My guest for this episode of the podcast is Tik Maynard. If you follow Road to the Horse, known as the world championship of colt starting, you know him as the winner of the last two years. Besides that distinction, he is a 3 day event rider, clinician, and horse trainer.

Yet,Tik shared a very simple bio about himself:

Author of two books. Father of two kids.

Also: three-day event rider, husband, juggler, dad-joke teller, Road To The Horse competitor.

There is a LOT more to Tik than this bio indicates, and I’ll leave it to you to look him up on the internet to find all the things he’s accomplished. However,talking about this simple bio was a great kickoff to a very deep and intentional conversation.

This conversation ranged from the very practical – how did you prepare for Road to the Horse to the philosophical – how do we balance our training with horses in ways that are acceptable? Confidence was a theme that ran throughout.

We talked a lot about his latest book, Starting in the Middle:How Horses, Those Who Study Them, and 265 Minutes with One Colt Helped Me Find Myself at Midlife. This is a horse book that’s really more about learning, navigating doubt and cultivating a spark. It’s by far my most highlighted book in the last few years.