In the Middle Are the Horsemen

Tik Maynard

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 In 2008, 26–year–old Tik Maynard faced a crossroads not unlike that of other young adults. A university graduate and modern pentathlete, he suffered both a career–ending injury and a painful breakup, leaving him suddenly adrift. The son of prominent Canadian equestrians, Maynard decided to spend the next year as a “working student.” In the horse industry, working students aspire to become professional riders or trainers, and willingly trade labor for hands–on education. Here Maynard chronicles his experiences–good and bad–and we follow along as one year becomes three, what began as a casual adventure gradually transforms, and a life's purpose comes sharply into focus.

Over time, Maynard evolved under the critical eyes of Olympians, medal winners, and world–renowned figures in the horse world, including Anne Kursinski, Johann Hinnemann, Ingrid Klimke, David and Karen O'Connor, Bruce Logan, and Ian Millar. He was ignored, degraded, encouraged, and praised. He was hired and fired, told he had the “wrong body type to ride” and that he had found his “destiny.” He got married and lost loved ones. Through it all he studied the horse, and human nature, and how the two can find balance. And in that journey, he may have found himself. 


 
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Additional Information

Author: Tik Maynard

Format: Paperback

Page Count: 392

Illustrations: unillustrated

ISBN: 9781570768323

By Tik Maynard

Tik Maynard spent much of his twenties competing full time in the sport of Modern Pentathlon (running, swimming, shooting, fencing, show jumping). He was on the Canadian National Team and won the National Championships twice, and he competed at multiple World Cups, World Championships, and at the 2007 Pan-Am Games in Rio de Janeiro. Maynard has evented at the Advanced level and been Long-Listed and Short-Listed for the Canadian National Three-Day Event Team. He won the Freestyle twice at the Thoroughbred Makeover (2015, 2018) and judged it once (2017). Maynard won the Road to the Horse 2024 World Championship of Colt Starting and has been invited to compete for the title again in 2025. Maynard travels year-round, teaching clinics in the United States, Canada, England, and Scotland, and is an online instructor for The Horseman’s University and the Noelle Floyd Equestrian Masterclass. He is a regular guest on podcasts and a contributor to many equestrian magazines and online news sources. He is the author of In the Middle Are the Horsemen and Starting in the Middle. Maynard lives with his wife Sinead, a top American eventer, and their two children in Citra, Florida, where they run Copperline Farm (copperlineequestrian.com).

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Haynet Says:

“Read this book as a delightful memoir and perhaps as a social commentary on the equestrian world...a gold mine.”

Jumper Nation Says:

“An emotional roller coaster of a journey…. It is apparent that [Maynard] is not only a skilled horseman, but a talented writer and storyteller as well.”