In 2008, Tik Maynard was pondering his future. He grew up on his family’s Vancouver horse farm with parents who are both accomplished equestrians: his mother, Jennifer, is a dressage rider and FEI judge, and his father, Rick, is a show jumping rider and respected coach. Tik had spent six years on the Canadian National Team competing in the Modern Pentathlon, including at the Pan American Games in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, in 2007, and had earned a history degree from the University of British Columbia. He thought about pursuing law studies, but opted to instead spend a year as a working student for some of the world’s top riders. This road took him to small-town Germany, the orange groves of Florida, and the plains of Texas.
Tik worked for dressage master Johann Hinnemann, dressage/event rider Ingrid Klimke, eventers Karen and David O’Connor, and Texas cowboy/natural horsemanship trainer Bruce Logan. “I went to Texas expecting to improve my riding, but I don’t think I improved my riding at all,” recalls Tik. “But in those few months, I learned more about horses than I’ve learned in my entire life. I learned about reading horses and how they interact with each other and how they interact with people and how sensitive they are. I had no idea.”
He became passionate about natural horsemanship and now uses it to train his own horses and at clinics to teach other riders how to incorporate it. “People talk to horses a lot, but it’s much harder for them to learn verbal communication,” says Tik. “It’s much easier for them to pick up physical and visual cues.”