence boosting instructor that focuses on the fundamentals of good riding and horsemanship.

Mark Aplin
Mark started riding as soon as he could convince his parents that that was all he really wanted to do. As a Junior he worked his way up through the ranks, first in the Children's Hunters and then into the Junior Hunter and Equitation ranks. In 1991, Mark placed second in the AHSA Zone II medal finals. In 1993, his last year as a Junior, he also showed in the Regular Working Hunters. That year Mark received the Syracuse Chapter of the Professional Horseman's Association Junior Sportsmanship Award.
In 1994, his first year riding as an adult, Mark spent the winter in Florida showing with Olympian Michael Page. The year was spent showing in the Amateur-Owner and Preliminary Jumpers, as well as showing in a few Mini-Prixs. Mark also qualified for the USET Young Riders Equitation Finals. The following year he became a professional and started teaching and riding horses in the Pre-Green Hunters and Schooling Jumpers. In the following years Mark helped qualify numerous riders for AHSA Medal Finals, Maclay Regionals, and Zone II Hunter Finals.

In 1999 Mark decided it was time to go back to school. In May of 2002 he graduated Magna Cum Laude from Bryant College with a degree in Business Administration. He was also awarded the Sociology Graduation award.

Through and after college Mark continued to work with riders and horses in New York. In the spring of 2004 he made the move to Wisconsin to coach the UW Equestrian Team and to continue teaching private clients.