&
Tik Maynard:
A Good Use of Pent-Up Energy
It’s been said that Tik Maynard’s marrying of natural
horsemanship principles with competitive goals could
“profoundly change performance
riding for the better”
and if anyone can do it, he will. His family history goes five generations deep in Vancouver, Canada, where his grandparents
had horses, his dad began a grand prix show jumping career before coaching the 2012 Modern Pentathlete Olympic team,
his mom rides Grand Prix dressage, and together, his parents were the first official photographers at Spruce Meadows. Tik
represented Canada at three World Championships and on the 2007 Pan American Modern Pentathlete team before a broken
collar bone at the 2008 World Cup put him on a different course: horses. He went from working student to Assistant
Trainer with 5x US Olympic Show Jumping (2x Team Silver medalist) rider Anne Kursinski, then head trainer at Bow Brickhill
Stables, marriage in 2014 to US Eventing team rider Sinead Halpin and the start of Tik Maynard LLC eventing and natural
horsemanship training in New Jersey and Florida. Between strides he is an author: twice shortlisted for the CBC Literary
Awards for non-fiction, winner of the Malahat Review Open Season Award, and in 2018, Trafalgar Square Books released
his book, ‘In the Middle are the Horsemen,’ chronicling the highs and lows of his journey into horse –and human – nature.
40 www.EliteEquestrianMagazine.com
HERS: What motivates you to get
out of bed in the morning?
HIS: I’m not a morning person.
It takes me a good hour to get
going. The initial bit, about getting
out of bed? Probably guilt.
HERS: If we’re sitting here a year
from now celebrating what a
great 12 months it’s been, what
do you hope you achieved?
HIS: That I have a healthy, happy
baby, a healthy, happy wife,
and healthy, happy horses.
HERS: What would the closest
person in your life say if I asked
what characteristic they totally
dig about you and which one
drives them insane?
HIS: My wife might say my joy of
living, and the part that drives
her insane - when I’m doing too
many things at once and I’m
not paying attention.
HERS: If I were to ask your friends,
‘Give me three adjectives that
best describe you,’ what would
I hear?
HIS: It would be an interesting
experiment to see if what we
answered would actually be
true.