Book club member Holli reviews her first book and gives us some great insight into 'In the Middle are the Horsemen' by Tik Maynard.
Being my first experience reviewing a book, I was unsure what to expect from the title that arrived on my doorstep one wintery December morning! Just by looking at the cover, you may be lead to believe it will be a training book type read but how wrong would that assumption be!
The story of Tik’s journey of discovery by being a working groom for different yards across Europe and the United States is a captivating read. He accounts honest recollections of his times good and bad working for some of the top riders in the world from all different disciplines. He sets out with the sole aim to learn from the best and discover what the meaning of horsemanship is, he works with; dressage riders, showjumpers, eventers, and of course, my favourite part was his time spent on a working ranch with Bruce.
There are topics that Tik reflects on during the book which would lead me to take an impromptu pause and consider how this reflects in my own horsemanship and the learning’s I too have made over the years. There were so many parts of this book that really stuck in my mind, but very thought-provoking one was:
“No one is born a rider. It comes easier to some, through money, coaching, or raw talent, but no one is born a rider.”
Tik’s humble account of how he is continuously seeking to improve his own riding is humbling. The little glimmers he also lets you in on about his life and the challenges he had at that time outside of the horsey adventurers he was undertaking really gave the book a personal touch.
I would 100% recommend this book to anyone even slightly interested in a good read (with of course the added bonus that it’s about horses) a real gem of a book that I’m sure I will read more than once.
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