Ep. 80 Tik Maynard, International Eventer, Road to the Horse Champion, Author

I was fortunate to be asked to be on the group discussion podcast, Compass Conversations, and Tik was also in the group. That’s how I met him and I’m glad I did. You meet a lot of talented horsemen and women. They’re not always people you actually want to spend time around. Tik’s fun, enthusiastic, and genuinely wants to see everyone do well. 

He is also a very high level horseman and very competitive guy. Tik was  a part of the National Champion Team in Tetrathalon (running, swimming, shooting, jumping) in 1997, and part of the Canadian Team that won gold in Kentucky in 1998. He was also the Canadian national Champion in Tetrathalon in 2000. 

After pony club, Tik competed full time in the sport of Modern Pentathlon (running, swimming, shooting, fencing, show jumping).  Tik was on the Canadian National Team and won the National Championships twice.  He also competed at multiple World Cups, World Championships, and at the 2007 Pan-Am Games in Rio. He somehow managed to earn a B.A. in History from the University of British Columbia along the way.

Since 2008, Tik has been training horses full time.  After spending three years as a working student, he became assistant trainer to Anne Kursinski, then the head trainer at Bow Brickhill Stables in New Jersey.  After marrying Sinead Maynard, Tik started his own business, then in 2016, after Tik and Sinead bought Copperline Farm in Citra, Florida, they merged their businesses into one. 

Tik has evented at the Advanced level and been long-listed and short-listed for Canadian National Three-Day Event Team. 

Most recently, Tik has become interested in colt starting, expanding his horsemanship and understanding of the process of gentling and starting a green horse. He’s apparently pretty good at it, winning RTTH in 2024 and he’ll be defending that title this coming weekend at RTTH 2025. 

He writes articles and has authored 2 books, his first one, “In the middle are the horsemen” came out in 2018. He’s also got a new book out on the journey of learning about colt starting, and ultimately, himself through that process. The book is now available for purchase and is called, “Starting in the middle”.