In this episode I'm talking to Derek Clark, one of the founders of the Holistic Equitation Centre and creator of the Schooling Made Simple online coaching programme. In this fascinating discussion, you'll learn about how change and amazing relationships really come from developing a deep level of understanding and empathy. Derek Clark has been helping people achieve their dreams in sport and in business for nearly 40 years. After enjoying success in rowing at school and university, he became one of the first professional rowing coaches in the UK and helped his athletes achieve success at all levels - from complete beginners to world champions. In 1996 he was a coach of the Swiss Rowing Team that won 2 gold medals at the Olympic Games in Atlanta. Then, as ‘Technical Consultant' to the Oxford University Boat Club he helped them turn a 7-year losing streak into 7 wins from the next 10 years in the annual Boat Race against Cambridge. Derek also has a strong entrepreneurial and business background. He has run his own businesses for over 20 years and delivered coaching and training in leadership and communication skills to managers and directors of some of the UK’s best known companies. Just over 20 years ago, Derek discovered a whole new angle on life when his wife Jo (who was also a rowing finalist at the Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988) bought her own horse for the very first time. But the dream quickly turned into a nightmare when they discovered her new ‘dream’ horse, Perry, was actually a very unhappy, frightened and dangerous creature who hated anything at all to do with humans. Convinced that he must have been drugged when she had tried him out, Jo was unwilling to resell Perry or have him put to sleep and so, while Derek was learning all about horses for the first time, she had to let go of everything she thought she 'knew’ from a lifetime of riding because her own horse told her it all stank and there was no way he was going to put up with it! Fortunately, Derek and Jo’s search for a better way uncovered some almost forgotten, centuries-old knowledge and wisdom that has been kept alive in the modern day only by a handful of teachers. After immersing themselves in years of study, they learned how a different approach can enable any caring rider to develop a deep relationship of trust with even very sensitive or ‘difficult' horses, while at the same time being able to train and educate them to a high level. Since Perry’s turnaround, they've been inundated with requests for help from people who care what their horses think about life. They’ve spent the last 15 years showing other people how to make riding and training their own horses more productive, more effective and more fun for both parties.