Equestrian You can’t bridle at the price – these are made just for you By Jade Leahy Lisa Hoskins is a Master Saddler, Master Bridle Maker, Master Harness Maker and qualified saddle fitter. She began her path to saddle fitting as an apprentice of Bob Thomas in Dorchester, completing a City in Guilds and starting out as an apprentice making and repairing driving harnesses for shire horses, later undertaking further training to expertly fit saddles and becoming a member of The Society of Master Saddlers. Lisa ensures saddles and pads are fitted to ensure the fitness and comfort of both horse and rider, based on the age and breed of the horse and the purpose of the saddle. Each fitting starts with Lisa viewing the horse’s movement at liberty in walk, trot
and canter, as well as in walk and trot in hand, to identify any potential asymmetry. She also feels each horse’s back to check for tightness, soreness and favoured side dominance. Today, saddle manufacturers are accustomed to, and willing to adjust saddles to customer/ saddler requirements and recommendations, so more and more saddles are bespoke rather than off the peg. Many will adjust gussets to 2.75 inches to
achieve the perfect fit. Lisa will re-flock and stitch and adjust clients’ saddles on site. Saddles should be checked twice a year, more frequently for a young and developing horse. She recommends regular tack cleaning with glycerine free and non-oily products such as Rapide leather gel, or Albion leather balm. Correct saddle fit is essential to horse comfort and performance and so is a correctly fitting bridle, with British Dressage, British Show Jumping and British Eventing carrying out compulsory tack checks that include the bridle before competitions. Research has proven the importance of correctly fitting bridles – pressure testing identified the negative impact of pressure on the base of the ears
and the jaw, with ill-fitting bridles frequently causing pressure on the trigeminal nerve and the temporo-mandibular joint. Templates and correct fitting, padded head pieces and bigger brow bands ensure health and comfort. As both a judge and winner at the Master Saddlers open bridle competition, Lisa knows her stuff. Priced at about £300 Lisa uses the highest quality leather for her bespoke bridles, from either The English Leather Company or Sedgwick’s Lining leather is sourced locally from Pittards in Yeovil. Lisa’s bridles feature no machine stitching and take a week or more to handcraft. 07799 061358 bespokesaddlery.co.uk
You heard this from the horse’s mouth By our equestrian columnist Charlotte Williams Stanley has made it to 25. It seems like just yesterday he came into my life, in fact it was some 20 years ago. Stanley has a very special place in my heart. Within weeks of his arrival he broke his back leg and because horses cannot stay off their feet for long periods, broken bones often do not have the chance to heal and sadly, the kindest way to help a horse with a broken leg is to put it to sleep. But in Stanley’s case, the wonderful Liphook Equine Hospital took great care of him and he survived surgery. And after many months of box rest and rehabilitation, Stanley defied all my expectations and went on to lead a very competitive life, retiring just two years ago. Unfortunately, during his rehabilitation, Stanley became 72
very spoilt and developed a sweet tooth. Consequently I have been very strict with his dental appointments. This time, I enlisted the services of trainee equine dentist Ryan Withe. Ryan has a wonderful relaxed and confident manner and as he was working on Stanley’s teeth, he told me about his training as an equine dentist and how he used to be a jockey, but suffered
a nasty injury, which put an end to his racing days. Consequently, Ryan had to rethink his future and got in touch with the Jockey Educational Training Scheme (JETS), a charity which was set up in 1995 to help current and former jockeys plan and achieve a secure future. JETS has helped more than 800 jockeys with career advice, grants and training in new skills,
in order to gain employment after race-riding given that early retirement is inevitable and the injury risk is high. Ryan expressed an interest in dentistry and JETS put him in touch with training school’s to learn the skills, complete the courses and sit exams to become a fully qualified dentist. Stanley is just one of Ryan’s 350 case studies. I must admit, when I first thought about using a trainee, given Stanley can sometimes be a little difficult, I was a little worried. But Ryan’s professional, calm and confident manner stopped any fretting immediately. This year, I bought charity Christmas cards for the Injured Jockeys Fund. The organisation make such a huge difference to jockey’s whose careers may be stopped short. And thanks to Ryan, Stanley’s teeth are once again perfect.
