Bespoke Leatherware - qualified saddlers and bit fitting consultants

12/09/2025

Exciting day delivering our new branded dressage pad to our fantastic sponsored rider gg_eventing 😍 cant wait to see her and the wonderful Diamond Jubilee out repping us 🥳🐎

16/08/2025

📣🎉 Out of office 🎉📣

It’s been go go go this year so a well deserved holiday is definitely needed! All messages will be replied too when I’m back on the 25th 📆

Hope you all have a wonderful week with your ponies! ☀️🐴

08/08/2025

🐴 Bridle Fit 🐴

Does your horse rub their head after you remove the bridle? This can be an indication of poor bridle fit…

Common issues I find are:

❎ Browbands too tight - this pulls the headpiece into the base of the ears and puts pressure on the temple, ever ridden in a hat that’s a size too small? That’s what it feels like!

❎ Anatomical Headpiece wrong shape for your horse - these are so often advertised as miracle cures for your horse but the shape of that curve is crucial for a comfortable fit to avoid unwanted pressure.

❎ Cheekpieces too long - are yours on the last hole? If so they are definitely too long, the buckle of your cheekpiece should be sat in line with the corner of your horses eye to avoid making contact with the delicate TMJ (jaw joint)

❎ Nosebands too low - these sit on delicate cartilage instead of bone and can cause a lot of pressure and damage, especially if they are then fastened too tightly.

What might seem like a small adjustment can make a huge impact on your horses comfort and performance, a horse that experiences pressure on its face is tense and unable to move forwards freely into the contact.

05/08/2025

Have you ever had your horses bit professionally fitted?

🐴 We have our saddles fitted and checked regularly but often don’t realise the impact the choice of bit can make on a horses way of going.

🐴 If a horse is unhappy in its mouth it is unable to move forwards into a contact and use its body correctly which can cause pain and discomfort.

Friendly, independent advice is available from Bespoke Leatherware - qualified saddlers and bit fitting consultants, message us today to book your session!

24/07/2025

Message us today to get booked in for your bit and bridle fitting sessions 📆🐎

As an independent fitter your horses unique needs always come first allowing us to find the perfect bit regardless of brand. Sessions are usually between 60-90 minutes and involve a full face, mouth and neck assessment, a bridle check to ensure everything is fitted correctly and comfortably and ending with a ridden assessment where we will make changes to your horses bit and bridle and watch the magic happen 🤩

These sessions are a fantastic way to ensure your horse is as comfortable as possible in their mouth and can help to remedy many different evasions or struggles within your training.

Here at Bespoke Leatherware your horses comfort and happiness comes first, the aim of all our bit fitting consultations is to create harmony between horse and rider where the horse is able to move freely and correctly - happy horse, happy rider!

Weekend and week day availability for sessions so please message us today to book 📆🖊️

07/07/2025

🐴👶 Have you got a youngster? 👶🐴

I love being a part of a horses journey and this is most prevalent in youngsters as their training can progress so quickly and their bit often has to change to keep up with this.

The lovely Mirage was in a full cheek snaffle with a lozenge to begin with to help her accept a bit and the full cheek to help with steering but as she has progressed and her body has matured she now prefers the stability of a fixed mouthpiece so she can really ride into a contact. We’ve removed the ‘stabilisers’ of the full cheek but kept a nice eggbutt cheek to make sure she still has a clear aid to help with steering 🐎

05/07/2025

When was the last time you looked in your horses mouth? 🦷👀

🐎 We check for injuries daily while grooming, watch how our horse walks in from the field to make sure they’re sound and it’s just as important to make sure we are checking for any changes in our horses mouths too. How would you know if your horse has broken a tooth without checking?

🐎 This is an older horse who had this injury a long time ago and it’s something the owner checks frequently to make sure there is no infection/ swelling or discomfort as well as having regular checks by his equine dental technician.

🐎 It is also important for those of us who have youngsters to be aware of the changes going on in their mouths, erupting teeth can be very sore and make a huge impact in your horses way of going and even their willingness to be bridled.

26/06/2025

After a busy start to the week full of lovely clients 😍🐎 I’m finally able to sit down and go through all my notes from the wonderful business course I went to last week at kindly put on by .saddlershall it was a tough course that really got you thinking, time to put some thoughts into action to make sure I’m delivering the absolute best to all you wonderful people! 🥳

… Also check out my beautiful new notepad!! 😍

26/05/2025

🎊Happy Bank Holiday🎊

I hope you’re all out enjoying the bank holiday with your lovely horses 😍🐴☀️

Shameless plug of my wonderful old boy out enjoying a poodle around a local cross country course…
I love my job!

21/05/2025

Do you often ride your horse in a bitless bridle?

🐎🐎🐎🐎

**𝗛𝗢𝗥𝗦𝗘𝗦 & 𝗥𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗡𝗘𝗘𝗗𝗘𝗗**

𝗗𝗢 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗥𝗜𝗗𝗘 & 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗜𝗡 𝗜𝗡 𝗔 𝗕𝗜𝗧𝗟𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗗𝗟𝗘

As part of our extensive bridle-horse interaction research, using state of the art measuring equipment, we are conducting a scientific study comparing behaviour, noseband and headpiece pressures, and rein tension for horses ridden in a bitless bridles and a snaffle bridle.

𝗪𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿:
🐴Horses and riders who compete in dressage with a snaffle bridle
🐴Horses and riders who regularly train in a bitless bridle (side pull or cross under. Not a hackamore)
🐴Both horse and rider must be accustomed to both the snaffle and bitless bridle, and will be required to carry out a short ridden test (walk, trot, canter, transitions and turns) to confirm suitability.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼?
🐴Ride in two types of bitless bridles, and a snaffle bridle
🐴Ride in walk, trot and canter in a straight line, and perform transitions

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀?
Thursday 7th August 2025
Wednesday 27th August 2025

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴?
Woolcroft Saddlery, Wisbech
Hartpury University, Gloucester
Centaur Biomechanics, Warwickshire

𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺?
Dr Russell MacKechnie-Guire, Prof. Hilary Clayton, Dr Rachel Murray, Mark Fisher, Diana Fisher, Professor Jane Williams, Dr Victoria Walker, Dr David Marlin and Dr Janet Douglas

For further information and inclusion criteria, please email [email protected]

Thanks to World Horse Welfare, The Worshipful Company of Saddlers and Hartpury University for their suppourt.

20/05/2025

**Limited availability in and around NR34 area May 31st**

Is your horse happy in their mouth??

Here at Bespoke Leatherware your horses comfort and happiness comes first, the aim of all our bit fitting consultations is to create harmony between horse and rider where the horse is able to move freely and correctly - happy horse, happy rider!

Message us today to get booked in for your bit and bridle fitting sessions as only a few slots available! 🐎📆🖊️