It’s been four years since I last wrote for The Chronicle of the Horse‘s website. The not-writing has been a scar that aches like a missing friend. The last article was about a border crossing gone wrong: I tried to cross into the United States without the proper paperwork—sort of akin to showing up at Rolex Kentucky without having sent in an entry.

When the article appeared online the reaction from anonymous people on the Chronicle Forums was harsh, but perhaps fair. Maybe even deserved. I still wish there was a gentler way to give advice or criticism. However that seems to be the price to be paid for putting your mistakes and thoughts out there.

Never mind, I tell myself. Time to try again.

Here we go:

Since 2011 I worked for Anne Kursinski, stopped working for Anne, worked at Bow Brickhill Stables, stopped working at Bow Brickhill, brought my mare Sapphire up to the advanced level, fell in love with Sinead Halpin, got married to Sinead, started my own business, made the long-list for the Pan Am Games with two horses, had injuries on both horses, retired one of them, bred her (last week to Jackaroo, an Irish Sport Horse-Thoroughbred), and got an off-the-track Thoroughbred—more or less in that order.

In 2014 Icabad Crane and Phillip Dutton stole the show in the Retired Racehorse Project’s $10,000 America’s Most Wanted Thoroughbred contest. The point of the contest is to garner more interest in re-homing ex-racehorses. Phillip and Crane certainly caught my attention.

I can see the video of them play in my mind’s eye as I run my hand over the gentlemanly OTTB that has ended up in my barn. Crane earned the nickname “Mr. Adjustability” for putting 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 strides between two jumps in a line. Not a bad feat for a young horse. Is there a way to top it?

Horses are mainly motivated by people through discomfort (for example: pulling on the reins, squeezing your legs, using the whip), but riding can become art when the motivation is based more on curiosity, play, and even a sort of contagious enthusiasm for work. Watch the soft hands of Lauren Kieffer as she rides, or the confidence Buck Davidson gives his horses as he jumps, and you start to see some of their mindset rub off on the horse.

I remember watching a video of Steffen Peters in a training session. Something out of view of the camera gets the horses riled up. The camera’s focus is on Steffen, but in the background the other riders try to bring their horses back to the work at hand. Steffen feels his horse get excited, and what does he do? He does what a true artist would do. He changes his plan. Instead of the working trot he gently shifts his weight, looks up, smiles, and asks for passage. And now, both the rider, and the horse, get what they want. Art. Harmony.

The search for that kind of connection and willingness is the main reason I sought out another horse. And the contest too of course. Who wouldn’t love the chance to win some money and support such a great cause at the same time?

Others must be thinking the same as the 2015 Thoroughbred Makeover has cut their entries at 350 and have started a waiting list. The rules state you can get your horse as early as January.  The competition is in October in Kentucky. I got “Mr. Pleasantree” in June.

So sure, I’m late to the game, but I’m still entering to win.

Sinead heard about the horse from Liz Millikin in Virginia. Liz is an advanced-level eventer known for a great eye when it comes to finding horses. Her signature postscript is 54, which comes from her well-known horse Quintus 54; he was the 54th Oldenburg to be named Quintus. This is something a lot of breeders and sellers do for marketing. My wife read her text and saw a short video, and she immediately thought: “This horse is for Tik.”

Sinead called me and got right to the point:

“Tik, I found a horse for; you need to go see him.”

“Hmm, yep.”

“He is in Middleburg. Can you get there tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow? Virginia? I’m kind of in the middle of something.”

“A horse like this doesn’t come along very often.”

I asked Lynn Symansky, who lives in Virginia, if she could go ride this OTTB and see what she thought. Lynn gave me a positive report: classy, good conformation, great canter, solid feet, nice walk. Her only criticism was that he is green to the jump. I think that is to be expected in a horse that has only been ridden off the track a handful of times.

Next, I asked Dr. Christiana Ober, the Canadian team vet, to look at the X-rays and to look at Mr. Pleasantree. Dr. Ober gave us the thumbs up, adding, “This is one of the nicest Thoroughbreds that I have ever seen.”

Finally my Dad, Rick, and our friend, Betsy Goodwin, volunteered to take a look the horse. My dad is as picky about a horse as a bride about her gown, so I was surprised when he didn’t even haggle on the price.

Liz was skeptical when I said my dad was coming to try the horse. “This is a young horse; he can spook a little,” she said. “Can he ride?”

I smiled. “Better than me.”

In 1939 there was still no Canadian road connecting the Atlantic to the Pacific. When my grandparents drove west from Toronto it took a bit of planning and a lot of bravery. They meandered like pilgrims through various provinces and states until they found themselves in the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia. From there they completed the trip to Vancouver on horseback.

In 1957 my Dad recreated that trip. He and his friend Brian took a bus to Penticton and bought two horses. They rode to Summerland and on to Princeton via logging roads. Halfway home Brian lay down on a cot, looked out at the stars, and made a tough decision.

He wanted to continue, but he’d lost his finger in a sawing accident only a day before they left Vancouver. He worried about the risk of infection. And so it was with regret that he asked Rick if they could cut their trip short.

The horses were shipped to Vancouver a couple of days after the boys. Brian’s horse stepped out first; he was called Acadena. The second horse, Remarkable, jumped out and skipped up to my dad. “Remarkable,” said my dad with a grin as he took the rope and gave the horse a rub between the eyes.

After owning Remarkable for a few years my dad sold him and lost touch with the owners. Even though Dad went on to own many horses and to be short-listed twice for the Canadian team he often thought about that horse and that trip. Brian, his childhood friend and best man at his wedding, died last year.

Our new OTTB has been renamed. He is now Remarkable 54.

Remarkable 54 has started his new career in eventing already with Tik Maynard aboard. Photo by Brant Gamma

The Retired Race Horse Project competition is in Lexington, Ky., Oct. 23-25. Remarkable, from Arizona, with 20 starts and four wins, and I, are entered. And we’re going to be blogging about our journey there for Chronicle readers, so make sure to tune in!

Tik Maynard grew up in Vancouver, Canada, as the son of a grand prix show jumper and a Grand Prix dressage rider. He competed in Pony Club games as a child, went to the Pan American Games and World Championships in modern pentathlon. After spending three years as a working student all over the world for some of the sport’s biggest names, he now focuses on eventing and natural horsemanship. He’s based in New Jersey along with his wife, four-star eventer Sinead Halpin, who also blogs for the Chronicle.

Tik has blogged for the Chronicle from 2009 to 2011; you can find those entries here.