Starting in the Middle

He thought he had it made. Dream farm. Amazing wife. Wonderful kids. Clear and present purpose.

Horses.

But then he began to wonder if he was doing it all right enough…if maybe he’d been doing it for long enough. He began to wonder if it was right at all.

When midlife appeared before horseman Tik Maynard, he had plenty of past adventures to cite and no shortage of future possibilities. But his own questions about his life as a horse trainer and equestrian competitor began to overwhelm the joy of all he had accomplished and discovered. It suddenly became imperative that he reconsider his path and open himself to alternatives—and a course that might drastically differ from what he’d always thought he wanted.

When an invitation to participate in Road to the Horse, the World Championship of Colt Starting, was offered, Maynard immediately saw an opportunity to learn, to expand his world beyond what in some ways felt too “complete,” to reboot the passion that had always driven him. And so he took a chance on himself and an unknown, unbroken colt, and said, “I’ll do it.”

In these deep, considered, and painstakingly articulated pages, Maynard chronicles a year of reading, traveling, asking questions, and trying new things, as he, supported by family and friends, threw himself into the preparation he knew he needed to have 265 minutes in front of a live audience be something positive for both him and a horse he did not yet know. The reader travels along as Maynard meets some of the leading figures in the world of animal behavior and training, examining the ways humans can successfully communicate with other species from a multitude of entry points, both “traditional” and “out of the box.” With dialogue that sweeps you into each fascinating expert’s space and time, he shares his struggles with the philosophical and ethical side of his life’s pursuit, and thoughtfully illustrates the conversations that helped him construct a system of beliefs and understanding that supported his natural abilities and lifetime in the saddle, while at the same time challenging everything he thought he already knew. Readers are offered the opportunity to grow alongside Maynard, not only as horse lovers, but as people, as he tries and tests and fails and finds—and eventually, chooses which direction to take in the second half of his life.

With a diligence and intelligence that is unique to the genre of “books about horses” and extends well beyond the barn to the broader questions faced by the human race, Maynard has again given us a unfailingly honest telling of one life and the pursuit of fulfilling it. Starting in the Middle is for anyone wondering “what’s next” and trying to be brave enough to go out and look for it.