A great trainer – and a great trainer of trainers

I read an article once about who was the best trainer of trainers: the top three were Barry Hills, Sir Mark Prescott and Luca Cumani, and I got the nap hand because I worked for all three. I learned lots of different approaches from each of them and hopefully a little bit rubbed off.

I'd been working for Barry Hills for three years before I became Sir Mark's assistant for the 1983 and 1984 seasons; I thought I knew quite a bit but I soon realised I knew very little indeed.

I learned how to assess a problem, get inside the horse's head a bit, how to train one and get the best out of it. I learned the most about the practical horsemanship side of training when I was there. It's fascinating to watch Sir Mark on the heath when he's got one who is a bit tricky, not doing things the right way.