United States Eventing Association

The Importance of Being Present with Eventer and Road to the Horse Champion Tik Maynard

Seattle, Wash.–Dec. 14–When Advanced level eventer Tik Maynard first watched the Road to the Horse in 2012, he was immediately drawn in by the concept of the three-day competition. Each year, four invited trainers work with a previously unhandled 3-year-old Quarter Horse gelding in 1.5-hour sessions with the ultimate goal of being able to bond with, saddle train, and complete an obstacle course on said horse by the end of the competition.

In 2023, Maynard had the opportunity to attend the competition in person with his father, Rick Maynard.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Tik shared during his Keynote Presentation at the 2024 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention. “When I watched it with my dad live for the first time is when I realized that it was more than just training a horse—it was a test of character; your ability to stay cool under pressure and start that horse in a similar mindset that you would at home. You didn't let the crowds, prize money, TV cameras, or the clock ticking above your head get to you.”

In the summer of 2023, Tik received a phone call from the organizing team behind the competition extending him one of those four coveted invitations to participate at the competition, held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky.

“I had a lot of fears when considering doing it,” he noted. “One of them was the number of people out there that I didn’t know that didn’t approve of this competition. The second was the people that I did know—people I really admired and liked.”

One of those people was Olympic eventer and one of Tik’s mentors, David O’Connor, who was also at the 2023 competition.

“When I asked David if I should compete, he said no. And then my dad said no. And then other people I respected also said they didn’t think it was a good idea,” he recalled.

But Tik kept finding subtle signs that he felt were guiding him toward the path of the competition. Thus, the preparations began.

He dedicated the next six months to furthering his education in the lead up to the 2024 competition. In doing so, he worked alongside countless experts in the equestrian industry, learning new techniques, getting out of his comfort zone, and developing the strategy that he felt aligned most the goals he set for himself.

In his final leadup to the event, he began thinking about one final word: love. Friend and sports coach Natalie Hummel gave Tik a great piece of advice—love is just being present.

“I resolved that I was going to treat that situation with the horse with as much respect as I could and that being present with the horse was the one thing that I was going to try and do,” he said.

The idea of being present is easier said than done when you’re in a crowded arena, surrounded some of the top colt starters in the country, thousands of fans, a panel of judges, and cameras at every turn.

But he stood true to his vow and blocked out the world around him. He was drawn fourth out of the four trainers to pick his horse at random. As he walked amongst the herd of 3-year-old colts loose in the arena, one kept his eye contact for a touch longer than the rest, and Tik selected the young chestnut as his partner.

“Not one time did I look up at the crowd, at the other round pens, or did I think about what was happening at the farm; I was completely present with this horse,” he noted of the first day.

In his first session with the horse, Tik’s first task at hand was just getting his hands on him. He took his time, and when he finally was successful in catching him, he was able to halter him, turn him left and right, run his hands down his legs, lay on him, sit on him bareback, and make his first introduction to the saddle. That progress resulted in the judges placing him in the lead following the first day.

“Unfortunately, day 2 didn’t go quite as magically as the first,” he shared with the crowd. “There were two moments where I looked out of the round pen for two to three seconds, but those two moments put me out of my zone for 50-60 seconds each.”

He was three-quarters of the way into his time on day 2 when his young mount bucked him off.

“The horse was just nervous,” he noted. “In that moment, I was able to do something that I have only ever seen a few people do before in my life. I was able to get up with no ill will to the horse and try again.”

Despite that blip on the radar, Tik recovered his sense of presence with the horse and ultimately held onto his lead at the end of that day. But the third day was the true test of the entire weekend as competitors were asked to navigate a 10-obstacle course with their green partners.

In the final 60 seconds of the competition with one exercise left to navigate, Tik’s horse got really unsettled and took off on an impressive bucking spree, yet Tik remained calm, composed, and in the saddle to ultimately win the competition.

As he looked back at the event, he asked himself, why did it all come together, and was it repeatable in other situations?

As it turned out, O’Connor, who had previously discouraged Tik from participating, was one of the judges of the 2024 competition. Tik shared that he went to dinner with O’Connor and his wife, Sinead Maynard, just last night where he asked them if they had an idea as to why it all came together.

O’Connor shared, “It was obvious you had a proof of concept, and it was something that you believed in as well. The idea of retreating was more important to you than control.”

Sinead also had her opinions as to what led to Tik’s success: “In the months that you were getting ready, you were learning techniques and practicing, but you were also searching for your identity, an exploration, a search for who you are in that space.”

Tik tied it back to the early principles he set for himself and the idea of being totally present in what he was doing when he was working with his horse.

“It was pretty obvious I was able to do things better than I had ever done before,” he shared. “And I ultimately tied it back to being present, being highly involved with low attachment to the result, and all of the practice beforehand.”

He spent the rest of his 2024 season applying those same principles to the way he approached his competitions in the eventing space and found that, even when the scores didn’t have him at the top of the leaderboard, the end result left him feeling just as positive as he had at the end of that three-day, life-changing experience.

Tik brought his speech to a close with one thought for all of those in the audience.

"When I think about how we are as teachers, teachers to one another and teachers to horses, one of the books that I think about is called "Work Hard Unites", which is about the Knowledge is Power Program in the United States," said Tik. "These two guys on a gap year from college ended up going to teach, and they made it into their career, and they became very succesful teachers through their method of teaching, which they honed through trial and error.

"They expanded to having charter schools," Tik continued, "and they had other teachers come in, and they tried to teach all of these other teachers the way that they taught, and the amount of success they had with these kids learning to read and write and graduate actually started to go down. What they realized was, all of these teachers had their own way of teaching, sort of their own superpower, if you will. Some teachers related to these kids through story, some through dance, some through sports, some through being a really good listener or being very patient, so on, and so forth. They realized they had to allow each of these teachers to find their own way of relating to the students, and I think that is what I did in getting ready for Road to the Horse.

"I actually think, in retrospect, that was maybe the biggest part of the puzzle, and so the only thing I'd like to leave you with is that I would like to encourage all of you to find your own superpower—your way of communicating to your horse."

Helpful Links

• USEA Convention Schedule
• USEA’s Coverage

Can't watch the livestream? Follow the USEA event coverage on social media!

Facebook | Instagram | Threads | TikTok

About the USEA Annual Meeting & Convention

The USEA Annual Meeting & Convention takes place each December and brings together a large group of dedicated USEA members and supporters to discuss, learn, and enjoy being surrounded by other eventing enthusiasts. The USEA organizes multiple seminars in addition to committee meetings, open forums, and tons of fun! The 2024 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention will take place in Seattle, Washington, on Dec. 12—15. Click here to learn more about the USEA Annual Meeting & Convention.

The USEA would like to thank the USEA Annual Meeting & Convention Sponsors: Adequan, ARMA, Bates Saddles, D.G. Stackhouse & Ellis, Gallops Saddlery, Horse & Country, Kerrits, Mrs. Pastures Cookies for Horses, Nunn Finer, Nutrena, Parker Equine Insurance, PulseVet Shock Wave, Rebecca Farm, RevitaVet, Ride iQ, Schneiders Saddlery, SmartPak, Standlee, and World Equestrian Brands.