KellyJ leather

17/02/2025

17/02/2025

Now this certificate may not look very exciting but I am very excited (and proud) to announce that I have successfully completed my level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement. I have to admit, the journey to gaining this qualification was challenging, taking many, many months to achieve.
It now allows be to become an assessor for the City and Guilds Assured Certificate in Bridle Fitting.
The Society places great emphasis on maintaining high standards and professionalism in their fitting training and they encourage assessors to earn this qualification.
I'm proud to be part of a community dedicated to ensuring that together, we can be and can train the best bridle fitters around.

05/02/2025

Flame loves his new bridle. I decided to go with brown patent and a mattes sheepskin pad. Two-tone pearl and rondelle browband and my brand new padding colour leather. Looking forward to getting some more photos in the summer once his fluffy ears go ❤️

02/02/2025

Do you know I can make baroque style bridles! I can do traditional style or I twist on the more of a modern design!
In both brass and silver l two different buckle styles.

30/01/2025

What colours would you pick for a headcollar?

28/01/2025

Hi there handsome!

16/01/2025

🎉 Competition time 🎉
To launch my branded clothing with the very talented . I'm giving away this stunning tumbler with one of my quotes. Please do go check out the link. I will put the link below and on my website.
To enter pop what you would be putting inside the Tumbler!
And an extra entry if you share this post.

https://dressagedesigns.co.uk/collections/kelly-j-leather-merch

14/01/2025

Rare opportunity for one or two spots available for fitting/ measuring/ ridden assessments. Dates TBC February.
Master bridle maker and society of master saddler's qualified bridle fitter Kelly Jones.

Don't miss this rare opportunity for expert bridle fitting, precise measurements, and an optional in-depth ridden assessments trying a selection of nosebands.

13/01/2025

One of my Christmas gifts I sent out this year, black belt with windows of mock crock patent throughout. I can make these up with any colour patent I have in stock.
Perfect gift for a friend or yourself.

10/01/2025

Off the peg bridles for small ponies are often fairly tricky to get the perfect fit. So often ponies are overlooked for optimising the perfect fit and comfort. Their small heads have very little room for error and they vary so much from breed to breed.

08/01/2025

I will be travelling to Oxfordshire Northamptonshire and Leicestershire in February. If you would like an in-person measuring or ridden assessment please let me know. Depending on the popularity I may be able to do 2 days, but please send me a message.

06/01/2025

Part 4 of 3

I still can't believe over 300,000 people have seen my 3 posts. I'm so pleased that people are interested in improving horses welfare and comfort through Bridle fitting.

I deliver educational talks and can travel ( I have even done talks in the US) if you have any camps or clinics and would be interested please message me.

Or if you are inspired to learn more and possibly get into the industry I would highly recommend the Society of Master Saddlers "Certificate in Bridle Fitting including Measuring and Bitting" Assured by City and Guilds. This course has recently been relaunched and covers a huge range of knowledge and skills that tha you will learn throughout.
If you're quick, you can jump onto the January cohort providing you sign up before the 6th January .
It could be a great investment for your future and kick off 2025 with a bang.

03/01/2025

Celebrating 10 Years of Bespoke Bridle making
Hi everyone!
For those who are new here, my name is Kelly and I'm a passionate equestrian specializing in the creation of bespoke, hand-stitched bridles.
My journey began 10 years ago, and over the years, my business has evolved into a focus on crafting a truly unique and personalized bridles that as comfortable for the horse as possible. As a Society of Master Saddlers Master Bridle Maker, a qualified Bridle Fitter, and a Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust Scholar, I'm dedicated to ensuring optimal comfort and performance for every horse.

My bridles are not only functional but also stunningly beautiful. I offer a wide range of colors and styles, moving beyond traditional aesthetics to cater to every rider's individual preferences.

"If you can dream it, I can make it."

This is the philosophy that guides my work. I embrace the challenge of creating bespoke designs tailored to your specific needs and preferences, but also ensuring the horse's comfort and welfare. This is highlighted in my specially designed jewel padding system with a high impact soft foam and a visco elastic polymer gel inserted in key points

Making Bridles Accessible

While I'm based in West Sussex and offer in-person fittings throughout the South of England, I also cater to clients worldwide. My website features easy-to-follow guides for measuring existing bridles, allowing me to create perfectly fitting tack even from a distance. I've successfully shipped my creations to destinations as diverse as the USA, South Africa, and Bermuda.

Need assistance?

I offer virtual fittings via Zoom to guide you through the measuring process, ensuring accuracy and confidence.
Lead Times & Ordering
Lead times may vary, so please inquire about current availability.

Contact
For inquiries or to discuss your bespoke bridle project, please feel free to contact me via WhatsApp or direct message. I'm always happy to answer your questions and guide you through the process.

01/01/2025

Part of 3 of 3 of my headpeice series
As before please go back to parts 1 or 2 if you have missed them.

TMJ and Browband area

This, in my opinion, is the most important and can produce the most significant change in the horse's behaviour, comfort and performance. The temporo mandibular joint (TMJ ) is simply the jaw joint in the horse's head, but sadly it's not that simple as there are so many sensitive nerves, ligaments and blood vessels in that area. For this post's sake I will just say the TMJ area.
The TMJ is such a sensitive joint. A horse with damage or significant tightness can actually show lameness in it's hind end. A horse can head tilt, excessively play with the bit, headshake and many other things purely because it is uncomfortable in it's TMJ.
Because of this, IR Bridles and I have designed a system which has padding that extends well below the joint along with low profile browband loops that I use in my bridles. I truly believe that this system makes the horse so much more comfortable. I've had physios and vets agree as well.

The browband is a very important part of this area, although some people are definitely realising the dangers of having a browband too small, I still often see it happen. Personally, I am not a fan of padded browbands as it doesn't benefit the horse and it just makes it more bulky and less space. I am also personally not a fan of the browbands with the running keepers as the keeper sits right against the horses TMJ area. Also, I often see the browbands with poppers slipping too low and again sitting on a very sensitive area.
A browband should not fit too tightly but also not too loosely that it's excessively banging on the horse's head when ridden. My simple test is if I can fit a flat hand on the horse's head underneath the browband without pulling the headpiece forward but still touching it with the top of my hand then it is correctly sized.

It is also important the buckles are fitted away from the TMJ, usually around the level of the horse's eyes looks the most aestheticly pleasing. With my bridles they are designed so you can't fit them on the TMJ area, but often with off the peg Bridles you will have to be careful It may be worth having some of the straps adjusted by shortening so they are avoiding that sensitive area.

With the drop down padding of my bridles as well as the loops, they actually sit completely off the horse's head at the side to give the least pressure on that very sensitive area.

I will be adding one extra part to this series on training, so if you are interested keep your eyes out for the next post.

30/12/2024

Part 2 of 3 of the headpiece series
Please go back to part one if you missed it as I will be referring back quite a bit.

Behind the ears!
As I explained in the first post, ear pressure is quite a bit higher than most of us would have probably assumed before the research had been completed.
So obviously, the pressure behind the ears should be something that is very carefully looked at, but some companies have almost gone to the other extreme.

When thinking about pressure, you do want a reasonable bearing surface to spread and distribute the pressure. Ie we don't want any thong like headpieces!
But often, the horse's anatomy does impact the width of headpiece you can fit behind the ear.
Very similar to saddle fit sometimes you want a 17.5 inch saddle on a horse to accommodate the rider but confirmationally the horse is not put together to take that size.

With fitting a headpiece behind the ears, there are two areas that impact the fit most.
The bulb of the ear, and the wing of the atlas (C1).
The bulb of the ear is often where riders look at first as they don't want headpieces shoved right up against the horse's ear.
The other part that is sometimes missed is the wing of the atlas. This is the curved boney area that is down from the poll and is the first vertebrae in the horse's neck. A headpiece shouldn't be predominantly sitting or pushing against that area as it can create quite a large amount of instability to the bridle or uneven pressure. It can also mean the horse is too uncomfortable to use its full range of motion.
In the second photo below, I have done a rough drawing that shows the space that would be available from one particular horse's atlas and ear bulb.

As you can see in some of the photos, sometimes it is hard to achieve the most ideal ear clearance without impacting the atlas, so sometimes there isn't an absolutely perfect solution.

What should I look for in headpiece fit behind the ears?

A Headpiece should have soft padding (my own headpieces have a dual padding system of a soft high impact foam and a viscoelastic polymer)

The headpiece should not tip forward or back.
There should be no bridging or air gaps and it should sit totally flat on the horse's head.

The headpeices can widen at the pole but not too much to put pressure on the top of the air bulbs.

The cutout behind the ear should continue down the whole length of the ear bulb and not stop halfway.

If you have any worries or questions I would highly recommend getting a qualified bridle fitter out as just like saddle fitting, having a correctly fitted Bridle is most important for horses' comfort and welfare.

27/12/2024

3 part headpiece series * this isn't one of my headpieces!*
I really believe that the headpiece is such an important part of horses' comfort when ridden.
I have decided to split it into 3 parts. The Poll, Ears and TMJ.

Part 1 Poll
Starting from the top!
I have seen in recent years poll relief has been very much on the marketing bandwagon on design for headpieces. The poll can be a very sensitive area on the horse's head, but bridle pressure is not as simple as you would think.
I personally think one of the biggest breakthroughs was a pressure mapping study done by Murray R, Guire R, Fisher M, Fairfax V*. Their findings clearly showed that there is almost no significant pressure under a headpiece at the poll, and that actually there is far more pressure behind the ears and around the browband area.
So, given these findings, headpiece designs should take this research into consideration. Obviously we can have our own ideas and thoughts about this but personally I go the physics route! If you remove padding over the poll, the pressure that was spread over that area has less bearing surface so there is even more pressure going behind the ears.

This idea of bridles with a gap in padding over the poll being banned by US dressage could also show other organisations might be looking at the science.

I'm not saying that every bridle with cut-out padding over the poll should be thrown in the bin. Some horses who have significant injuries or damage there can benefit from it. Also, some horses do show "tightness" in the poll, but the causes can be many things and not just the bridle, from teeth to even stomach ulcers!

I also would like to add that whatever brand or style, every bridle should be fitted to each individual horse just like you would do for a saddle.

*Murray R, Guire R, Fisher M, Fairfax V. A Bridle Designed to Avoid Peak Pressure Locations Under the Headpiece and Noseband Is Associated With More Uniform Pressure and Increased Carpal and Tarsal Flexion, Compared With the Horse's Usual Bridle. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science. 2015;35(11-12):947-55.

23/12/2024

New bit/bitless bridle design!!
I have created a combination design that can be ridden as a side pull bitless, snaffle bitted or both!
Perfect way to introduce your horse it bitless or even starting a young horse.
Both jaw pad help stabilise the noseband and are shaped to fit the horses jaw. The noseband cheek is also padded to the buckle.
Every bridle is made to measure to order can have any style browband. It also can be made with a throat if needed.
As with all my bridles, it comes with a dual padding system with a soft high impact foam and a visco elastic polymer, drop down padding that helps reduce pressure over TMJ.

2025 prices will be £450 without a throat or £470 with throat.
(Reins £95)

22/12/2024

Throwback to one of my favourite photos sent to me by a customer.
was my first ever US customer and she still loves her bridles many years on ❤️