00:00:00.017 --> 00:00:04.737
Kevin Lowe: If you click play on today's episode thinking it's all about horses,
00:00:05.137 --> 00:00:08.177
Kevin Lowe: well, you're right, but you're also totally mistaken.
00:00:08.497 --> 00:00:13.977
Kevin Lowe: And that's because today's guest, Tik Maynard, two-time World to the Horse
00:00:13.977 --> 00:00:19.097
Kevin Lowe: champion, is here to talk to us about way more than just horses.
00:00:19.617 --> 00:00:25.457
Kevin Lowe: He's here to give us his story. And in that story, a lesson in what it's like
00:00:25.457 --> 00:00:26.797
Kevin Lowe: to chase after your dreams.
00:00:26.797 --> 00:00:31.677
Kevin Lowe: To go after the things that you believe in, even if they might be a little bit
00:00:31.677 --> 00:00:34.817
Kevin Lowe: different than how everybody else is doing it.
00:00:35.077 --> 00:00:39.837
Kevin Lowe: So even if you've never ridden a horse, been around a horse,
00:00:40.257 --> 00:00:45.997
Kevin Lowe: consider yourself to be a horse person, my friend, today's interview is something
00:00:45.997 --> 00:00:47.777
Kevin Lowe: that is going to transform your life.
00:00:48.117 --> 00:00:51.137
Kevin Lowe: Because honestly, when you boil it down.
00:00:51.977 --> 00:00:57.817
Kevin Lowe: Tik story today, what it's about, it's about really waking up to who you really
00:00:57.817 --> 00:01:03.297
Kevin Lowe: and truly are and ultimately finding the courage to step into it even when the stakes are high.
00:01:03.497 --> 00:01:08.837
Kevin Lowe: So my friend, I encourage you to get ready, to lean in, to get excited because
00:01:08.837 --> 00:01:10.937
Kevin Lowe: today's episode is going to move you.
00:01:11.157 --> 00:01:15.477
Kevin Lowe: This is episode 404 of Grit, Grace, and Inspiration.
00:01:15.817 --> 00:01:23.937
Kevin Lowe: Me, I'm your host, Kevin Lowe. And of course, as always, I am absolutely stoked that you are here today.
00:01:24.337 --> 00:01:30.637
Kevin Lowe: Now, as one little extra bonus, in case today's episode isn't enough,
00:01:30.917 --> 00:01:34.437
Kevin Lowe: well, I want you to check out the link at the top of today's show notes,
00:01:34.557 --> 00:01:40.517
Kevin Lowe: where you can hear this entire story shrunk down into just a song.
00:01:40.877 --> 00:01:46.237
Kevin Lowe: Yeah, a custom country song that tells the story of Tik Maynard.
00:01:46.317 --> 00:01:51.957
Kevin Lowe: It's called The Horseman's Dance, and is ready for you to listen right now.
00:01:51.957 --> 00:01:57.177
Kevin Lowe: So I encourage you first listen to the interview, but then be sure to check
00:01:57.177 --> 00:02:02.117
Kevin Lowe: out the song for a little extra something just to be sure that you get enough
00:02:02.117 --> 00:02:03.937
Kevin Lowe: of Tik Maynard in your life.
00:02:04.197 --> 00:02:07.057
Kevin Lowe: Why not have it as a song as well?
00:02:07.337 --> 00:02:12.817
Podcast Intro with music: I got Grit, Grace, & Inspiration on my mind...
00:02:15.226 --> 00:02:19.066
Kevin Lowe: What is going on? And welcome back to Grit, Grace, & Inspiration.
00:02:19.326 --> 00:02:21.006
Kevin Lowe: I'm your host, Kevin Lowe.
00:02:21.506 --> 00:02:28.246
Kevin Lowe: Today, I have the pleasure of being in the studio with none other than the infamous Mr. Tik Maynard.
00:02:28.546 --> 00:02:31.966
Kevin Lowe: Tik, man, what a pleasure to have you here. Welcome to the podcast.
00:02:32.686 --> 00:02:37.426
Tik Maynard: Thanks, Kevin. It is an honor and a privilege and a pleasure to be here chatting
00:02:37.426 --> 00:02:38.386
Tik Maynard: with you. Thanks for having me.
00:02:39.126 --> 00:02:43.546
Kevin Lowe: Absolutely. Well, Tik, I'm excited to get to dive into your story,
00:02:43.546 --> 00:02:47.366
Kevin Lowe: But, you know, I always say, you know, obviously a story starts at the beginning.
00:02:47.726 --> 00:02:53.866
Kevin Lowe: And the question that I would love to start off with is what is your first memory
00:02:53.866 --> 00:02:57.686
Kevin Lowe: kind of revolve around in regards to horses?
00:02:58.006 --> 00:03:03.766
Kevin Lowe: I guess I'm just kind of curious to understand where horses entered the picture for you.
00:03:04.046 --> 00:03:08.746
Tik Maynard: Yeah, a lot of, you know, in the horse world, there's a lot of kids that didn't
00:03:08.746 --> 00:03:12.946
Tik Maynard: grow up around horses. And you can see that passion in kids sometimes as young
00:03:12.946 --> 00:03:17.106
Tik Maynard: as three or four years old, where they want to have a stuffed animal horse.
00:03:17.246 --> 00:03:19.026
Tik Maynard: They want to go pet horses.
00:03:19.246 --> 00:03:24.666
Tik Maynard: They want to go on pony rides. They want to wear horse t-shirts or pony t-shirts or unicorn t-shirts.
00:03:24.926 --> 00:03:29.626
Tik Maynard: But for a few of us, like myself and like some other people out there,
00:03:29.806 --> 00:03:31.506
Tik Maynard: we grew up around horses.
00:03:31.706 --> 00:03:36.406
Tik Maynard: And I don't even really remember the process of learning to ride.
00:03:36.406 --> 00:03:39.746
Tik Maynard: It was just, we always had horses in the backyard. my parents' road,
00:03:40.086 --> 00:03:42.586
Tik Maynard: my brother's road, all our neighbors' road.
00:03:42.746 --> 00:03:47.766
Tik Maynard: And it was just part of sort of the lifestyle and the culture that we had growing up.
00:03:47.886 --> 00:03:52.366
Tik Maynard: Maybe similar to the way that some people, you know, it's what their family
00:03:52.366 --> 00:03:54.926
Tik Maynard: does. Maybe they play baseball together or go to church together.
00:03:55.286 --> 00:03:57.366
Tik Maynard: And so I was lucky enough to grow up in that environment.
00:03:58.006 --> 00:04:00.906
Kevin Lowe: Yeah. Now, whereabouts did you grow up at?
00:04:01.306 --> 00:04:05.066
Tik Maynard: I grew up in a really unique area when it comes to horses.
00:04:05.586 --> 00:04:10.706
Tik Maynard: Mostly horses are in quite rural settings, wide open spaces.
00:04:10.706 --> 00:04:13.846
Tik Maynard: We think of Texas or Montana or Colorado.
00:04:14.286 --> 00:04:20.146
Tik Maynard: We don't usually think of major cities. And I actually grew up in the city of Vancouver in Canada.
00:04:20.346 --> 00:04:25.866
Tik Maynard: And there's this very small pocket, maybe about a square mile that is zoned
00:04:25.866 --> 00:04:31.666
Tik Maynard: in a way that owners are allowed to have horses right within the city limits of Vancouver.
00:04:31.906 --> 00:04:33.186
Tik Maynard: And it's a very unique thing. I've
00:04:33.186 --> 00:04:37.526
Tik Maynard: never heard of that in any other North American city that I've heard of.
00:04:37.806 --> 00:04:43.306
Tik Maynard: So the lot sizes were not, by a horse standard, the lot sizes were not very big.
00:04:43.446 --> 00:04:46.786
Tik Maynard: They were sort of anywhere from one acre to maybe three acres.
00:04:47.586 --> 00:04:51.106
Tik Maynard: According to the city standards, where the lots are usually like a quarter acre,
00:04:51.606 --> 00:04:55.606
Tik Maynard: they were quite big, but compared to a rural setting where farms and horses
00:04:55.606 --> 00:04:56.966
Tik Maynard: usually live, they were quite small.
00:04:57.626 --> 00:05:02.806
Tik Maynard: And so a lot of our neighbors had horses, but there was a riding club called
00:05:02.806 --> 00:05:03.846
Tik Maynard: Selfland's Riding Club.
00:05:03.986 --> 00:05:09.946
Tik Maynard: And so everybody that had horses, they joined the riding club and we would lead
00:05:09.946 --> 00:05:14.866
Tik Maynard: our horses or ride our horses along the streets and along sort of the sidewalks.
00:05:14.926 --> 00:05:19.486
Tik Maynard: And there were ditches on either side of the street with little fish or minnows
00:05:19.486 --> 00:05:22.286
Tik Maynard: or ducks or great blue herons.
00:05:22.286 --> 00:05:25.266
Tik Maynard: Of them and we would ride along the road anywhere, depending on where you lived,
00:05:25.346 --> 00:05:29.126
Tik Maynard: anywhere from a quarter mile to the full length of that area,
00:05:29.306 --> 00:05:32.546
Tik Maynard: South Flint, so it's owned agriculturally. And we would ride over to the riding club.
00:05:32.786 --> 00:05:36.246
Tik Maynard: You know, everybody that rode in that area, we all got to know each other and
00:05:36.246 --> 00:05:39.426
Tik Maynard: we all kind of shared a space and we were all members of that club.
00:05:39.606 --> 00:05:41.526
Tik Maynard: It was a pretty unique way to grow up around horses.
00:05:41.966 --> 00:05:47.346
Kevin Lowe: That is, that's fascinating. Now the riding club, what would you do at the club?
00:05:47.606 --> 00:05:51.266
Kevin Lowe: Like what was the, I guess, the point of being part of the club?
00:05:51.786 --> 00:05:56.446
Tik Maynard: So first of all, for the people that don't have a horse background that are
00:05:56.446 --> 00:05:59.366
Tik Maynard: listening to this, Kevin, we have to understand that in the horse world,
00:05:59.506 --> 00:06:01.406
Tik Maynard: there's a lot of different disciplines.
00:06:01.726 --> 00:06:05.366
Tik Maynard: You know, there's the English sports, the Olympic sports of dressage,
00:06:06.046 --> 00:06:07.946
Tik Maynard: show jumping and three-day eventing.
00:06:08.226 --> 00:06:11.746
Tik Maynard: And then you have the Western sports like reining and cutting.
00:06:12.146 --> 00:06:15.486
Tik Maynard: And then there's also a lot, a lot of other sort of disciplines,
00:06:15.706 --> 00:06:19.346
Tik Maynard: anything from thoroughbred racing, to polo, to endurance riding,
00:06:19.546 --> 00:06:24.446
Tik Maynard: to mounted archery or mounted shooting, to competitive trail riding, to working equitation.
00:06:24.626 --> 00:06:29.406
Tik Maynard: I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if there's over a hundred different horse sports in existence.
00:06:29.606 --> 00:06:35.566
Tik Maynard: And this riding club mainly catered to English riders, which means show jumping,
00:06:35.646 --> 00:06:36.546
Tik Maynard: dressage, and eventing.
00:06:36.706 --> 00:06:41.126
Tik Maynard: And so there was six or seven different arenas. There was a grass field we could
00:06:41.126 --> 00:06:44.206
Tik Maynard: ride in. There was a half mile track to ride around.
00:06:44.786 --> 00:06:48.086
Tik Maynard: When it was raining, there was an indoor arena and also a covered arena,
00:06:48.086 --> 00:06:50.346
Tik Maynard: which essentially means it has a roof, but no sides.
00:06:51.706 --> 00:06:54.926
Tik Maynard: And because there wasn't a lot of space on the smaller lots where people kept
00:06:54.926 --> 00:06:57.226
Tik Maynard: their horses, we would all go over there and we'll be able to ride in these
00:06:57.226 --> 00:07:00.366
Tik Maynard: bigger arenas or go for a trotter or canter around the half mile track.
00:07:00.886 --> 00:07:06.486
Kevin Lowe: Wow. That's very fascinating. And I do appreciate you breaking down the different
00:07:06.486 --> 00:07:11.806
Kevin Lowe: types of horse riding because, yeah, I don't think any of us have quite the
00:07:11.806 --> 00:07:15.486
Kevin Lowe: clue that there could be so much. That's amazing.
00:07:15.646 --> 00:07:22.686
Kevin Lowe: Now, I guess what I'm curious about is when did this kind of hobby that you
00:07:22.686 --> 00:07:26.206
Kevin Lowe: did with family turn into something more?
00:07:26.526 --> 00:07:33.906
Kevin Lowe: And maybe even when did you realize, wait, I want this to be part of my life?
00:07:33.906 --> 00:07:40.526
Tik Maynard: Yeah, I rode as a hobby and as part of the family lifestyle growing up from
00:07:40.526 --> 00:07:46.626
Tik Maynard: my earliest memories of three or four or five years old all the way up through high school.
00:07:46.906 --> 00:07:50.026
Tik Maynard: And I rode through university as well.
00:07:50.166 --> 00:07:55.826
Tik Maynard: I went to the University of British Columbia and I was there for five years from 2000 to 2005 and.
00:07:57.357 --> 00:08:03.817
Tik Maynard: And then, you know, after that point, I was kind of in a bit of a holding pattern
00:08:03.817 --> 00:08:07.697
Tik Maynard: where I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life.
00:08:07.977 --> 00:08:12.377
Tik Maynard: And I could have gone back to school, which was certainly an option I was thinking about.
00:08:12.497 --> 00:08:17.717
Tik Maynard: But horses were the other thing in my life that I've been doing and that I saw
00:08:17.717 --> 00:08:20.077
Tik Maynard: a potential way to make a living and make a career out of it.
00:08:20.077 --> 00:08:26.577
Tik Maynard: And where I was at, I wouldn't say I was necessarily a big fish in a small pond,
00:08:26.737 --> 00:08:28.977
Tik Maynard: but I was a fish in a small pond.
00:08:29.397 --> 00:08:33.037
Tik Maynard: And I'd never really experienced a lot really outside of that.
00:08:33.137 --> 00:08:36.257
Tik Maynard: You know, I'd never ridden in Europe. I'd never ridden in South America.
00:08:36.257 --> 00:08:39.717
Tik Maynard: I'd never gone to work for other professionals other than the people and my
00:08:39.717 --> 00:08:42.257
Tik Maynard: parents that were in this small area.
00:08:42.917 --> 00:08:47.457
Tik Maynard: And I made the decision that I was going to put off school and put off a career
00:08:47.457 --> 00:08:49.577
Tik Maynard: and I was going to take a year or two.
00:08:50.077 --> 00:08:53.717
Tik Maynard: And I was going to travel and work for other people around the world.
00:08:53.857 --> 00:08:56.577
Tik Maynard: And when you do that, it's usually called a working student position,
00:08:56.577 --> 00:09:03.237
Tik Maynard: which is essentially an internship where a young person will go and trade manual
00:09:03.237 --> 00:09:05.397
Tik Maynard: labor, mucking stalls, sweeping,
00:09:06.257 --> 00:09:11.097
Tik Maynard: Cleaning tack, grooming horses in exchange for riding lessons in order to improve
00:09:11.097 --> 00:09:12.757
Tik Maynard: the young person's riding.
00:09:12.997 --> 00:09:17.557
Tik Maynard: And so I went and did that for a couple of years. And when I went out and began
00:09:17.557 --> 00:09:21.257
Tik Maynard: that journey, my goal was to become a better rider.
00:09:21.597 --> 00:09:26.837
Tik Maynard: And when I imagined a better rider, it was somebody that could sit more handsomely on a horse.
00:09:26.877 --> 00:09:30.837
Tik Maynard: It was somebody that looked more elegant. It was somebody that was winning major
00:09:30.837 --> 00:09:36.097
Tik Maynard: competitions. It was somebody that, you know, had the respect of people and
00:09:36.097 --> 00:09:39.977
Tik Maynard: was maybe on a track to go to the Olympics. And that's what I thought of as a good rider.
00:09:40.677 --> 00:09:44.817
Tik Maynard: And about halfway through the kind of two years that I spent on the road,
00:09:44.917 --> 00:09:47.357
Tik Maynard: I got introduced by a few different people.
00:09:47.517 --> 00:09:52.357
Tik Maynard: I got introduced to the concept of natural horsemanship, or what a lot of people
00:09:52.357 --> 00:09:54.377
Tik Maynard: call horsemanship or horse psychology.
00:09:55.137 --> 00:10:02.217
Tik Maynard: And at that point, I started to switch gears slightly, and that world of horsemanship
00:10:02.217 --> 00:10:06.137
Tik Maynard: and natural horsemanship really drew me in very quickly and very passionately.
00:10:06.497 --> 00:10:11.477
Tik Maynard: And I decided I wanted to learn more about that. And what I started to realize
00:10:11.477 --> 00:10:16.157
Tik Maynard: was that being a good horseman and being a good rider is
00:10:16.685 --> 00:10:22.885
Tik Maynard: are not the same thing. Being a good horseman is about learning how horses think,
00:10:23.245 --> 00:10:24.705
Tik Maynard: learning how horses feel,
00:10:25.485 --> 00:10:29.605
Tik Maynard: Learning how horses learn and play, treating horses with respect,
00:10:30.305 --> 00:10:34.525
Tik Maynard: staying one step ahead of problems so that you're not reacting to problems,
00:10:34.565 --> 00:10:36.005
Tik Maynard: you're preventing them in the first place.
00:10:36.165 --> 00:10:41.785
Tik Maynard: It's treating the horses as your partner rather than as your slave.
00:10:41.985 --> 00:10:47.605
Tik Maynard: And it's about having our respect for where we're going as horse people and where we came from.
00:10:48.185 --> 00:10:53.545
Tik Maynard: And that thought had never really entered my mind, you know, growing up.
00:10:53.605 --> 00:10:56.005
Tik Maynard: It was all about, for me, I was like, I want to be a better rider.
00:10:56.105 --> 00:10:57.645
Tik Maynard: I want to be winning. I want to be competing.
00:10:58.425 --> 00:11:01.705
Tik Maynard: Once I kind of dove deeper into that world, it just, you know,
00:11:01.725 --> 00:11:06.685
Tik Maynard: I started watching clinics. I started reading books. I started buying DVDs.
00:11:07.405 --> 00:11:11.565
Tik Maynard: I'd say that was sort of the biggest shift that I've had in my life is when
00:11:11.565 --> 00:11:13.505
Tik Maynard: I started to get interested in that part of horses.
00:11:14.185 --> 00:11:22.405
Kevin Lowe: Yeah. Do you think that you can be a good rider or maybe better words,
00:11:23.025 --> 00:11:30.125
Kevin Lowe: live up to the best expectations of being a good rider without being a good horseman?
00:11:30.705 --> 00:11:33.805
Tik Maynard: Yes, I think you can be a good rider without being a good horseman.
00:11:33.945 --> 00:11:37.525
Tik Maynard: I think there's people, you know, for example,
00:11:37.725 --> 00:11:41.505
Tik Maynard: I worked for a while in Wellington, which
00:11:41.505 --> 00:11:44.985
Tik Maynard: is near west palm beach in in florida in the united states and
00:11:44.985 --> 00:11:50.905
Tik Maynard: uh there's a lot of a lot of expensive horses and a lot of money and a lot of
00:11:50.905 --> 00:11:57.525
Tik Maynard: a lot of affluence in that area and um there'd be people that were young and
00:11:57.525 --> 00:12:01.845
Tik Maynard: you know maybe in their early 20s or even teenagers and they were young and
00:12:01.845 --> 00:12:04.205
Tik Maynard: they were smart and they were motivated and they were smart and they were motivated and
00:12:04.721 --> 00:12:10.221
Tik Maynard: they had a lot of money behind them. And horses weren't something that was all-encompassing
00:12:10.221 --> 00:12:11.501
Tik Maynard: for them the way that it was for me.
00:12:11.521 --> 00:12:16.041
Tik Maynard: It was something that they wanted to do on weekends in between high school or
00:12:16.041 --> 00:12:17.781
Tik Maynard: on spring break from college.
00:12:18.021 --> 00:12:21.781
Tik Maynard: And so what they would do is they would have, they would buy really expensive horses.
00:12:22.121 --> 00:12:24.521
Tik Maynard: Sometimes they could be a million dollars or more for these horses.
00:12:25.081 --> 00:12:29.941
Tik Maynard: And the rider would show up on a private plane for the weekend and they would
00:12:29.941 --> 00:12:32.321
Tik Maynard: show up at the barn and the horse would already be caught.
00:12:32.461 --> 00:12:35.761
Tik Maynard: The horse would already be groomed. The horse would already be tacked up and
00:12:35.761 --> 00:12:38.761
Tik Maynard: the rider would go over and get on a mounting block,
00:12:38.881 --> 00:12:43.161
Tik Maynard: never having to look the horse in the eye and get on that horse and take a riding
00:12:43.161 --> 00:12:48.281
Tik Maynard: lesson from one of the best riding instructors in the world.
00:12:48.841 --> 00:12:53.721
Tik Maynard: And they would do that, you know, every other weekend during the winter in Wellington,
00:12:53.721 --> 00:12:57.461
Tik Maynard: and they would compete in, in a higher and higher level competitions,
00:12:57.701 --> 00:12:59.061
Tik Maynard: whether it's dressage or show jumping.
00:12:59.761 --> 00:13:02.901
Tik Maynard: And, uh, they would get to the point where I would call them very,
00:13:03.081 --> 00:13:07.541
Tik Maynard: very talented riders by going through this process, having great instruction and great horses.
00:13:07.861 --> 00:13:12.201
Tik Maynard: But they never really had to learn how to catch a horse. They never really had
00:13:12.201 --> 00:13:15.381
Tik Maynard: to learn how to start a horse, how to tame a horse.
00:13:15.821 --> 00:13:20.281
Tik Maynard: Because the horses were so well-trained already, they were buying horses that were already trained.
00:13:20.381 --> 00:13:25.821
Tik Maynard: They never really had to go a lot deeper into what horse psychology really means.
00:13:26.121 --> 00:13:30.001
Tik Maynard: And I think in situations like that, I'd say there's a distinction between being
00:13:30.001 --> 00:13:31.461
Tik Maynard: a good rider and being a good horseman.
00:13:31.761 --> 00:13:36.761
Kevin Lowe: Yeah. I guess, you know, as you were talking it out, it made sense because I
00:13:36.761 --> 00:13:40.641
Kevin Lowe: was thinking of watching, say, like the Kentucky Derby.
00:13:40.781 --> 00:13:45.701
Kevin Lowe: So the rider obviously is the jockey where the horseman would be the trainer.
00:13:46.341 --> 00:13:48.081
Kevin Lowe: Is that a fair comparison?
00:13:48.661 --> 00:13:51.661
Tik Maynard: That's the right idea. I think you could have jockeys that are also,
00:13:51.881 --> 00:13:55.261
Tik Maynard: I think a jockey could be a good rider and a good horseman or the jockey could
00:13:55.261 --> 00:13:58.341
Tik Maynard: just be a good rider. I think the two can go hand in hand.
00:13:58.981 --> 00:14:03.881
Tik Maynard: And same thing with the trainers. I think there's some, some trainers of thoroughbreds,
00:14:03.961 --> 00:14:08.821
Tik Maynard: like, like we see at the Kentucky Derby, where it purely becomes a numbers game,
00:14:08.961 --> 00:14:11.541
Tik Maynard: where it's just the amount of horses they can get in and out.
00:14:11.741 --> 00:14:15.341
Tik Maynard: And they train all the horses sort of the same way. And because they've got
00:14:15.341 --> 00:14:18.521
Tik Maynard: enough horses coming through the program and enough money, they're going to
00:14:18.521 --> 00:14:23.421
Tik Maynard: have some success. I would compare that to maybe, um, when I was at university,
00:14:23.421 --> 00:14:25.881
Tik Maynard: I ran track and cross-country.
00:14:26.141 --> 00:14:28.601
Tik Maynard: I was never super talented, but I enjoyed it.
00:14:29.181 --> 00:14:34.841
Tik Maynard: And our coach, the first couple years, he would have, at the beginning of cross-country
00:14:34.841 --> 00:14:42.561
Tik Maynard: season in late August, early September, he would have about 80 athletes that he was training. And
00:14:43.503 --> 00:14:48.003
Tik Maynard: He would train all 80 of us virtually the same way, you know,
00:14:48.083 --> 00:14:50.763
Tik Maynard: similar workouts, similar distance each week.
00:14:51.023 --> 00:14:55.203
Tik Maynard: And by the time that track season ended at the, you know, early summer,
00:14:55.343 --> 00:14:59.723
Tik Maynard: late spring, we'd have gone from having 80 people to maybe having eight people.
00:14:59.903 --> 00:15:03.183
Tik Maynard: But the eight people that were left were really, really good.
00:15:03.463 --> 00:15:06.463
Tik Maynard: You know, they'd gone through that, they've survived it, and they've gotten really talented.
00:15:06.643 --> 00:15:10.863
Tik Maynard: And so he had some athletes that were really doing well, but he lost a lot along
00:15:10.863 --> 00:15:14.823
Tik Maynard: the way. and compare that to other coaches that I've had that will tailor the
00:15:14.823 --> 00:15:18.343
Tik Maynard: workout for every single athlete, depending on their strengths,
00:15:18.523 --> 00:15:21.163
Tik Maynard: their weaknesses, how they're rehabilitating from an injury.
00:15:21.423 --> 00:15:26.803
Tik Maynard: And so if you're starting with six athletes, but you can keep all six and have
00:15:26.803 --> 00:15:31.283
Tik Maynard: a moderate amount of success with them, in some ways that takes more skill than
00:15:31.283 --> 00:15:35.223
Tik Maynard: having 80 athletes, giving everybody the same workout and ending with eight that are doing better.
00:15:35.763 --> 00:15:39.343
Kevin Lowe: Yes, yes, that makes total sense. Absolutely.
00:15:39.343 --> 00:15:42.683
Kevin Lowe: Fascinating fascinating well i guess
00:15:42.683 --> 00:15:48.283
Kevin Lowe: what i'm curious is is you you've been traveling the world you've been working
00:15:48.283 --> 00:15:54.683
Kevin Lowe: you you come to this realization that you you want to become a better horseman
00:15:54.683 --> 00:16:00.023
Kevin Lowe: not just a rider so where does life kind of go from that point.
00:16:00.680 --> 00:16:05.560
Tik Maynard: So even though I was interested in this idea of horsemanship and natural horsemanship,
00:16:05.760 --> 00:16:08.820
Tik Maynard: in that world, I was still, even though I was passionate about it,
00:16:08.860 --> 00:16:11.820
Tik Maynard: I was still very much a beginner and I was learning about it.
00:16:11.980 --> 00:16:16.540
Tik Maynard: And so to make a living, I kind of went back to what I knew,
00:16:16.660 --> 00:16:20.960
Tik Maynard: which was teaching and riding jumping horses and three-day eventing horses.
00:16:21.660 --> 00:16:25.540
Tik Maynard: Also what happened about that time, so we're talking about 2010,
00:16:25.900 --> 00:16:31.480
Tik Maynard: 2011, about that time frame now. Now, I met Sinead, who's a three-day event
00:16:31.480 --> 00:16:36.100
Tik Maynard: rider, and we started dating, and we'd eventually get married.
00:16:36.420 --> 00:16:41.040
Tik Maynard: And she's an American, and she grew up in the southeastern United States and
00:16:41.040 --> 00:16:44.500
Tik Maynard: has been a three-day event rider since she was about 12 years old.
00:16:44.760 --> 00:16:48.600
Tik Maynard: And so I made the decision to stay here in the United States with her,
00:16:48.740 --> 00:16:52.240
Tik Maynard: which from the perspective of our relationship was great.
00:16:52.240 --> 00:16:55.740
Tik Maynard: And it was also great from the perspective of learning about horsemanship,
00:16:55.740 --> 00:17:00.080
Tik Maynard: because there's a lot of really talented, both riders and horsemen in the Eastern
00:17:00.080 --> 00:17:01.140
Tik Maynard: part of the United States.
00:17:01.520 --> 00:17:07.180
Tik Maynard: And so I really started to learn more and more from these people,
00:17:07.340 --> 00:17:10.140
Tik Maynard: both in person, but also, you know, at that time,
00:17:10.500 --> 00:17:15.940
Tik Maynard: you know, in the, in sort of 2010 to 2015, the, or maybe it was just me,
00:17:16.020 --> 00:17:21.120
Tik Maynard: I'm not sure, but the live streaming and the streaming content wasn't hugely popular yet.
00:17:21.120 --> 00:17:26.800
Tik Maynard: And so I ended up buying a lot of DVDs because I learned well through watching stuff.
00:17:26.940 --> 00:17:30.880
Tik Maynard: You know, I don't necessarily have to be doing it to feel like I can, I can learn from it.
00:17:31.060 --> 00:17:35.140
Tik Maynard: And so, you know, I'm in my office right now and I look to the side of me and
00:17:35.140 --> 00:17:38.440
Tik Maynard: I probably have on the shelf beside me, I probably have, you know,
00:17:38.520 --> 00:17:40.900
Tik Maynard: I didn't pay retail for all of them, but if I had paid retail,
00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:46.280
Tik Maynard: I probably have, you know, $10,000 worth of horse DVDs next to me.
00:17:46.843 --> 00:17:51.663
Tik Maynard: And a lot of those you can get now for obviously much cheaper on like eBay and stuff like that.
00:17:51.763 --> 00:17:55.263
Tik Maynard: But, you know, I have a huge collection of these videos that I would watch.
00:17:55.463 --> 00:17:58.943
Tik Maynard: And then, you know, going to sleep at night, even with my eyes closed,
00:17:58.943 --> 00:18:01.863
Tik Maynard: I would play through some of those moments,
00:18:02.003 --> 00:18:05.983
Tik Maynard: some of those scenarios of horse training sort of in my mind's eye with my eyes
00:18:05.983 --> 00:18:11.923
Tik Maynard: closed as I fell asleep at night and really relearning it over and over again.
00:18:11.943 --> 00:18:15.343
Tik Maynard: And to the point where I got to imagine the horse could give maybe a different
00:18:15.343 --> 00:18:18.723
Tik Maynard: response. and I'd imagine how I'd respond to that and how they would respond to that.
00:18:18.803 --> 00:18:21.923
Tik Maynard: It'd be almost like a chess game that would play out in my mind.
00:18:22.243 --> 00:18:27.083
Tik Maynard: And through actually practicing with horses and doing that, I developed more
00:18:27.083 --> 00:18:28.163
Tik Maynard: and more skill in that world.
00:18:28.483 --> 00:18:32.943
Tik Maynard: When I started to develop my own business and stop being a working student,
00:18:33.163 --> 00:18:37.483
Tik Maynard: I was dabbling in both of these worlds, the worlds of natural horsemanship and
00:18:37.483 --> 00:18:39.463
Tik Maynard: the world of competitive riding.
00:18:40.083 --> 00:18:46.103
Tik Maynard: And I remember very clearly somebody that I really respected came to me and
00:18:46.103 --> 00:18:47.803
Tik Maynard: said, Tik, it's not going to work.
00:18:47.963 --> 00:18:51.623
Tik Maynard: You're shooting yourself in the foot by doing this. If you try to live in both
00:18:51.623 --> 00:18:56.723
Tik Maynard: worlds, nobody's going to respect you and you're only going to get partially good at both things.
00:18:57.143 --> 00:19:00.843
Tik Maynard: They said, I really recommend you choose one path and you follow it.
00:19:01.523 --> 00:19:05.783
Tik Maynard: And thank goodness I did not listen to that person because I think it's exactly
00:19:05.783 --> 00:19:11.883
Tik Maynard: the combination of applying the horsemanship to the competitive world and applying
00:19:11.883 --> 00:19:19.343
Tik Maynard: purpose to horsemanship that has made me into the rider and horseman I am today.
00:19:19.723 --> 00:19:22.523
Kevin Lowe: Yeah, I love it. I love it so much.
00:19:23.284 --> 00:19:27.444
Kevin Lowe: I'm curious, just based on what you were saying when you were talking about
00:19:27.444 --> 00:19:32.424
Kevin Lowe: the way in which you love to learn through the videos that you watch,
00:19:32.624 --> 00:19:35.604
Kevin Lowe: and then when you were talking about laying in bed at night,
00:19:35.724 --> 00:19:41.144
Kevin Lowe: eyes closed, and just imagining it, putting yourself in it and feeling the horse
00:19:41.144 --> 00:19:42.624
Kevin Lowe: and putting yourself in that situation.
00:19:43.064 --> 00:19:51.244
Kevin Lowe: When you're on the horse and you're actually riding, what is it that you are
00:19:51.244 --> 00:19:53.484
Kevin Lowe: paying attention to the most? Is it visual?
00:19:53.664 --> 00:19:59.524
Kevin Lowe: Is it muscle memory of exactly how to do? Are you paying attention to the reaction
00:19:59.524 --> 00:20:01.564
Kevin Lowe: of the horse in that moment?
00:20:01.764 --> 00:20:08.844
Kevin Lowe: Like, what is it that you really tune into when you're in the moment on the horse doing the thing?
00:20:09.104 --> 00:20:13.224
Tik Maynard: That's a great question, Kevin. I love that. So, so first of all,
00:20:13.384 --> 00:20:16.184
Tik Maynard: I'll back up and I'll say for somebody that's new to riding,
00:20:16.184 --> 00:20:22.424
Tik Maynard: what they're usually concentrating on is simply, can they stay,
00:20:22.664 --> 00:20:23.784
Tik Maynard: can they stay on the horse?
00:20:24.304 --> 00:20:28.464
Tik Maynard: Can they, can they, can they keep their balance? Are their eyes up?
00:20:28.544 --> 00:20:30.424
Tik Maynard: Are their heels down? Are they holding the reins the right way?
00:20:30.524 --> 00:20:33.704
Tik Maynard: And they're just kind of, you know, it's a very sort of surface level of just
00:20:33.704 --> 00:20:36.684
Tik Maynard: trying to like survive that moment and sTik with the horse.
00:20:37.124 --> 00:20:40.924
Tik Maynard: For me, I've been, you know, around and on my horses my whole life.
00:20:40.924 --> 00:20:44.964
Tik Maynard: So the idea of just staying on them is something that's become pretty much,
00:20:45.044 --> 00:20:47.904
Tik Maynard: except in very extreme situations, pretty much second nature for me,
00:20:47.984 --> 00:20:49.384
Tik Maynard: something that I don't have to think about.
00:20:51.184 --> 00:20:55.724
Tik Maynard: And now, depending on the horse I'm on, I'm thinking about one of two things.
00:20:56.224 --> 00:21:01.844
Tik Maynard: With a horse that is young, with a horse that is going through something difficult,
00:21:01.924 --> 00:21:08.004
Tik Maynard: with a horse that's emotional or nervous or anxious or tense or scared, with that kind of horse,
00:21:08.204 --> 00:21:12.204
Tik Maynard: mainly what I'm aware of is where their mind is at.
00:21:12.764 --> 00:21:14.264
Tik Maynard: Is the horse thoughtful? Is
00:21:14.264 --> 00:21:17.944
Tik Maynard: the horse relaxed? Or the opposite of that is the horse tense or scared.
00:21:18.144 --> 00:21:22.184
Tik Maynard: And the way that I can tell that is you can be on a horse and you can almost
00:21:22.184 --> 00:21:24.964
Tik Maynard: feel their heart rate through the saddle as it starts to rev up.
00:21:25.144 --> 00:21:27.944
Tik Maynard: A horse will get quicker and more abrupt as they get anxious.
00:21:28.084 --> 00:21:30.924
Tik Maynard: A horse will raise their head and tense their neck if they get anxious.
00:21:31.384 --> 00:21:34.204
Tik Maynard: A horse will stop suddenly or move quickly when they're anxious.
00:21:34.544 --> 00:21:40.384
Tik Maynard: A horse will breathe differently, often with more noise or whinny or call when they're anxious.
00:21:40.644 --> 00:21:43.844
Tik Maynard: The first step with those kinds of horses is I'm really just trying to set up
00:21:43.844 --> 00:21:49.104
Tik Maynard: situations so the horse can become more relaxed and thoughtful and essentially become a good student.
00:21:49.284 --> 00:21:52.984
Tik Maynard: You know, if you think about somebody that's learning something that they can...
00:21:53.776 --> 00:21:58.776
Tik Maynard: They're sitting quietly, they're paying attention, they're not constantly getting
00:21:58.776 --> 00:22:03.096
Tik Maynard: distracted with their fingers or their eyes or their ears or looking away or
00:22:03.096 --> 00:22:07.076
Tik Maynard: leaving the room, but they've got sort of a calm attention as they're trying to take it in.
00:22:07.356 --> 00:22:10.076
Tik Maynard: And that's what I want the horse to be. I want the horse, first of all,
00:22:10.156 --> 00:22:13.276
Tik Maynard: to feel like they're relaxed and they can be a good partner and a good student.
00:22:13.696 --> 00:22:16.836
Tik Maynard: With a horse that already has that mindset, what I would call a more mature
00:22:16.836 --> 00:22:20.436
Tik Maynard: horse or a horse I've got a better relationship with, and that sort of being
00:22:20.436 --> 00:22:24.016
Tik Maynard: a good student is almost not totally taken for granted.
00:22:24.176 --> 00:22:28.116
Tik Maynard: You never take it for granted and forget about that. But for a horse where all
00:22:28.116 --> 00:22:33.556
Tik Maynard: that emotional stuff is easier for them, then I start to be very aware of the horse's movement.
00:22:33.916 --> 00:22:38.516
Tik Maynard: Is the horse speeding up? Is the horse slowing down? Is the horse in a good balance?
00:22:38.976 --> 00:22:41.716
Tik Maynard: You know, when we talk about a horse's balance, that's one of the most important
00:22:41.716 --> 00:22:45.656
Tik Maynard: concepts to be aware of when you're riding. And it's also a very subtle one.
00:22:45.836 --> 00:22:50.756
Tik Maynard: If you think about a person that is, imagine you're on ice in the middle of
00:22:50.756 --> 00:22:51.936
Tik Maynard: winter, maybe not in Florida,
00:22:52.116 --> 00:22:55.536
Tik Maynard: but somewhere where there's ice in the winter and you're on the stairs and you
00:22:55.536 --> 00:22:58.176
Tik Maynard: start to feel like you're starting to lose your balance and you want to put
00:22:58.176 --> 00:23:02.816
Tik Maynard: your arms out to the side and you're nervous and you don't want to move quickly
00:23:02.816 --> 00:23:05.756
Tik Maynard: and you're in a bad, you feel like out of balance.
00:23:06.736 --> 00:23:11.016
Tik Maynard: Horses oftentimes, because they're reacting out of fear or because they have
00:23:11.016 --> 00:23:13.016
Tik Maynard: a person on their back or something's happened unexpectedly,
00:23:13.236 --> 00:23:15.716
Tik Maynard: horses oftentimes find themselves slightly out of balance.
00:23:16.096 --> 00:23:20.656
Tik Maynard: And the more we can help them find a good balance, the more they start to appreciate
00:23:20.656 --> 00:23:22.736
Tik Maynard: us and rely on us and listen to us.
00:23:22.936 --> 00:23:29.476
Tik Maynard: And so one of the jobs of a more advanced rider is constantly to set up situations
00:23:29.476 --> 00:23:31.216
Tik Maynard: and to help that horse be in a good balance.
00:23:31.996 --> 00:23:39.776
Kevin Lowe: Fascinating. How much does the horse react based on the energy of the rider?
00:23:39.776 --> 00:23:45.996
Kevin Lowe: Because I wonder if the rider is nervous, if they're scared,
00:23:46.116 --> 00:23:48.456
Kevin Lowe: or they just have some bad juju.
00:23:48.616 --> 00:23:53.076
Kevin Lowe: I would imagine that relates to the horse. Is that true?
00:23:53.476 --> 00:23:56.896
Tik Maynard: Yeah, the vast majority of the time, that is absolutely true.
00:23:57.256 --> 00:23:58.736
Tik Maynard: That the horse is going to pick
00:23:58.736 --> 00:24:02.676
Tik Maynard: up on a person being nervous and they're going to become more nervous.
00:24:02.996 --> 00:24:06.756
Tik Maynard: I'd say, you know, just to throw out a number, I'd say 80% of the time, that's true.
00:24:06.896 --> 00:24:09.676
Tik Maynard: But then you also have maybe 10% on either end of that spectrum.
00:24:09.776 --> 00:24:15.616
Tik Maynard: You have 10% of horses that are so emotionally balanced, so emotionally fit,
00:24:15.776 --> 00:24:20.256
Tik Maynard: so relaxed that even if the person is anxious, it's not going to affect the horse very much.
00:24:20.596 --> 00:24:26.076
Tik Maynard: And then on the other end of the spectrum, you can have horses that are so distracted.
00:24:26.196 --> 00:24:29.436
Tik Maynard: Maybe they're worried about a tractor pulling in. Maybe they're calling to their
00:24:29.436 --> 00:24:32.536
Tik Maynard: friend in the barn and they're so distracted that you could be nervous,
00:24:32.536 --> 00:24:34.696
Tik Maynard: but they're not even paying any attention to you.
00:24:35.116 --> 00:24:39.816
Tik Maynard: So it doesn't matter if you get nervous because they're not paying any attention to you anyway. Okay.
00:24:40.777 --> 00:24:47.617
Kevin Lowe: Yes, that's that's hysterical. So before we kind of keep moving on in the story,
00:24:47.817 --> 00:24:52.517
Kevin Lowe: the other kind of question that I would love to to ask you about is,
00:24:52.717 --> 00:24:59.477
Kevin Lowe: is it just maybe because you grew up around horses starting as a child?
00:24:59.937 --> 00:25:05.577
Kevin Lowe: Does it make you where you're not scared of them? Because, I mean,
00:25:05.797 --> 00:25:11.437
Kevin Lowe: for somebody who's never been around a horse in person, they are big animals.
00:25:11.577 --> 00:25:18.297
Kevin Lowe: And I think of them being almost intimidating and scared of what they are going to do.
00:25:18.637 --> 00:25:21.797
Kevin Lowe: And I've just wondered how that is for you.
00:25:22.337 --> 00:25:28.297
Tik Maynard: Yeah, absolutely. Horses, you know, every year there's very,
00:25:28.417 --> 00:25:36.397
Tik Maynard: very talented riders. There's very, very experienced horse people that get hurt or even killed.
00:25:37.077 --> 00:25:40.997
Tik Maynard: You know, they are, horses weigh a lot. They're very quick. They're very strong.
00:25:41.317 --> 00:25:45.597
Tik Maynard: They can move almost without any warning at all.
00:25:45.917 --> 00:25:50.897
Tik Maynard: And horses, you know, are flight animals. Their first response to fear is usually to move quickly.
00:25:51.097 --> 00:25:54.277
Tik Maynard: And so it's very easy to get caught up in the wrong place at the wrong time.
00:25:55.177 --> 00:26:01.517
Tik Maynard: The major skill to have if you want to stay safe around horses is to get good at reading horses.
00:26:02.277 --> 00:26:07.457
Tik Maynard: And what reading horses well allows you to do is stay one step ahead of trouble.
00:26:07.697 --> 00:26:11.737
Tik Maynard: You know, to the point now where I'm practicing that skill constantly.
00:26:11.917 --> 00:26:19.777
Tik Maynard: If I see a group of horses in a field and they're trotting forward and they're trotting towards me,
00:26:19.997 --> 00:26:23.577
Tik Maynard: I'll try to predict the moment where they're going to stop or predict the moment
00:26:23.577 --> 00:26:26.897
Tik Maynard: where they're going to turn their heads or predict the moment where one horse
00:26:26.897 --> 00:26:28.737
Tik Maynard: is going to fall in behind the other horse.
00:26:29.197 --> 00:26:33.397
Tik Maynard: You know, every horse is unique and has its own character and personality,
00:26:33.397 --> 00:26:36.037
Tik Maynard: but also every horse is a horse.
00:26:36.157 --> 00:26:40.437
Tik Maynard: Every horse has similar, similar behaviors and similar motivations.
00:26:40.917 --> 00:26:45.137
Tik Maynard: And so, uh, with enough practice of sort of predicting what's going to happen
00:26:45.137 --> 00:26:47.577
Tik Maynard: next, it gets easier and easier.
00:26:47.717 --> 00:26:50.777
Tik Maynard: I guess your percentage of the time that you're right it goes up higher and higher.
00:26:51.157 --> 00:26:53.997
Tik Maynard: So the more that you get to know horses in general and the more that you get
00:26:53.997 --> 00:26:58.677
Tik Maynard: to know horses in particular, the easier it is to keep yourself in a safe situation.
00:26:59.610 --> 00:27:03.390
Tik Maynard: You know, there's a lot of ways that I can, that I now know how to,
00:27:03.390 --> 00:27:07.110
Tik Maynard: if I'm not sure how something's going to play out, if I'm not sure what the
00:27:07.110 --> 00:27:10.730
Tik Maynard: horse is going to do, I just stay further away from them.
00:27:10.950 --> 00:27:14.910
Tik Maynard: You know, I don't go right up into that horse's space or have that horse come up into my space.
00:27:15.130 --> 00:27:18.190
Tik Maynard: You know, and when I talk about space, it's almost like this bubble around me.
00:27:18.290 --> 00:27:22.090
Tik Maynard: That's about three feet around me of the horse's bubble, which is five or six feet around them.
00:27:22.190 --> 00:27:25.750
Tik Maynard: And I don't go into their space or have them come into my space until we're
00:27:25.750 --> 00:27:30.930
Tik Maynard: both, both relaxed and thoughtful. You know, a lot of times people come to me
00:27:30.930 --> 00:27:36.430
Tik Maynard: and their complaint is that the horse doesn't respect their boundaries or respect their space.
00:27:36.790 --> 00:27:41.290
Tik Maynard: And on the other hand, when the horse is relaxed, they want to cuddle on their
00:27:41.290 --> 00:27:43.870
Tik Maynard: horse and kiss their horse and give the horse cookies.
00:27:44.270 --> 00:27:48.650
Tik Maynard: And so usually what I teach them is I teach them about having three boundaries
00:27:48.650 --> 00:27:49.470
Tik Maynard: at different distances.
00:27:49.470 --> 00:27:54.990
Tik Maynard: So the first boundary is at about six feet away, and that's with a horse that
00:27:54.990 --> 00:27:59.770
Tik Maynard: you don't know or a horse that's really, really emotional or really dangerous
00:27:59.770 --> 00:28:01.630
Tik Maynard: that we don't get within six feet of each other.
00:28:02.010 --> 00:28:05.970
Tik Maynard: My second boundary is at arm's length. So if I were to reach out my arm fully
00:28:05.970 --> 00:28:10.010
Tik Maynard: extended with my fingers fully extended and the horse were able to stretch out
00:28:10.010 --> 00:28:13.630
Tik Maynard: its neck and its nose, that we couldn't touch each other.
00:28:13.790 --> 00:28:18.490
Tik Maynard: So from my body to that horse's nose is two feet, the length of my arm more or less.
00:28:18.490 --> 00:28:21.150
Tik Maynard: And that's for a horse that is you know that we
00:28:21.150 --> 00:28:24.270
Tik Maynard: know a little bit better that's not dangerous that's just
00:28:24.270 --> 00:28:26.910
Tik Maynard: sort of a run-of-the-mill kind of easy boundary that I
00:28:26.910 --> 00:28:30.310
Tik Maynard: keep pretty consistent and the third boundary is
00:28:30.310 --> 00:28:33.070
Tik Maynard: with a horse that can come right up in with its
00:28:33.070 --> 00:28:37.930
Tik Maynard: muzzle with its whiskers with its mouth and could actually touch me on my shoulder
00:28:37.930 --> 00:28:42.770
Tik Maynard: or forearm or chest and for a horse to come that close to me I want to feel
00:28:42.770 --> 00:28:47.850
Tik Maynard: like those four criteria are totally met which means I'm relaxed and thinking
00:28:47.850 --> 00:28:50.450
Tik Maynard: about the horse and the horse is relaxed and thinking about me.
00:28:50.690 --> 00:28:53.930
Tik Maynard: And if any of those four things are not bad, it's like right away back out to
00:28:53.930 --> 00:28:55.850
Tik Maynard: two feet or back out to six feet away from me.
00:28:56.549 --> 00:28:59.269
Kevin Lowe: Wow. I love it. It's like a relationship. It's like a dance.
00:28:59.589 --> 00:29:01.449
Kevin Lowe: You show me respect. I'll show your respect.
00:29:01.829 --> 00:29:07.849
Tik Maynard: Yeah. You know, it's a relationship or a dance is actually one of the best ways
00:29:07.849 --> 00:29:09.909
Tik Maynard: to think about horsemanship.
00:29:10.169 --> 00:29:13.729
Tik Maynard: Just like in a relationship, you want a horse to want to be with you,
00:29:13.869 --> 00:29:17.249
Tik Maynard: but you don't want them to be running over top of you and you don't want them
00:29:17.249 --> 00:29:19.929
Tik Maynard: to need to be with you. You want them to want to be with you.
00:29:20.429 --> 00:29:23.509
Kevin Lowe: Yes. Yes. Yes. I love it. Fascinating.
00:29:24.149 --> 00:29:29.149
Kevin Lowe: Kind of going back to this timeline of events, and I'm going to allow you to
00:29:29.149 --> 00:29:37.009
Kevin Lowe: fill in gaps, but I know a big part of your story is more recent in like 2023.
00:29:38.449 --> 00:29:43.889
Kevin Lowe: But before we get there, is there anything that happened in between that you
00:29:43.889 --> 00:29:48.809
Kevin Lowe: feel like really led to that monumental moment in your career?
00:29:49.469 --> 00:29:52.829
Tik Maynard: So what we're working towards here in this conversation, I think,
00:29:52.949 --> 00:29:56.709
Tik Maynard: Kevin, is Road to the Horse, which I was invited to compete at at 2023.
00:29:57.509 --> 00:30:03.109
Tik Maynard: The first time I heard about Road to the Horse was in 2012. And I guess that
00:30:03.109 --> 00:30:04.929
Tik Maynard: was a fairly pivotal moment.
00:30:05.129 --> 00:30:09.269
Tik Maynard: You know, it'd be for somebody that ends up being a chess player and it's the
00:30:09.269 --> 00:30:12.669
Tik Maynard: first time that they play chess and they're drawn in, you know,
00:30:13.069 --> 00:30:15.849
Tik Maynard: watching Road to the Horse in 2012 for the first time.
00:30:15.989 --> 00:30:20.129
Tik Maynard: I didn't watch it live. I I watched it on DVD, but it was a moment where I saw
00:30:20.129 --> 00:30:24.309
Tik Maynard: these guys competing and it's a colt starting competition, which means they're
00:30:24.309 --> 00:30:25.849
Tik Maynard: starting horses in front of a crowd.
00:30:25.969 --> 00:30:29.669
Tik Maynard: These are completely untamed, almost wild horses that they're starting.
00:30:29.929 --> 00:30:32.089
Tik Maynard: I watched that competition.
00:30:32.889 --> 00:30:37.409
Tik Maynard: And even though I didn't fully 100% to commit to being a colt starter,
00:30:37.649 --> 00:30:41.649
Tik Maynard: it was something that I started to follow more and more closely every year.
00:30:41.749 --> 00:30:45.229
Tik Maynard: And it was something where I thought, hey, maybe if I get a little bit better
00:30:45.229 --> 00:30:51.029
Tik Maynard: at starting If I get a little bit better at horsemanship, maybe this is something I could do one day.
00:30:51.309 --> 00:30:53.009
Kevin Lowe: Yeah, yeah, fascinating.
00:30:54.155 --> 00:30:59.195
Kevin Lowe: I know when I spoke with you before, and I would love for you to share it with
00:30:59.195 --> 00:31:03.855
Kevin Lowe: me with now for the audience sake is when we talk about cult starting,
00:31:03.855 --> 00:31:06.655
Kevin Lowe: I believe is the term I had asked you,
00:31:06.675 --> 00:31:11.455
Kevin Lowe: how does that kind of relate to I've heard the term of like breaking a horse.
00:31:11.695 --> 00:31:16.915
Tik Maynard: Breaking a horse and starting a horse is, you know, to the everyday person,
00:31:17.115 --> 00:31:21.275
Tik Maynard: it's it's the same thing, you know, really, which is is we're taking a horse
00:31:21.275 --> 00:31:25.755
Tik Maynard: and and we're getting them used to humans and the human world and being ridden.
00:31:25.975 --> 00:31:28.975
Tik Maynard: You know, if you want to go a little bit deeper into the world,
00:31:29.335 --> 00:31:33.475
Tik Maynard: into the word of breaking and starting, you know, breaking a little bit more
00:31:33.475 --> 00:31:37.815
Tik Maynard: implies breaking their spirit, breaking that wildness out of them.
00:31:38.315 --> 00:31:42.495
Tik Maynard: Whereas starting, I think it's a smoother word. It's a nicer word.
00:31:42.615 --> 00:31:48.315
Tik Maynard: It speaks to me more about having a relationship and a partnership rather than
00:31:48.315 --> 00:31:50.695
Tik Maynard: having a slave. And I like the word starting.
00:31:50.935 --> 00:31:53.975
Tik Maynard: You know, I'm around some people that can use the word breaking.
00:31:54.155 --> 00:31:57.235
Tik Maynard: And I think they just use that word because it's the word they've used their whole life.
00:31:57.455 --> 00:31:59.935
Tik Maynard: And I don't think they mean anything bad by it. So, you know,
00:32:00.015 --> 00:32:03.455
Tik Maynard: if I'm speaking to somebody and they say they broke their horse and I kind of
00:32:03.455 --> 00:32:07.755
Tik Maynard: know what they meant, then I'm fine with that. It's not like I'd give them a hard time about it.
00:32:08.115 --> 00:32:13.495
Tik Maynard: And then in the competition, we talk about colt starting. And a colt is a young male horse.
00:32:14.175 --> 00:32:18.155
Tik Maynard: An older male horse that is fully intact is called a stallion.
00:32:18.395 --> 00:32:21.995
Tik Maynard: And an older male horse that has been gelded is called a gelding.
00:32:22.335 --> 00:32:27.135
Tik Maynard: And then a female horse is called a mare and a young female horse is called a filly.
00:32:27.495 --> 00:32:31.795
Tik Maynard: When we talk about colt starting, we're really talking about starting any kind
00:32:31.795 --> 00:32:36.215
Tik Maynard: of those five kinds of horses, whether it's an older horse or a younger horse
00:32:36.215 --> 00:32:40.355
Tik Maynard: or a mare or a gelding or a stallion, we call all those things colt starting.
00:32:40.475 --> 00:32:45.155
Tik Maynard: And I'm not really sure why, I guess it's just kind of maybe sounds better than saying horse starting.
00:32:45.927 --> 00:32:52.747
Kevin Lowe: Yeah, yeah. No, I love it. Now, with those different horses that you just listed
00:32:52.747 --> 00:33:00.727
Kevin Lowe: off, does the approach change based on what category that horse falls in? Or is it all the same?
00:33:00.727 --> 00:33:04.247
Tik Maynard: Really the approach changes slightly for every
00:33:04.247 --> 00:33:07.167
Tik Maynard: single horse out of the categories of older
00:33:07.167 --> 00:33:12.327
Tik Maynard: younger male female i don't think it necessarily changes significantly enough
00:33:12.327 --> 00:33:17.127
Tik Maynard: that it's kind of worth going into that but you know when we talk about training
00:33:17.127 --> 00:33:22.767
Tik Maynard: a horse it's really every horse is unique and so we we develop a set of skills
00:33:22.767 --> 00:33:27.047
Tik Maynard: that we can start to apply generally to every horse,
00:33:27.187 --> 00:33:31.687
Tik Maynard: but we're really tailoring that starting experience for each horse individually.
00:33:32.107 --> 00:33:35.427
Tik Maynard: And the better I get at it, at starting and reading a horse,
00:33:35.567 --> 00:33:40.127
Tik Maynard: the more I can start to have different sort of tools in the toolbox that I can
00:33:40.127 --> 00:33:43.127
Tik Maynard: use, or I can go on that particular horse's timeline.
00:33:43.447 --> 00:33:47.467
Tik Maynard: In a lot of ways, they're as unique as people,
00:33:47.707 --> 00:33:53.047
Tik Maynard: you know, like if you had a group of, of kids, and you're trying to teach them
00:33:53.047 --> 00:33:57.087
Tik Maynard: all exactly the same way, you're going to always have some that need to go slower
00:33:57.087 --> 00:33:59.667
Tik Maynard: or some that are feeling like they could go faster.
00:34:00.247 --> 00:34:05.367
Kevin Lowe: Yeah. Yeah. Again, I go back to that, that the relationship,
00:34:05.767 --> 00:34:09.007
Kevin Lowe: every relationship we have in our life is different.
00:34:09.467 --> 00:34:13.727
Kevin Lowe: Every person is different. And so if we, if we look at it in this regard,
00:34:13.907 --> 00:34:17.467
Kevin Lowe: comparing it to that, why would, why would you think it wouldn't be the,
00:34:17.867 --> 00:34:20.027
Kevin Lowe: you know, the same as that. That's beautiful.
00:34:20.307 --> 00:34:25.707
Kevin Lowe: We spoke about road to the horse. Talk to me about what that is.
00:34:26.147 --> 00:34:31.787
Tik Maynard: It was first started in 2003 by a lady in Texas named Tutti Bland.
00:34:32.067 --> 00:34:36.347
Tik Maynard: And the idea that she had was that in most horse disciplines,
00:34:36.347 --> 00:34:40.547
Tik Maynard: we have competitions. We have the Grand Prix of show jumping,
00:34:40.667 --> 00:34:42.567
Tik Maynard: the Grand Prix of dressage.
00:34:42.707 --> 00:34:46.347
Tik Maynard: We have the World Cups and the World Cup final for show jumping.
00:34:46.347 --> 00:34:49.767
Tik Maynard: We have the olympics for three-day eventing
00:34:49.767 --> 00:34:52.887
Tik Maynard: for thoroughbred racing you have the kentucky derby
00:34:52.887 --> 00:34:56.927
Tik Maynard: you know for endurance in the united states you have the tevis cup you know
00:34:56.927 --> 00:35:00.767
Tik Maynard: for all these different horse disciplines you have a competition and you have
00:35:00.767 --> 00:35:05.387
Tik Maynard: a way to to sort of get the crowds interested and celebrate achievement and
00:35:05.387 --> 00:35:10.827
Tik Maynard: encourage people to keep striving for excellence and in the world of starting horses,
00:35:11.327 --> 00:35:15.467
Tik Maynard: there hasn't really been, or hadn't really been much like that,
00:35:15.627 --> 00:35:19.367
Tik Maynard: much in terms of getting everybody together in one place and kind of showing
00:35:19.367 --> 00:35:20.987
Tik Maynard: off that particular skill set.
00:35:21.487 --> 00:35:24.667
Tik Maynard: You know, starting horses was really thought of almost more as like a trade.
00:35:24.867 --> 00:35:28.967
Tik Maynard: Like, you know, it would be rare to get a bunch of carpenters or plumbers together
00:35:28.967 --> 00:35:32.247
Tik Maynard: and say, let's have a competition and celebrate how great you are.
00:35:32.347 --> 00:35:36.967
Tik Maynard: And that it's not just a trade, but it's actually an art and you're, you know, you can be,
00:35:37.618 --> 00:35:41.118
Tik Maynard: Just like being a carpenter or a plumber, you could have somebody that's a good
00:35:41.118 --> 00:35:44.158
Tik Maynard: carpenter, an average carpenter, a bad carpenter.
00:35:44.278 --> 00:35:47.318
Tik Maynard: You could have somebody that's an amazing carpenter and almost takes it to an art form.
00:35:47.898 --> 00:35:51.338
Tik Maynard: And so it's the same with cold starting. So this lady, she had the idea.
00:35:51.458 --> 00:35:55.758
Tik Maynard: She said, what if we took some of the best cold starters and we gave everybody
00:35:55.758 --> 00:35:59.878
Tik Maynard: a horse and we drew a crowd in and we videoed it and we had prize money and
00:35:59.878 --> 00:36:03.298
Tik Maynard: we celebrated the trade and art of cold starting.
00:36:03.698 --> 00:36:09.818
Tik Maynard: And since then, it's grown almost every year. and now they have it at the Kentucky
00:36:09.818 --> 00:36:11.398
Tik Maynard: Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky.
00:36:12.158 --> 00:36:15.438
Tik Maynard: It's by invitation only, so you can't just sign up and go.
00:36:15.558 --> 00:36:18.998
Tik Maynard: They really do their research to make sure they're inviting people that are
00:36:18.998 --> 00:36:22.158
Tik Maynard: both talented, cold starters, and they have the ability to work in front of
00:36:22.158 --> 00:36:25.778
Tik Maynard: a crowd, in front of an audience, and to speak about what they're doing.
00:36:26.998 --> 00:36:30.238
Tik Maynard: Each year, it's only three or four people that are competing.
00:36:30.618 --> 00:36:34.618
Tik Maynard: It's not like there's 100 people or 10 people. It's really three or four people
00:36:34.618 --> 00:36:37.818
Tik Maynard: that are in a stadium sort of about the size of a hockey arena.
00:36:38.318 --> 00:36:42.258
Tik Maynard: And there's, you know, eight or 10,000 people watching, you know,
00:36:42.438 --> 00:36:45.978
Tik Maynard: filling up most of the arena. And then they've got cameras that are live streaming it around the world.
00:36:46.758 --> 00:36:50.838
Tik Maynard: Each of the three or four people gets assigned, well, you don't get assigned, you get to pick a horse.
00:36:50.978 --> 00:36:57.118
Tik Maynard: They bring 10 horses from Texas and they're all three-year-old gelding quarter horses.
00:36:57.598 --> 00:37:02.078
Tik Maynard: And out of the 10, each of the four competitors gets to pick one.
00:37:02.258 --> 00:37:06.758
Tik Maynard: So then you're paired with a horse. And over the course of three days at Friday,
00:37:06.918 --> 00:37:11.258
Tik Maynard: Saturday, and Sunday in March, each year, we start the horse.
00:37:11.478 --> 00:37:13.758
Tik Maynard: Like everything is live. Everything is in front of the crowd.
00:37:13.938 --> 00:37:15.458
Tik Maynard: There's nothing behind the scenes.
00:37:15.978 --> 00:37:19.878
Tik Maynard: Every single moment that the competitors are interacting with that horse is
00:37:19.878 --> 00:37:20.978
Tik Maynard: in front of a live audience.
00:37:21.598 --> 00:37:28.118
Kevin Lowe: Wow. Wow. That sounds, uh, rather, rather stressful to, to be in front of a
00:37:28.118 --> 00:37:30.038
Kevin Lowe: live audience with doing something like that.
00:37:30.038 --> 00:37:33.078
Tik Maynard: Yeah. I mean, most, most time when people are starting horses,
00:37:33.078 --> 00:37:36.118
Tik Maynard: they're doing it at their barn or maybe with a few people watching and they
00:37:36.118 --> 00:37:39.258
Tik Maynard: can, they can go get water when they want to, or a break when they want to,
00:37:39.338 --> 00:37:42.918
Tik Maynard: or spend two weeks doing it if they want to, or two months or two years doing it.
00:37:43.018 --> 00:37:47.018
Tik Maynard: There's no timeline and they can, they can switch arenas or switch spaces or
00:37:47.018 --> 00:37:48.098
Tik Maynard: have somebody else help them.
00:37:48.098 --> 00:37:51.338
Tik Maynard: And when we talk about people getting a horse ready for a Grand Prix or the
00:37:51.338 --> 00:37:56.498
Tik Maynard: Kentucky Derby or any other kind of horse competition, all the training goes on behind the scenes,
00:37:56.658 --> 00:38:01.038
Tik Maynard: which means the horse is being trained at home in the arena or the racetrack
00:38:01.038 --> 00:38:03.498
Tik Maynard: at home away from people, you know, watching.
00:38:03.678 --> 00:38:08.458
Tik Maynard: Whereas this is a really unique event in that every single second that we're
00:38:08.458 --> 00:38:12.538
Tik Maynard: training those horses is in front of, you know, tens of thousands of people
00:38:12.538 --> 00:38:15.378
Tik Maynard: and five judges that are watching you every single second.
00:38:15.778 --> 00:38:20.838
Kevin Lowe: Wow. Wow. Okay. So I have more questions about the event, but before we get
00:38:20.838 --> 00:38:26.658
Kevin Lowe: to those questions, talk to me about you actually being invited to do this.
00:38:26.818 --> 00:38:27.858
Kevin Lowe: How did that even happen?
00:38:29.309 --> 00:38:34.269
Tik Maynard: So, after I'd watched it in 2012, and I kind of had it on my radar,
00:38:34.489 --> 00:38:36.889
Tik Maynard: and I was starting to practice a little bit more starting horses,
00:38:37.309 --> 00:38:42.269
Tik Maynard: then I made a point to kind of figure out a little bit more about the competition.
00:38:42.489 --> 00:38:45.929
Tik Maynard: You know, who do they invite? What skills do they have?
00:38:46.389 --> 00:38:48.149
Tik Maynard: You know, how could I meet some of those people?
00:38:48.769 --> 00:38:51.129
Tik Maynard: You know, how could I make friends with some of the past competitors?
00:38:51.449 --> 00:38:54.009
Tik Maynard: How could I get a little bit more involved in that community?
00:38:54.009 --> 00:38:57.849
Tik Maynard: And so that's something that, that I, I didn't drop everything and chase that,
00:38:57.949 --> 00:38:59.729
Tik Maynard: but I was just always a little bit aware,
00:39:00.009 --> 00:39:04.269
Tik Maynard: you know, as I, as I went about my schedule, you know, if there was an opportunity
00:39:04.269 --> 00:39:10.189
Tik Maynard: to say, teach a clinic in Texas versus teach a clinic in Connecticut.
00:39:10.589 --> 00:39:14.689
Tik Maynard: And the one in Texas was going to be near, you know, where, where some of the
00:39:14.689 --> 00:39:17.249
Tik Maynard: people that organized Road to the Horse are is I'm going to go to the one in
00:39:17.249 --> 00:39:18.389
Tik Maynard: Texas because maybe I'll get
00:39:18.389 --> 00:39:22.929
Tik Maynard: a chance to meet them. So I'm kind of having it on my radar from 2012 on.
00:39:23.549 --> 00:39:29.549
Tik Maynard: And then in 2023, I went up there and I was asked not to compete,
00:39:29.649 --> 00:39:33.549
Tik Maynard: but I was asked to do a demonstration of how I work with horses.
00:39:33.949 --> 00:39:37.389
Tik Maynard: And so I was kind of like a, you know, like an intermission type act,
00:39:37.529 --> 00:39:40.369
Tik Maynard: you know, where people are there for the main event, but I got to spend half
00:39:40.369 --> 00:39:43.029
Tik Maynard: an hour just talking to the crowd and showing a little bit what I do.
00:39:43.509 --> 00:39:46.169
Tik Maynard: And so that was in March of 2023.
00:39:46.769 --> 00:39:49.849
Tik Maynard: And then in June of 2023 so a
00:39:49.849 --> 00:39:53.469
Tik Maynard: few months later the organizer of Road
00:39:53.469 --> 00:40:00.209
Tik Maynard: to the Horse called me up she said Tik are you interested in competing next
00:40:00.209 --> 00:40:04.129
Tik Maynard: year and I this is something I'd thought about for years and I was like a little
00:40:04.129 --> 00:40:07.849
Tik Maynard: bit a little bit caught off guard by the phone call but also a little bit excited
00:40:07.849 --> 00:40:12.569
Tik Maynard: and my adrenaline was going and I said yeah I definitely want to do it.
00:40:12.729 --> 00:40:16.069
Tik Maynard: And she said, well, don't, don't respond so quickly, you know,
00:40:16.309 --> 00:40:19.789
Tik Maynard: talk to your family, talk to your wife and think about it.
00:40:19.889 --> 00:40:22.809
Tik Maynard: And then call me back in a day or two and give me your answer.
00:40:23.789 --> 00:40:28.549
Tik Maynard: And so I went to speak with Sinead that night and I said, Sinead,
00:40:28.609 --> 00:40:30.749
Tik Maynard: they invited me to do this. What do you think?
00:40:31.349 --> 00:40:35.549
Tik Maynard: And she said, absolutely. You should do this. This is something that you've
00:40:35.549 --> 00:40:38.009
Tik Maynard: been wanting to do. She said, why wouldn't you do it?
00:40:38.249 --> 00:40:42.549
Tik Maynard: Actually, there's, I said, actually, because there's a lot of reasons why somebody
00:40:42.549 --> 00:40:44.089
Tik Maynard: would say no to this and not do it.
00:40:44.629 --> 00:40:48.809
Tik Maynard: And so then I proceeded to list all the reasons why somebody might not do it.
00:40:48.949 --> 00:40:51.289
Tik Maynard: And I mean, there was a lot of reasons.
00:40:53.012 --> 00:40:58.532
Tik Maynard: First of all, there's, you're doing something that is really difficult on a
00:40:58.532 --> 00:41:02.672
Tik Maynard: timeline in front of a crowd. So there's a lot of opportunity to sort of embarrass
00:41:02.672 --> 00:41:06.772
Tik Maynard: yourself or to have something taken out of context that gets put on social media.
00:41:07.212 --> 00:41:11.132
Tik Maynard: There's also, you know, in the horse world, there's also the ethical questions
00:41:11.132 --> 00:41:16.392
Tik Maynard: of should starting horses even be a competition? Should starting horses even be on a timeline?
00:41:16.712 --> 00:41:19.732
Tik Maynard: I mean, you go far enough down that road and there's people that are like,
00:41:19.832 --> 00:41:23.592
Tik Maynard: should we even be riding horses or keeping horses as pets?
00:41:23.732 --> 00:41:26.312
Tik Maynard: Like what are the ethical ramifications of that? And there's,
00:41:26.312 --> 00:41:28.832
Tik Maynard: and there's people that are ready to, to jump on you no matter,
00:41:29.032 --> 00:41:31.792
Tik Maynard: no matter what you do. And so there's those questions.
00:41:32.112 --> 00:41:36.412
Tik Maynard: And then in terms of starting horses themselves, you know, there's certain parts
00:41:36.412 --> 00:41:37.652
Tik Maynard: of it that I was really worried about.
00:41:37.772 --> 00:41:40.232
Tik Maynard: I was worried about what if I can't even catch this horse?
00:41:40.632 --> 00:41:43.652
Tik Maynard: I was worried about, am I going to even be able to get a saddle on this horse?
00:41:44.132 --> 00:41:49.092
Tik Maynard: I was worried about what about the first ride? What if I get bucked off? Uh, what if I get hurt?
00:41:49.392 --> 00:41:54.132
Tik Maynard: You know, every, every year somewhere, somebody is starting a horse and they get seriously injured.
00:41:54.512 --> 00:41:57.932
Tik Maynard: And then there's also the question of, by the time I get to the third day of
00:41:57.932 --> 00:42:01.312
Tik Maynard: this, am I going to have a horse that still feels like a willing partner?
00:42:01.312 --> 00:42:05.732
Tik Maynard: Or are they going to start to feel like they're shut down and over-faced?
00:42:06.512 --> 00:42:11.732
Tik Maynard: On top of that, there were a couple people in my life that I really respected and admired.
00:42:12.072 --> 00:42:17.652
Tik Maynard: My dad actually being one of them, that when I asked them if I thought I should do it, they said no.
00:42:17.992 --> 00:42:21.172
Tik Maynard: They said, you know, they said they thought it was, it can be a little tough
00:42:21.172 --> 00:42:23.692
Tik Maynard: on the horses and that it was going to be a little overfacing for me.
00:42:24.052 --> 00:42:25.752
Tik Maynard: You know, there were other things I could do.
00:42:26.232 --> 00:42:30.312
Tik Maynard: So I explained all that to Sinead and we talked about it.
00:42:30.512 --> 00:42:36.652
Tik Maynard: And basically we made the decision together that it was something that despite
00:42:36.652 --> 00:42:41.092
Tik Maynard: all these fears and all these nerves I had about it, it was going to be something
00:42:41.092 --> 00:42:42.592
Tik Maynard: that I was going to choose to do anyway,
00:42:42.812 --> 00:42:46.612
Tik Maynard: and that I wasn't going to let fear stand in the way
00:42:47.552 --> 00:42:50.692
Tik Maynard: of stopping me from something that I not only thought I could do,
00:42:50.792 --> 00:42:51.832
Tik Maynard: but that I thought I could do
00:42:52.643 --> 00:42:56.783
Tik Maynard: my way, not anybody else's way, but I thought I could do it the way that I wanted to do it.
00:42:56.963 --> 00:42:59.623
Tik Maynard: And that it was something that if I didn't do it, I would look back,
00:42:59.623 --> 00:43:03.083
Tik Maynard: you know, 10 or 20 years from now and that I would regret saying no to it.
00:43:03.683 --> 00:43:10.143
Kevin Lowe: Yeah. Yeah. Wow. You know, the, the, the way in my, my head I'm comparing this
00:43:10.143 --> 00:43:14.963
Kevin Lowe: is, is yes, is you have a football player, a guy who's good,
00:43:15.103 --> 00:43:16.843
Kevin Lowe: but all of a sudden gets a call like,
00:43:17.303 --> 00:43:20.063
Kevin Lowe: Hey, you have the opportunity to play quarterback in the Super Bowl,
00:43:20.643 --> 00:43:25.203
Kevin Lowe: you know, and and all I can think is, is, you know, of course,
00:43:25.383 --> 00:43:28.523
Kevin Lowe: it's been a dream for that football player to play in the Super Bowl.
00:43:29.003 --> 00:43:32.023
Kevin Lowe: And yet, what if it doesn't go good?
00:43:32.203 --> 00:43:35.763
Kevin Lowe: What if I screw up? Here I am on the center stage. All of a sudden,
00:43:36.063 --> 00:43:37.683
Kevin Lowe: I'm being handed my dream.
00:43:38.023 --> 00:43:43.583
Kevin Lowe: But is it is it worth it? All those fears and worries in the what if scenarios.
00:43:44.143 --> 00:43:50.483
Kevin Lowe: I think a lot of times, Rob, people of ever actually fulfilling a dream.
00:43:50.783 --> 00:43:59.083
Kevin Lowe: So I, I guess, want to say applause to you for the fact of going ahead and giving it a shot.
00:43:59.423 --> 00:44:03.423
Tik Maynard: Yeah, thank you very much. It was not an easy decision.
00:44:03.743 --> 00:44:10.603
Tik Maynard: And I think you're absolutely right in that the fear of what's going to happen
00:44:10.603 --> 00:44:14.623
Tik Maynard: or even the people that are closest to us that love us, that want to protect
00:44:14.623 --> 00:44:16.023
Tik Maynard: us from being hurt, You know,
00:44:16.163 --> 00:44:20.603
Tik Maynard: those things can stop us from achieving the things we really want to do, you know, our dreams.
00:44:21.243 --> 00:44:29.123
Kevin Lowe: Yeah, yeah. Okay, so at this point, we're basically looking at roughly almost
00:44:29.123 --> 00:44:33.183
Kevin Lowe: a year until you would be competing. Is that right?
00:44:33.603 --> 00:44:37.603
Tik Maynard: Yeah, so I got the invitation, I think, June, and then the competition was going
00:44:37.603 --> 00:44:41.443
Tik Maynard: to be in March of the next year. So I had about nine months in which to get ready.
00:44:42.803 --> 00:44:48.843
Kevin Lowe: Okay, amazing. Now, before we actually fast forward all that time and we get to the competition,
00:44:49.970 --> 00:44:54.210
Kevin Lowe: Obviously, I'm assuming training like crazy, doing whatever,
00:44:54.390 --> 00:44:55.830
Kevin Lowe: which I want you to explain.
00:44:56.150 --> 00:45:02.730
Kevin Lowe: But I believe at this point is also when you have the idea to turn this into a book, correct?
00:45:03.510 --> 00:45:08.650
Tik Maynard: Yeah, exactly. So right from that first invitation to compete,
00:45:08.650 --> 00:45:13.410
Tik Maynard: I wrote a book that was published in 2018 about sort of getting started in the horse world.
00:45:13.410 --> 00:45:21.050
Tik Maynard: And so for the last seven years from 2018 until now, or I guess until 2023,
00:45:21.050 --> 00:45:23.290
Tik Maynard: I'd been wanting to write another book.
00:45:23.450 --> 00:45:25.950
Tik Maynard: And I wasn't quite sure what I
00:45:25.950 --> 00:45:28.510
Tik Maynard: was going to write about or when that opportunity was going to come along.
00:45:28.870 --> 00:45:33.370
Tik Maynard: And then I got this invitation to do Road to the Horse. And I just thought, this is it.
00:45:33.490 --> 00:45:39.810
Tik Maynard: This is the thing, that if I take notes on my preparation and take notes throughout
00:45:39.810 --> 00:45:44.910
Tik Maynard: the competition, I can turn this experience into a book and I can share with
00:45:44.910 --> 00:45:47.690
Tik Maynard: people what I went through as I prepared for it.
00:45:47.870 --> 00:45:52.990
Tik Maynard: And I pitched that idea to, again, to my wife and also to the publishers,
00:45:53.170 --> 00:45:57.930
Tik Maynard: to Fulgar Square Books, and they were all on board with it. So I started taking notes immediately.
00:45:58.130 --> 00:46:00.990
Tik Maynard: You know, I'm not the kind of person that journals every day or anything like that.
00:46:01.110 --> 00:46:04.910
Tik Maynard: But when I've got a project that's important to me, I'll take notes on that
00:46:04.910 --> 00:46:09.350
Tik Maynard: particular thing or that time in my life. And so for the next nine months,
00:46:09.490 --> 00:46:11.870
Tik Maynard: I took notes almost every day on what I was doing to get ready.
00:46:13.010 --> 00:46:21.710
Kevin Lowe: What I think is so cool about this is because so many times people write the
00:46:21.710 --> 00:46:24.190
Kevin Lowe: book after the thing has already happened.
00:46:24.910 --> 00:46:31.490
Kevin Lowe: They go back and they tell the story, yet you literally got to have this brilliant
00:46:31.490 --> 00:46:34.630
Kevin Lowe: insight that this needed to be told in a book.
00:46:34.770 --> 00:46:38.930
Kevin Lowe: It got to basically start writing it as you were living it out,
00:46:39.130 --> 00:46:41.130
Kevin Lowe: which I think is just fascinating.
00:46:41.790 --> 00:46:47.150
Tik Maynard: Yeah, I totally agree. I think it was kind of really fortunate in how it worked out.
00:46:47.310 --> 00:46:52.090
Tik Maynard: And I, you know, as a reader, I read a lot and I like books that give sort of
00:46:52.090 --> 00:46:56.010
Tik Maynard: an immediacy or a kind of a presence to the reader.
00:46:56.170 --> 00:47:00.310
Tik Maynard: You know, they feel like they're brought in right into that moment and almost
00:47:00.310 --> 00:47:01.670
Tik Maynard: living it with the author.
00:47:01.870 --> 00:47:05.190
Tik Maynard: And I think it's a little harder to do that when you're looking back at something
00:47:05.190 --> 00:47:08.230
Tik Maynard: that happened and you didn't have detailed notes about it.
00:47:08.310 --> 00:47:11.830
Tik Maynard: You know, you forget exactly how the conversation with somebody went,
00:47:11.890 --> 00:47:15.630
Tik Maynard: or you forget, you know, the place that you traveled, or you forget what your
00:47:15.630 --> 00:47:19.250
Tik Maynard: office looked like, or you forget how your horse acted that day.
00:47:19.330 --> 00:47:22.170
Tik Maynard: But when you're taking notes on it, you know, every day and throughout the day,
00:47:22.170 --> 00:47:25.470
Tik Maynard: you can really sort of place the reader right in that moment.
00:47:26.230 --> 00:47:33.350
Kevin Lowe: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I love it. Now, one thing that I want to ask you about
00:47:33.350 --> 00:47:36.970
Kevin Lowe: before we actually get to the competition is...
00:47:37.610 --> 00:47:42.230
Kevin Lowe: The mindset that you went into for preparing and going into this competition,
00:47:42.230 --> 00:47:48.930
Kevin Lowe: because I am going to think in my head that you're probably going up against
00:47:48.930 --> 00:47:52.650
Kevin Lowe: what I think of just like cowboys out there.
00:47:54.010 --> 00:47:58.850
Kevin Lowe: And you don't strike me as quite the cowboy spitting tobacco,
00:47:59.430 --> 00:48:00.850
Kevin Lowe: like, you know, doing all the
00:48:00.850 --> 00:48:07.870
Kevin Lowe: stuff. and I know that you you decided at some point to do this your way.
00:48:07.870 --> 00:48:10.850
Tik Maynard: Yeah Kevin you're yeah that's hilarious
00:48:10.850 --> 00:48:15.510
Tik Maynard: that you said that that's that's uh that's so true you know since this competition
00:48:15.510 --> 00:48:23.310
Tik Maynard: began in in 2003 I'm only the second non sort of western rider non-cowboy to
00:48:23.310 --> 00:48:26.670
Tik Maynard: do this you know there you know if you think about if you think about three
00:48:26.670 --> 00:48:30.030
Tik Maynard: or four people every year and I'm only the second person to do it.
00:48:30.210 --> 00:48:34.190
Tik Maynard: You know, you're absolutely, the vast majority of people are sort of wearing
00:48:34.190 --> 00:48:37.290
Tik Maynard: Wranglers, cowboy boots, cowboy hat.
00:48:37.650 --> 00:48:40.930
Tik Maynard: Maybe they have like a knife and a sheath on their belt.
00:48:42.350 --> 00:48:46.270
Tik Maynard: They got like deerskin gloves. They got the chaps with the fringe.
00:48:46.470 --> 00:48:47.570
Tik Maynard: They got a cowboy saddle.
00:48:47.790 --> 00:48:51.290
Tik Maynard: Yeah. Maybe they got chewing tobacco. I don't know. But, uh,
00:48:52.010 --> 00:48:55.490
Tik Maynard: you know, there's, there's some version of that.
00:48:55.630 --> 00:49:01.570
Tik Maynard: Whereas the kind of riding that I've done my whole life is not quite so like cool or masculine.
00:49:01.770 --> 00:49:05.230
Tik Maynard: You know, I grew up and I still ride with the tall black boots,
00:49:05.430 --> 00:49:06.990
Tik Maynard: the tight pants, the helmet.
00:49:07.370 --> 00:49:11.310
Tik Maynard: We're perched a little bit more atop our high horse, so to speak,
00:49:11.350 --> 00:49:17.330
Tik Maynard: and it's got a very different vibe to it than the quarter horses in Texas with the Cowboys.
00:49:18.301 --> 00:49:23.321
Tik Maynard: Yeah, that was the first kind of obstacle that I had to think about in terms
00:49:23.321 --> 00:49:27.941
Tik Maynard: of my preparation is, am I going to try to start this horse as a cowboy?
00:49:28.141 --> 00:49:31.341
Tik Maynard: Meaning, am I going to wear jeans and cowboy boots and a cowboy hat and use
00:49:31.341 --> 00:49:35.101
Tik Maynard: a Western saddle and kind of throw out everything I've done and learn a whole new way of doing it?
00:49:35.361 --> 00:49:38.541
Tik Maynard: Or am I going to do it in an English saddle and tight pants?
00:49:38.701 --> 00:49:43.341
Tik Maynard: Or am I going to try to find some way to be in the middle between those two
00:49:43.341 --> 00:49:45.421
Tik Maynard: worlds? So that was the first kind of question that I had.
00:49:45.421 --> 00:49:50.021
Kevin Lowe: And for you, what finally led you to the answer?
00:49:50.381 --> 00:49:57.301
Tik Maynard: So what I decided to do, you know, what inspired me to do this is a book I read
00:49:57.301 --> 00:50:01.621
Tik Maynard: called Work Hard, Be Nice, or maybe it's Work Hard, Be Kind.
00:50:01.801 --> 00:50:07.541
Tik Maynard: And it's about these elementary school teachers that start their own charter
00:50:07.541 --> 00:50:10.461
Tik Maynard: school program called KIPP, K-I-P-P.
00:50:10.721 --> 00:50:15.741
Tik Maynard: And KIPP is short for the Knowledge is Power Program. and they developed a very
00:50:15.741 --> 00:50:19.721
Tik Maynard: unique way of teaching kids, these two teachers that started the KIPP program.
00:50:20.341 --> 00:50:24.541
Tik Maynard: And when it started to expand beyond these two teachers and they started to
00:50:24.541 --> 00:50:30.341
Tik Maynard: have multiple schools and other instructors and then dozens and then hundreds of other instructors,
00:50:30.581 --> 00:50:33.701
Tik Maynard: what they did initially is these two teachers that started the program,
00:50:33.841 --> 00:50:36.401
Tik Maynard: they were really successful and all these kids that they were helping,
00:50:36.521 --> 00:50:40.401
Tik Maynard: a lot of them came from sort of troubled backgrounds or less affluent areas.
00:50:40.661 --> 00:50:44.821
Tik Maynard: And they were helping these kids achieve amazing successes and go on to graduate
00:50:44.821 --> 00:50:46.861
Tik Maynard: from high school and go to college and stuff like that.
00:50:47.693 --> 00:50:52.613
Tik Maynard: What they started to do is they started to teach other people how to teach their way.
00:50:52.773 --> 00:50:58.713
Tik Maynard: And what they realized fairly quickly within a couple of years is that it wasn't working.
00:50:59.093 --> 00:51:03.853
Tik Maynard: And the reason it wasn't working is that every teacher actually has their own
00:51:03.853 --> 00:51:05.273
Tik Maynard: superpower for teaching kids.
00:51:05.593 --> 00:51:10.293
Tik Maynard: Some teachers will sing stuff. Some teachers will make up poems.
00:51:10.513 --> 00:51:12.033
Tik Maynard: Some teachers like telling stories.
00:51:12.333 --> 00:51:16.953
Tik Maynard: Some teachers relate to the kids through drama or art. Some teachers are more
00:51:16.953 --> 00:51:19.213
Tik Maynard: physical and they're all about the high fives or the hugs.
00:51:19.473 --> 00:51:23.673
Tik Maynard: Some teachers are quiet and just have a presence that the kids want to watch.
00:51:23.933 --> 00:51:28.253
Tik Maynard: Some teachers are about sports and they are outside playing with the kids at recess.
00:51:28.673 --> 00:51:31.993
Tik Maynard: And what they found was that they couldn't just teach all teachers to be the
00:51:31.993 --> 00:51:35.713
Tik Maynard: same and sort of follow the exact same way of teaching, but they had to allow
00:51:35.713 --> 00:51:40.533
Tik Maynard: teachers to bring out their own kind of unique, special way of teaching.
00:51:40.813 --> 00:51:43.213
Tik Maynard: And I think it's the same thing in the horse world.
00:51:43.813 --> 00:51:48.353
Tik Maynard: And so that was my plan in my preparation is that I was going to spend eight
00:51:48.353 --> 00:51:53.213
Tik Maynard: months learning from as many talented animal trainers and horse trainers.
00:51:53.553 --> 00:51:57.013
Tik Maynard: You know, I even did a chicken training camp where I learned how to train chickens
00:51:57.013 --> 00:51:58.013
Tik Maynard: as part of my preparation.
00:51:58.173 --> 00:52:02.313
Tik Maynard: But I was going to, I can tell you more about that. I can tell you more about that.
00:52:03.653 --> 00:52:04.013
Kevin Lowe: Okay.
00:52:04.573 --> 00:52:07.093
Tik Maynard: I can tell you more about that after. But basically my plan was I was going
00:52:07.093 --> 00:52:10.433
Tik Maynard: to spend eight months learning as much as I can from other people.
00:52:10.893 --> 00:52:16.453
Tik Maynard: And then in the last month, I was going to go back to incorporating the things
00:52:16.453 --> 00:52:19.733
Tik Maynard: that I wanted, letting go of the things that I didn't want, and trying to go
00:52:19.733 --> 00:52:22.153
Tik Maynard: back and spend the last month going back to being
00:52:22.833 --> 00:52:27.113
Tik Maynard: as authentic as I could and the very best version of myself that I could be.
00:52:27.293 --> 00:52:31.393
Tik Maynard: And so I wasn't feel like I was trying to imitate somebody or force a way of
00:52:31.393 --> 00:52:36.273
Tik Maynard: being, but I could start that horse in the way that felt the most smooth and comfortable to me.
00:52:36.673 --> 00:52:46.093
Kevin Lowe: Wow. I love that. And so when the competition came, you showed up as your true authentic self.
00:52:46.273 --> 00:52:50.273
Tik Maynard: I showed up a little bit in the middle. You know, I used a Western saddle.
00:52:50.433 --> 00:52:54.573
Tik Maynard: I ended up wearing jeans and cowboy boots, but I wore, I didn't wear a bell
00:52:54.573 --> 00:52:57.193
Tik Maynard: buckle. I wore a normal belt. I wore a helmet.
00:52:57.493 --> 00:53:00.513
Tik Maynard: I had my sleeves a little bit partially rolled up.
00:53:00.993 --> 00:53:05.893
Tik Maynard: And I used slightly different tools on the ground than some of the other guys.
00:53:05.893 --> 00:53:10.313
Tik Maynard: And I was kind of, you know, I definitely stood out just by having the helmet,
00:53:10.473 --> 00:53:14.753
Tik Maynard: for example, but also by, you know, a lot of times I'm not used to wearing cowboy boots.
00:53:14.833 --> 00:53:19.093
Tik Maynard: A lot of times in between I would trade and I'd put on my Hoka running shoes or something like that.
00:53:19.253 --> 00:53:22.993
Tik Maynard: And so I definitely, I definitely stood out as being somebody that was a little
00:53:22.993 --> 00:53:27.213
Tik Maynard: bit the underdog and a little bit different than the other competitors that first year.
00:53:27.835 --> 00:53:32.935
Tik Maynard: You know, it's something that I just, I was prepared for and it didn't bother me.
00:53:33.015 --> 00:53:36.015
Tik Maynard: I think if I hadn't had the mindset right from the beginning of how I was going
00:53:36.015 --> 00:53:39.075
Tik Maynard: to do that, I think I would have tried to force it a little bit and tried to
00:53:39.075 --> 00:53:41.555
Tik Maynard: look a little bit more like everybody else, maybe wear a cowboy hat.
00:53:41.775 --> 00:53:45.195
Tik Maynard: But I was like, I'm just going to be me and I'm going to try to be the best version of myself.
00:53:45.375 --> 00:53:50.855
Kevin Lowe: You know, isn't it funny? It doesn't matter who we are, how old we are.
00:53:50.855 --> 00:53:56.335
Kevin Lowe: There is still that internal battle, like we were in middle school,
00:53:56.575 --> 00:54:00.355
Kevin Lowe: of fitting in with the crowd or being who we want to be.
00:54:00.555 --> 00:54:01.115
Tik Maynard: Exactly.
00:54:01.435 --> 00:54:02.855
Kevin Lowe: It never leaves.
00:54:03.135 --> 00:54:05.875
Tik Maynard: No, you're exactly right. You're exactly right.
00:54:06.275 --> 00:54:10.575
Kevin Lowe: Yeah. So talk to me about the actual competition.
00:54:10.835 --> 00:54:18.735
Kevin Lowe: As far as how did it go in general? And then was it as hard as you thought?
00:54:18.875 --> 00:54:20.275
Kevin Lowe: Was it easier than you imagined?
00:54:20.855 --> 00:54:22.535
Kevin Lowe: I'm curious to know how it went.
00:54:22.835 --> 00:54:27.655
Tik Maynard: Yeah, in some ways it was more difficult and in some ways it was easier.
00:54:27.935 --> 00:54:31.255
Tik Maynard: You know, the tension was very high for me throughout the whole,
00:54:31.595 --> 00:54:35.695
Tik Maynard: you know, I got there a day early. So I essentially had, you know, almost two days early.
00:54:35.895 --> 00:54:37.135
Tik Maynard: I essentially had four or five
00:54:37.135 --> 00:54:42.915
Tik Maynard: days at the Kentucky Horse Park where I was always a little bit on edge.
00:54:43.095 --> 00:54:45.855
Tik Maynard: You know, the way that you might be if you're about to sort of take a big test
00:54:45.855 --> 00:54:49.295
Tik Maynard: or propose to somebody or something like that. I was just always on edge.
00:54:49.375 --> 00:54:52.875
Tik Maynard: I could never really settle. I didn't sleep very well. I didn't eat very well.
00:54:53.375 --> 00:54:57.975
Tik Maynard: There's a constantly, uh, things like judges meetings, meeting the press,
00:54:58.575 --> 00:54:59.795
Tik Maynard: Meeting the crowds of people.
00:55:00.135 --> 00:55:03.395
Tik Maynard: You know, I had a lot of family and friends that flew in. So I tried to put
00:55:03.395 --> 00:55:04.675
Tik Maynard: in a little time with them.
00:55:05.175 --> 00:55:08.315
Tik Maynard: Meanwhile, I also am there with my wife and our two little kids.
00:55:08.495 --> 00:55:11.215
Tik Maynard: So I've got, you know, a two year old and a five year old that,
00:55:11.235 --> 00:55:14.815
Tik Maynard: um, you know, I'm spending the evenings and mornings with, and it was just like,
00:55:14.955 --> 00:55:18.135
Tik Maynard: from that perspective, it was really, really, really challenging.
00:55:18.635 --> 00:55:22.735
Tik Maynard: One of the guys that I talked to before I competed, a guy that had competed
00:55:22.735 --> 00:55:26.655
Tik Maynard: the year before, his name is Mike Major, and he actually had won the year before.
00:55:27.075 --> 00:55:32.995
Tik Maynard: So in 2023, he had won. I sort of got caught in an aisle with him the day before it began.
00:55:33.415 --> 00:55:36.335
Tik Maynard: And he looked at me and he could probably see that I was a little stressed.
00:55:36.455 --> 00:55:37.215
Tik Maynard: And he said, you know, Tech,
00:55:37.809 --> 00:55:41.269
Tik Maynard: this is all the hard part. You know, the, the interviews, the crowds,
00:55:41.449 --> 00:55:46.049
Tik Maynard: the judges meetings, making time for family and friends. This is the whole, all the hard part.
00:55:46.229 --> 00:55:50.809
Tik Maynard: Once you actually get into the round pen with the horse, it gets easier.
00:55:50.989 --> 00:55:54.929
Tik Maynard: And he goes, in fact, you don't even need to think all you have to do is just
00:55:54.929 --> 00:55:56.209
Tik Maynard: do what the horse tells you to do.
00:55:56.529 --> 00:56:01.929
Tik Maynard: And from that perspective, he was absolutely right. The easiest time was almost
00:56:01.929 --> 00:56:04.009
Tik Maynard: in the round pen. When I was with the horse.
00:56:04.369 --> 00:56:11.929
Tik Maynard: I was so prepared and I was so focused that I really can honestly say that the four hours over
00:56:12.529 --> 00:56:15.209
Tik Maynard: Three days, you know, an hour and a half Friday, an hour and a half Saturday,
00:56:15.269 --> 00:56:18.949
Tik Maynard: and an hour Sunday, those four hours, I've never had four other hours in my
00:56:18.949 --> 00:56:23.909
Tik Maynard: entire life, at least in that short amount of time where I was so present.
00:56:24.149 --> 00:56:27.629
Tik Maynard: I mean, maybe not since I was a kid, like little kids are present,
00:56:27.689 --> 00:56:31.569
Tik Maynard: you know, but as adults, we tend to often think into the past or into the future,
00:56:31.569 --> 00:56:33.449
Tik Maynard: or we're checking our phone or we get distracted.
00:56:33.629 --> 00:56:39.129
Tik Maynard: But those four hours, I was so in the moment with that horse in the round pen.
00:56:39.609 --> 00:56:42.849
Tik Maynard: It just flowed. You know, it's like when we talk about an athlete getting into
00:56:42.849 --> 00:56:46.069
Tik Maynard: the zone or the flow state or the place where time slows down.
00:56:46.509 --> 00:56:48.609
Tik Maynard: That's what it was like for me. And so from that perspective,
00:56:48.609 --> 00:56:50.669
Tik Maynard: it was easier than I thought it was going to be.
00:56:51.109 --> 00:56:55.749
Kevin Lowe: Yeah, I love it. Wow, that's so amazingly powerful.
00:56:55.749 --> 00:57:04.489
Kevin Lowe: Now, from the judge's perspective, what did you do differently or better than
00:57:04.489 --> 00:57:07.689
Kevin Lowe: the other competitors to have you ultimately win?
00:57:08.009 --> 00:57:11.489
Tik Maynard: Because we were all competing at the same time on Friday and Saturday,
00:57:11.649 --> 00:57:13.189
Tik Maynard: there's four round pens set up.
00:57:13.329 --> 00:57:18.909
Tik Maynard: So there's an hour and a half each day and all four of us are training the horses at the same time.
00:57:19.069 --> 00:57:21.669
Tik Maynard: So the judges, there's five judges and they're standing sort of in the middle
00:57:21.669 --> 00:57:25.989
Tik Maynard: of this square of round pens. And so they look at one for a few minutes,
00:57:26.029 --> 00:57:27.249
Tik Maynard: then the other, and there's five judges.
00:57:27.449 --> 00:57:32.089
Tik Maynard: And so they're all walking around, observing what the four athletes and four horses are doing.
00:57:32.269 --> 00:57:36.009
Tik Maynard: And then on the Sunday, we go in reverse order of go, which means if you're
00:57:36.009 --> 00:57:38.849
Tik Maynard: in first place, you go last. And if you're in last place, you go first.
00:57:39.149 --> 00:57:42.129
Tik Maynard: And you're not allowed to watch the other competitors that go before you.
00:57:42.249 --> 00:57:46.549
Tik Maynard: So on Sunday, I was sitting in first place and I was last to go.
00:57:46.669 --> 00:57:48.249
Tik Maynard: So I couldn't watch the other three people.
00:57:48.389 --> 00:57:52.149
Tik Maynard: And I went out there and I competed on Sunday without having seen them.
00:57:52.149 --> 00:57:55.749
Tik Maynard: So, you know, it's hard for me to really compare myself to them.
00:57:56.129 --> 00:58:01.029
Tik Maynard: I will say that one of the things I think I did very well
00:58:01.576 --> 00:58:06.816
Tik Maynard: is I became very aware in my preparation of tiny improvements,
00:58:07.856 --> 00:58:13.696
Tik Maynard: Of looking to improve stuff 1% at a time and then leave that skill or leave
00:58:13.696 --> 00:58:17.676
Tik Maynard: that area of the round pen or leave that obstacle and go and do something else
00:58:17.676 --> 00:58:21.616
Tik Maynard: and then make it 1% better and then go and do something else and make it 1%
00:58:21.616 --> 00:58:24.336
Tik Maynard: better and then go and do something else and make it 1% better.
00:58:24.476 --> 00:58:28.696
Tik Maynard: So I always have three or four things that I'm alternating between and I'm trying
00:58:28.696 --> 00:58:32.076
Tik Maynard: to never get into a fight with my horse. I'm trying to never push something
00:58:32.076 --> 00:58:34.216
Tik Maynard: so far that he gets stressed out.
00:58:34.356 --> 00:58:37.836
Tik Maynard: And I'm just trying to constantly like nonstop every 30 seconds,
00:58:38.076 --> 00:58:39.936
Tik Maynard: make a little improvement and then leave it.
00:58:40.096 --> 00:58:43.756
Tik Maynard: And, you know, hopefully that's what the judges saw.
00:58:43.936 --> 00:58:47.196
Tik Maynard: And I guess they, I guess they liked it because, you know, that,
00:58:47.296 --> 00:58:53.596
Tik Maynard: that I've now done it twice, you know, 2024 and 2025 and I've, I've won it both years.
00:58:53.796 --> 00:58:57.476
Tik Maynard: So that technique has been paying off for me and hopefully paying off for the horses.
00:58:58.096 --> 00:59:05.996
Kevin Lowe: Yeah. Yeah, that's so fascinating. The fact that you even got to be invited
00:59:05.996 --> 00:59:09.856
Kevin Lowe: to this competition, you win it, you come back, you win it again.
00:59:10.276 --> 00:59:13.516
Kevin Lowe: I mean, that is just absolutely remarkable.
00:59:14.036 --> 00:59:18.436
Kevin Lowe: What I guess I would love to know is when you're in this competition,
00:59:18.436 --> 00:59:24.816
Kevin Lowe: you only have three days with this horse. Is there a point when you're working
00:59:24.816 --> 00:59:28.876
Kevin Lowe: with the horse that you feel like I'm going to succeed?
00:59:29.236 --> 00:59:34.216
Kevin Lowe: Like me and this horse have made some type of connection? Or could that even
00:59:34.216 --> 00:59:35.916
Kevin Lowe: happen in such a short amount of time?
00:59:36.576 --> 00:59:40.316
Tik Maynard: Yeah, definitely. With every horse, it happens at a different time.
00:59:40.316 --> 00:59:46.836
Tik Maynard: And with me, with that horse, that first year, it happened about maybe 12 or
00:59:46.836 --> 00:59:48.396
Tik Maynard: 13 minutes in on the first day.
00:59:49.136 --> 00:59:50.656
Kevin Lowe: Say what? Really?
00:59:51.076 --> 00:59:55.496
Tik Maynard: Yeah. Yeah. You know, I, at the first 10 minutes, I couldn't catch the horse
00:59:55.496 --> 00:59:59.176
Tik Maynard: and the horse was at the edge of the round pen and its head was high and it
00:59:59.176 --> 01:00:00.456
Tik Maynard: was calling to the other horses.
01:00:01.516 --> 01:00:04.556
Tik Maynard: And, um, I was trying to, I was just trying to get close to it where I could
01:00:04.556 --> 01:00:07.696
Tik Maynard: touch it or I could catch it or he would get interested in me or curious about
01:00:07.696 --> 01:00:09.796
Tik Maynard: me. And I was, I was a little worried.
01:00:10.136 --> 01:00:12.956
Tik Maynard: Uh, you know, I was a lot worried. I was like, am I going to have to rope this
01:00:12.956 --> 01:00:14.896
Tik Maynard: horse, like swing a lariat over its head?
01:00:14.956 --> 01:00:17.616
Tik Maynard: Am I going to be able to touch it? Am I going to, or am I going to spend the
01:00:17.616 --> 01:00:19.916
Tik Maynard: next hour and a half here? Just like not being able to catch it.
01:00:19.956 --> 01:00:20.716
Tik Maynard: Like what's going to happen.
01:00:20.916 --> 01:00:25.696
Tik Maynard: And somewhere, you know, in there, maybe, maybe 12 or 13 minutes in the horse
01:00:25.696 --> 01:00:29.256
Tik Maynard: started to look at me and then he started to take a step towards me.
01:00:29.476 --> 01:00:35.136
Tik Maynard: And then he started to put his nose towards my hand with some curiosity and,
01:00:35.622 --> 01:00:40.942
Tik Maynard: And once I had that, even though it was just a little bit in terms of how much
01:00:40.942 --> 01:00:46.222
Tik Maynard: you have to accomplish in three days, once I had that, I just knew as long as
01:00:46.222 --> 01:00:48.642
Tik Maynard: I didn't mess it up, like it was going to happen.
01:00:48.782 --> 01:00:52.322
Tik Maynard: I didn't know the timeline it was going to happen on. I didn't know if I was going to win or not.
01:00:52.622 --> 01:00:54.802
Tik Maynard: I didn't, you know, those things are out of my control.
01:00:55.122 --> 01:00:58.842
Tik Maynard: But as soon as I kind of had that thoughtfulness and that curiosity,
01:00:58.942 --> 01:01:02.922
Tik Maynard: I felt like the horse, you know, a lot of horses, even horses that have been
01:01:02.922 --> 01:01:06.182
Tik Maynard: around people a long time, a lot of them will look. they'll be around people
01:01:06.182 --> 01:01:10.082
Tik Maynard: and they'll look past the person or they'll look through the person or they'll be distracted.
01:01:10.582 --> 01:01:15.142
Tik Maynard: But once I kind of had that, that happen, I just had like sort of this,
01:01:15.322 --> 01:01:20.282
Tik Maynard: this special kind of feeling go through me, you know, where you almost kind
01:01:20.282 --> 01:01:22.822
Tik Maynard: of like get goosebumps and you're just like, this is going to happen.
01:01:23.142 --> 01:01:30.022
Kevin Lowe: Yeah. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. So you, you win the, You win it.
01:01:31.002 --> 01:01:36.402
Kevin Lowe: You succeed at it. What makes you come back to do it again the next year?
01:01:36.782 --> 01:01:42.362
Tik Maynard: Yeah. So, you know, the first year when I was invited, you know,
01:01:42.442 --> 01:01:47.182
Tik Maynard: it was a much bigger conversation, like I said, with my wife and with my dad
01:01:47.182 --> 01:01:48.542
Tik Maynard: and with some of the people close to me.
01:01:48.642 --> 01:01:52.542
Tik Maynard: And I will say that my dad, who initially said no, he came and he watched and
01:01:52.542 --> 01:01:55.382
Tik Maynard: he ended up being my biggest, possibly my biggest supporter.
01:01:56.042 --> 01:02:00.062
Tik Maynard: So that was amazing to see. You know, David O'Connor, a mentor of mine that
01:02:00.062 --> 01:02:04.362
Tik Maynard: initially thought maybe I shouldn't do it, he actually was, you know,
01:02:04.422 --> 01:02:09.522
Tik Maynard: he's an Olympic gold medalist in three-day eventing, and they actually invited him to come be a judge.
01:02:09.702 --> 01:02:12.142
Tik Maynard: And so he actually went and judged it one year as well.
01:02:12.602 --> 01:02:16.982
Tik Maynard: So some of these people sort of came around and ended up being very supportive in the end.
01:02:17.082 --> 01:02:22.502
Tik Maynard: But the biggest thing that people said to me as I was getting ready for that
01:02:22.502 --> 01:02:26.062
Tik Maynard: first year was things like, don't worry if you don't do win,
01:02:26.222 --> 01:02:27.222
Tik Maynard: just do right by the horse.
01:02:27.342 --> 01:02:30.702
Tik Maynard: Or don't worry if you can't even catch your horse, just take it slow.
01:02:31.002 --> 01:02:36.162
Tik Maynard: Or if you've got to just retire after two days and you don't want to do the third day, that's fine.
01:02:36.502 --> 01:02:40.782
Tik Maynard: Or just these sort of things like, no matter what happens, it'll be fine and
01:02:40.782 --> 01:02:43.102
Tik Maynard: you can always quit early and don't worry about the results.
01:02:43.302 --> 01:02:45.042
Tik Maynard: You know, those were all the comments the first year.
01:02:45.382 --> 01:02:49.422
Tik Maynard: And the second year, all the comments I got were, are you going to defend your
01:02:49.422 --> 01:02:50.862
Tik Maynard: title? Are you going to win again?
01:02:53.082 --> 01:02:54.322
Kevin Lowe: Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
01:02:59.198 --> 01:03:02.058
Tik Maynard: That's funny and so it's two very different kinds of
01:03:02.058 --> 01:03:05.378
Tik Maynard: pressure you know one is the the pressure that the underdog
01:03:05.378 --> 01:03:08.798
Tik Maynard: faces that is you know he's a little over faced and he's going in for a big
01:03:08.798 --> 01:03:14.018
Tik Maynard: challenge and the second kind of pressure is the pressure of the returning winner
01:03:14.018 --> 01:03:18.038
Tik Maynard: both those pressures kind of come with their own unique challenges you know
01:03:18.038 --> 01:03:23.218
Tik Maynard: i definitely was was aware of that and i thought going back a second year would
01:03:23.218 --> 01:03:24.658
Tik Maynard: be a challenge in itself.
01:03:25.058 --> 01:03:29.358
Tik Maynard: I still wanted to share with the people watching my way of doing things.
01:03:29.598 --> 01:03:33.858
Tik Maynard: And at that point that I got invited, I made the goal that I was going to get
01:03:33.858 --> 01:03:38.858
Tik Maynard: the book finished, edited, and printed and shipped so that we could release
01:03:38.858 --> 01:03:41.678
Tik Maynard: it exactly one year later at Road to the Horse 2025.
01:03:42.198 --> 01:03:46.058
Tik Maynard: And so for that whole year after 2024, that whole year of getting ready for
01:03:46.058 --> 01:03:50.278
Tik Maynard: the second time, I was both preparing for the competition as well as actually
01:03:50.278 --> 01:03:53.558
Tik Maynard: taking all my notes from the book and writing it into the book,
01:03:53.698 --> 01:03:55.298
Tik Maynard: which people can now buy today.
01:03:56.398 --> 01:04:02.898
Kevin Lowe: Yeah. Wow. That is absolutely, that's just incredible, man. That is absolutely incredible.
01:04:03.218 --> 01:04:08.618
Kevin Lowe: How has life for you personally, professionally,
01:04:08.978 --> 01:04:16.178
Kevin Lowe: how has it changed since achieving this long time goal of even being invited
01:04:16.178 --> 01:04:22.158
Kevin Lowe: to compete, much less winning it two years in a row? What has that done for life?
01:04:22.558 --> 01:04:28.778
Tik Maynard: On the level of how does it affect my everyday life, just like what I do or
01:04:28.778 --> 01:04:32.158
Tik Maynard: my job, it really hasn't affected it that much.
01:04:32.258 --> 01:04:36.218
Tik Maynard: You know, I haven't had a bunch of new sponsors come in, you know,
01:04:36.278 --> 01:04:41.918
Tik Maynard: to sponsor myself or the business that I run with my wife, Sinead, or anything like that.
01:04:41.918 --> 01:04:50.458
Tik Maynard: But I'd say the biggest way it's changed me is that it was something that was
01:04:50.458 --> 01:04:54.638
Tik Maynard: so difficult and I faced so much pressure and adversity going through.
01:04:55.158 --> 01:04:59.298
Tik Maynard: And then I came out of it, not only did I come out of it alive on the other
01:04:59.298 --> 01:05:04.258
Tik Maynard: side, but I came out of it having learned a lot, having made new friends, having won.
01:05:04.538 --> 01:05:08.398
Tik Maynard: And I came out of it on the other side of it sort of successfully.
01:05:08.398 --> 01:05:16.238
Tik Maynard: And it really changed kind of my confidence level and my feeling okay being
01:05:16.238 --> 01:05:18.338
Tik Maynard: who I am and being my authentic self.
01:05:18.878 --> 01:05:21.718
Tik Maynard: And I thought, you know, to do this, I don't have to be a cowboy.
01:05:21.958 --> 01:05:26.258
Tik Maynard: I don't have to change who I am. I can be exactly who I am. I can write the way that I want to write.
01:05:26.358 --> 01:05:29.758
Tik Maynard: I can start a horse the way that I want to start a horse. And I don't have to
01:05:29.758 --> 01:05:30.778
Tik Maynard: change that for anybody.
01:05:31.238 --> 01:05:35.478
Kevin Lowe: Yeah, yeah. I love it. Absolutely love it. Now...
01:05:36.307 --> 01:05:40.167
Kevin Lowe: Now, the book that you've published, who do you hope reads the book?
01:05:40.687 --> 01:05:41.587
Tik Maynard: Three million people.
01:05:41.907 --> 01:05:42.327
Kevin Lowe: Yes.
01:05:44.507 --> 01:05:46.127
Kevin Lowe: I love that answer.
01:05:50.807 --> 01:05:54.627
Tik Maynard: You know, when you sell books, it's an interesting thing.
01:05:54.927 --> 01:05:59.847
Tik Maynard: Not everybody is a reader, you know, and some people obviously don't have the
01:05:59.847 --> 01:06:02.647
Tik Maynard: patience to read or some people don't read at all.
01:06:02.767 --> 01:06:05.707
Tik Maynard: Some people prefer audiobooks. Some people prefer, you know,
01:06:05.827 --> 01:06:08.207
Tik Maynard: reading the hard copy of the book or whatever.
01:06:08.567 --> 01:06:11.507
Tik Maynard: When you look at book sales, there's a big difference between a book that can
01:06:11.507 --> 01:06:18.287
Tik Maynard: sell 2000 copies versus 20,000 copies versus 200,000 copies versus 2 million copies.
01:06:18.607 --> 01:06:22.467
Tik Maynard: You know, and all those jumps are pretty difficult leaps to make.
01:06:23.047 --> 01:06:29.607
Tik Maynard: And my main goal in writing the book is not about who's going to read it other
01:06:29.607 --> 01:06:33.307
Tik Maynard: than I hope my family and one day my kids will read it. This book,
01:06:33.387 --> 01:06:37.187
Tik Maynard: I almost kind of wrote to remember this part of my life.
01:06:37.747 --> 01:06:43.127
Tik Maynard: And at the beginning, I think I even say in the beginning, like in the acknowledgements
01:06:43.127 --> 01:06:44.047
Tik Maynard: or something like that, I said,
01:06:44.227 --> 01:06:51.387
Tik Maynard: not many kids get to go back and read on a level like this what their mother
01:06:51.387 --> 01:06:54.967
Tik Maynard: or what their father did and thought and felt when they were born.
01:06:55.329 --> 01:06:58.809
Tik Maynard: Younger, you know, like we often know our parents the way that they are now.
01:06:59.009 --> 01:07:01.949
Tik Maynard: And to really get into your parents' mind when they were in their twenties or
01:07:01.949 --> 01:07:04.689
Tik Maynard: thirties or forties, I think is a pretty unique thing.
01:07:04.849 --> 01:07:08.389
Tik Maynard: So I, when I wrote this, I really kind of, I guess, had my kids who are,
01:07:08.549 --> 01:07:12.309
Tik Maynard: they don't know how to read yet, but I really kind of had them in mind as sort
01:07:12.309 --> 01:07:13.689
Tik Maynard: of an audience that I was writing to.
01:07:14.189 --> 01:07:17.729
Tik Maynard: But aside from that, I mean, the two main goals I had when I was writing it
01:07:17.729 --> 01:07:21.109
Tik Maynard: for myself were number one is I want to improve my writing.
01:07:21.569 --> 01:07:24.989
Tik Maynard: So I started a lot about writing, you know, reading books on how to write,
01:07:25.289 --> 01:07:29.309
Tik Maynard: working closely with an editor who would offer me advice on how to bring out
01:07:29.309 --> 01:07:33.789
Tik Maynard: the storyline or the plot or bring out characters or make chapters more interesting.
01:07:34.189 --> 01:07:38.849
Tik Maynard: And then also the other thing that was really helpful is by taking all my notes
01:07:38.849 --> 01:07:42.249
Tik Maynard: and making into a book in that year that I was getting ready to compete a second
01:07:42.249 --> 01:07:48.309
Tik Maynard: time, it really clarified a lot of the thoughts that I had in getting ready for it the first time.
01:07:48.469 --> 01:07:53.129
Tik Maynard: So it's really like I I almost lived that twice because once I lived it in person
01:07:53.129 --> 01:07:56.349
Tik Maynard: and I lived it a second time as I took the notes and made it into a book.
01:07:56.709 --> 01:08:01.569
Tik Maynard: And so it really helped me kind of improve my cold starting for the second year
01:08:01.569 --> 01:08:02.469
Tik Maynard: just in writing the book.
01:08:03.089 --> 01:08:07.249
Kevin Lowe: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that makes that makes sense. You know what?
01:08:07.409 --> 01:08:15.249
Kevin Lowe: What I can't help but think is for any of us who we have a goal, we have a dream.
01:08:15.889 --> 01:08:19.309
Kevin Lowe: Sometimes we want to know how other people did it.
01:08:19.529 --> 01:08:24.469
Kevin Lowe: You documented the whole thing in this book. And I can't help but think what
01:08:24.469 --> 01:08:25.829
Kevin Lowe: a source of inspiration,
01:08:26.249 --> 01:08:32.389
Kevin Lowe: no matter whether you're somebody interested in horses or it's a kid dreaming
01:08:32.389 --> 01:08:38.649
Kevin Lowe: of playing in the Super Bowl or if it's any type of big dream or goal you have.
01:08:40.115 --> 01:08:43.415
Kevin Lowe: It's always really cool sometimes to see how others did it.
01:08:43.935 --> 01:08:51.355
Kevin Lowe: And so what I think of this book is it's kind of a roadmap to how you made this dream come true.
01:08:52.075 --> 01:08:56.895
Tik Maynard: Yeah, exactly. It's exactly what it is. It's a roadmap. And I think by studying
01:08:56.895 --> 01:09:01.315
Tik Maynard: other people's roadmaps, I don't think we have to follow them exactly or imitate
01:09:01.315 --> 01:09:06.135
Tik Maynard: them, but I think it can inspire us and give us ideas for our own personal roadmap.
01:09:06.615 --> 01:09:13.515
Kevin Lowe: Yeah, yeah, I agree. Well, Tik, man, I have enjoyed getting to talk with you today.
01:09:13.655 --> 01:09:17.815
Kevin Lowe: I've enjoyed getting to hear your personal story, this professional journey.
01:09:18.375 --> 01:09:24.215
Kevin Lowe: For somebody who wants to pick up this book for themselves, where is the best
01:09:24.215 --> 01:09:25.275
Kevin Lowe: place for us to send them?
01:09:25.355 --> 01:09:28.895
Kevin Lowe: And I'll be sure that links are in the show notes for easy access.
01:09:29.555 --> 01:09:33.415
Tik Maynard: So in the United States, the best place is from Trafalgar Square Books.
01:09:33.755 --> 01:09:37.295
Tik Maynard: In the UK, it's from Quiller Books.
01:09:37.855 --> 01:09:40.815
Tik Maynard: Of course, if you have a local tack shop or a local bookstore,
01:09:41.215 --> 01:09:45.815
Tik Maynard: then I definitely would encourage you to support that sort of brick and mortar
01:09:45.815 --> 01:09:48.135
Tik Maynard: store and the person that's running that local bookstore.
01:09:48.775 --> 01:09:53.435
Tik Maynard: And of course, last of all, for those of you that are not feeling motivated
01:09:53.435 --> 01:09:56.255
Tik Maynard: enough to do any of those things, just go to Amazon.
01:09:57.055 --> 01:10:01.335
Kevin Lowe: Okay. When in doubt, when in doubt, just go to Amazon.
01:10:01.655 --> 01:10:05.815
Kevin Lowe: I love it. That's right. I love it. Well, I will be sure that links are in the
01:10:05.815 --> 01:10:10.515
Kevin Lowe: show notes, as I said, for all of the options to make it very easy for the person
01:10:10.515 --> 01:10:14.575
Kevin Lowe: who wants to take our conversation to the next level and dive into your book.
01:10:14.915 --> 01:10:19.335
Kevin Lowe: Tik, once again, man, it's been an absolute pleasure. And I thank you in the
01:10:19.335 --> 01:10:21.175
Kevin Lowe: most sincere way possible for being here.
01:10:21.886 --> 01:10:25.946
Tik Maynard: Well, Kevin, it's truly been an honor. And, you know, this show has been a lot
01:10:25.946 --> 01:10:27.086
Tik Maynard: about me and what I've done.
01:10:27.406 --> 01:10:30.966
Tik Maynard: And if anybody's listening to this podcast for the first time,
01:10:31.206 --> 01:10:35.546
Tik Maynard: you know, I would really encourage you to go and listen to a little bit of Kevin's
01:10:35.546 --> 01:10:38.626
Tik Maynard: story, because I was lucky enough to hear some of that from him when we spoke
01:10:38.626 --> 01:10:39.586
Tik Maynard: on the phone the other day.
01:10:39.886 --> 01:10:44.846
Tik Maynard: And it's truly an inspiring, remarkable story, Kevin, that you have.
01:10:45.066 --> 01:10:47.786
Tik Maynard: And I really appreciate you having me on your show. So thank you.
01:10:48.526 --> 01:10:53.066
Kevin Lowe: Oh, man. And well, I appreciate that so much. That means a lot to me.
01:10:53.186 --> 01:10:55.686
Kevin Lowe: And I thank you so much for saying it.
01:10:55.946 --> 01:11:01.366
Kevin Lowe: For you listening today, my hope as always is that something said today can
01:11:01.366 --> 01:11:06.686
Kevin Lowe: maybe be that little bit of spark of inspiration, of motivation for you to maybe
01:11:06.686 --> 01:11:08.966
Kevin Lowe: dust off that dream that you've been thinking about.
01:11:09.226 --> 01:11:14.626
Kevin Lowe: Maybe there's a goal that others have told you it's too big. It's not for you.
01:11:14.726 --> 01:11:18.286
Kevin Lowe: But there's a part of you that knows that you're made for it.
01:11:18.286 --> 01:11:21.686
Kevin Lowe: You're meant for it. So my friend, get out there and chase it.
01:11:21.906 --> 01:11:26.426
Kevin Lowe: It's all about chasing after the goal, embarking on this journey of life,
01:11:26.426 --> 01:11:30.146
Kevin Lowe: because at the end of the day, all we're going to have are regrets,
01:11:30.166 --> 01:11:31.426
Kevin Lowe: the things that we didn't do.
01:11:31.686 --> 01:11:34.926
Kevin Lowe: Just go out there and start living life to the best of your ability.
01:11:35.206 --> 01:11:40.646
Kevin Lowe: My name is Kevin Lowe. And this, of course, was another episode of Grit, Grace, & Inspiration.
01:11:41.326 --> 01:11:42.906
Podcast Outro with music: I got Grit, Grace, & Inspiration on my mind...