Lecturers & Assessors

Yasmin Willerton

Yasmine works exceptionally hard coordinating courses, venues and attendees, not to mention the Lecturers and Assessors!  Her profile will be uploaded very soon.

Karen Schlotter

Karen is a Master Saddler and Qualified Saddle and Bridle Fitter who lectures and assesses on the Bridle Fitting courses.

Catherine Baker

Catherine is our bitting lecturer and current Vice President as well as an assessor and Course Leader for the bridle fitting qualification.

Her love of horses began in early childhood and she has dedicated her life to working with them in one capacity or another.  She spent much of her teenage years riding across Salisbury Plain and studied equine management at agricultural college in Lincolnshire before taking a ‘proper’ job with a national delivery firm.  Whilst working full time during the week she continued to work with horses part time at the weekends but after 9 years the pull of the outdoors was too much and in 2002 she began to retrain as a saddler.

Today she holds the Society titles of Master Saddler, Master Bridle Maker, Registered Qualified Saddle Fitter and Registered Qualified Bridle Fitter and is also a LANTRA Accredited Horse Bit Fit Advanced Consultant.  She is a mother of two teenagers, has built her own house and workshop with her partner and runs her own successful saddlery business from her home in Wiltshire where she specialises in hand-making bespoke bridles.

Catherine is focused on equine welfare and how she can help to raise the standards through educating the riding public, trainee fitters and other equine paraprofessionals of the importance of correct saddlery fit.  She has recently stepped into the role of Bridle Fitting Course leader alongside Frances Roche and is keen to continue developing the course with her so that our qualified bridle fitters have a good range and depth of knowledge and understanding.

She feels privileged to be working alongside such a fantastic team of experienced lecturers and very lucky to have the ability to improve the comfort and welfare of the many horses she meets.

Chris Taylor

Chris Taylor is a Master Saddler and runs Saddler’s Den in Southport. He specialises in basic leatherwork, through to Intermediate Leatherwork, Saddle Repair and Re-Flocking, Bespoke courses and Preparation for C&G assessment.

Bea Blakeman

Bea has been in equestrian retailing all her working life, 34 years and counting!  She qualified as saddle fitter back in the 90’s and has been assessing for 15+ years. When Bea joined the Executive committee in 2017, she was keen to drive change. Making improvements to saddle fitting pathway was a key area of her focus and she has been an instigator and supporter of this ongoing process.

Bea runs the family business, which is now in its 53rd year, her day job is very much saddle fitting and she is very proud to have employed and trained numerous saddle fitters from trainee to qualified. She believes all horses should be comfortable in their ridden work, no matter their price tag. She gets a huge sense of satisfaction making a difference to the horse and rider partnership. Bea vehemently waves the flag for horse welfare and encourages best practice throughout her work and business values.

Having being SMS President and becoming a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Saddlers are two honours Bea is extremely proud of.

Mark Romain, MBE

Mark’s saddlery apprenticeship started in 1973 and has been assessing since the 1980s.  He was a Training Officer for the Rural Development Commission from 1986 until 2000 when he started his own business, The Saddlery Training Centre in Salisbury, with his wife Dawn.  Mark’s main focus and interest in the industry is very much on the craft side and works tirelessly on the Apprenticeship schemes, Qualifications, CPD along with upholding professionalism and standards.

Mark is a member of The Worshipful Company of Saddlers, holds an MBE for his services to the saddlery industry, is a Fellow of the Society and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from BETA.

Laurence Pearman

Helen Reader

Helen is probably one of our most qualified members in the Society, she has been in saddlery industry for 25 years, and in that time has become a Society of Master Saddlers Master Saddler, Master Harness Maker, Master Bridle Maker, Master Saddle Fitter & Qualified Bridle Fitter.  Helen became  qualified in craft 23 years ago, in saddle fitting 20 years ago and in bridle fitting 4 years ago.  She is also a BHS AI and Pony Club A Test holder, she holds a Level 3 Award in Education & Training and Level 3 Award in Assessing Vocational Achievement.

Owning and riding horses for 40 years, Helen still regularly competes her two horses in Dressage, SJ and Eventing both locally and nationally.  Helen took on the role of Assessor for the Society 10 years ago and has been lecturing for 6 years.  She regularly delivers webinars, demos and write articles for the Society, the BHS, local Pony Clubs & Riding Clubs and her own business.  Helen also is Saddlery Advisor as part of the vet lead team for the British Breeding Equine Futurity Bridge.

Helen’s focus and interest within the industry is educating, inspiring and supporting the next generation of saddlers and saddlery fitters.  She has a passion for ensuring the comfort and safety of all horses from happy hackers to competition horses through correctly fitted saddlery and therefore improving their performance along with safeguarding the future of riding by continually looking for ways to improve horse welfare.  Working together with other para-professionals to achieve the best results for the horse and rider is also an area Helen is keen to develop further as a standard .

Sue Norton

Sue and her husband Mike bought a run down saddlery business in the centre of the City of Oxford in 1973. Over many years they built up a good business and learnt to adjust to trends taking advantage of quality leather goods sales while emphasising the connection of the equine industry including the clothing required.  In the early 90’s there was interest that horse owners required a skilled person to fit their horses with a saddle and maintain it on an ongoing basis and because of this Sue completed and passed the newly formed saddle fitting qualification in 1995 alongside becoming a member of the team of Lecturers and Assessors.

A keen rider from the age of 4 and a BHSAI, Sue became a local BHS committee member and was the first together with the local policeman to initiate the BHS Riding and Road Safety training and test.  With two daughters and the inevitable ponies she was on the Pony Club local branch committee which continued for 18 years, 4 of which Sue was the District Commissioner.

When Sue’s husband Mike was unable to continue on the Society’s Committee, Sue put herself forward and the SMS has and is a big part of her life for a number of years, including being president in 2017/8.  Saddle fitting has been her passion and 50 years on Sue feels very fortunate to not only be working for her own business full time but still very much dedicated to the Society, she has seen many changes and difficult times but the dedication of all the committee,  has not only kept it viable but with a purpose and a vision to continue and be the gold standard in the craft skills and fitting of saddles and bridles for horse welfare. Her hope for the future of the industry is that the Society continues to be viable and grows to become an even bigger contributor to the future of the ridden horse and it’s welfare.

Jen Roy

Jen came to the saddlery industry as a mature student at 35 having worked for 10 years in the health service. Saddlery started as a hobby attending courses with David May in Penrith but quickly became her career of choice. This necessitated a few years in London at Capel Manor College gaining a HND in Saddlery Technology followed by a job with Bill Amberg working on architectural leatherwork. On returning to her native Scotland she set up in business and has been providing leather and saddlery repairs plus bespoke bridlework, and harness to the communities of Fife and Angus but extending into the rest of Scotland and abroad. Jen is a Master Saddler, Master Harness Maker and Master Bridle Maker, SMS Registered Qualified Bridle Fitter and LANTRA Horse Bit Fit Accredited Consultant and as such is now building up the bit and bridle fitting consultation part of her business.

Jen is a new edition to the team of Lecturers and Assessors having just recently started as a lecturer/assessor on the Qualified Bridle Fitting Course. She is enjoying being involved in the planning aspects of the course and is looking forward to meeting the course attendees and sharing knowledge with them.

Her main passion has always been bridle fitting with her dissertation at college being on that very subject. She finds the research that is ongoing into bridles fascinating in what it is finding out about pressure points and their relation to horse biomechanics. In studying for the bridle fitting and bit fitting exams Jen started to question a lot of her long held beliefs regarding horse behaviour and training and her interest in horse welfare and social license to use horses has grown immensely as a result.  She does believe it is possible to find a happy balance between riding or driving horses and ensuring their welfare but recognises that the entire industry needs to do some difficult thinking in order to achieve this.

One of Jen’s greatest achievements is the first saddle that she ever made, she has ridden in it and it was used on a relative’s pony for many years. After that, she began to believe more in what she could achieve.

Andrea Patterson

Andy Milner

Andy has been in the saddlery industry for 35 years, running his 152 years old family saddlery business.  The business concentrates on saddle fitting, made to measure bridlework and general leatherwork.  Andy is a Master Saddle Fitter and has been qualified for 25 years.

Andy started assessing for the Society over 10 years ago and has been lecturing for just over 8 years.  He is currently Chair the Saddle Fitting Sub Committee which involves developing and delivering both the Introductory Saddle Fitting Course and the City & Guilds Qualified Saddle Fitting Course.  His main interest within the committee is to continue to improve and update the content, style and delivery of the courses, helping to make them the very best course/content available to trainee fitters.

Andy has also been fitting saddles for Sophie Wells Grade V Para Rider since 2010, they are currently on their 4th Olympic cycle, he feels that it’s a real privilege to work with such a dedicated athlete over such a long period.

Frances Roche

Frances started her saddlery journey in 1979 as a student at ‘Cordwainers College’ in Hackney, where she gained a diploma in Saddlery.  After leaving College she served a 7 year apprenticeship with Harness Makers and Royal Warrant holders ‘Turner Bridgar’ in Goring on Thames. Followed by 7 years at ‘Norton and Newby’ Saddlers in Beconsfield  where she began Saddle fitting and making bespoke bridles.

In 1992 Frances started her own business, mainly making bridles alongside working as a lecturer at Corwainers College, where she taught Harness and Bridle making skills to second year students.   She was offered a full-time job as Master Saddler/Harness Maker at the Royal Mews, Buckingham Palace in 1996 where she remained until July 2022.   It was in 1998 that Frances gained her saddle fitting qualification to make sure she was keeping her Majesty’s horses comfortable, alongside fitting Saddles on behalf of ‘Equestrian World’ in Henley.

The Society of Master Saddlers began running Bridle fitting courses in 2009 and Frances has been a lecturer and course leader on these courses ever since.  It wasn’t until 2019 when the bridle fitting team finally managed to complete development and begin delivery of the City and Guilds Qualification in Bridle Fitting and measuring.

Advanced bridle making skills are taught regularly by Frances to QEST scholars in her own workshop, and to qualified saddlers at the Saddlery Training centre.

Frances has been an assessor for C&G Saddlery Skills Tests for over 20 years and for C&G Bridle Fitting since its induction in 2019, she has also assessed for level 1 & 2 Bespoke Saddler and Leather Craftsperson qualifications alongside being a judge at the National Saddlery Competitions for over 25 yrs.

About her work Frances has said “Bridle making and fitting is a vast and complicated subject, but at the same time fascinating. It is wonderfully satisfying to be able to make a difference to a horse’s performance, but even more so to improve their comfort and well-being.  I am ever hopeful that by training equestrians about correct fit and design of the many and varied items of Saddlery, we can continue to improve the comfort and welfare of horses for the future and retain our social license in the process.  My happy place remains in my workshop where I still love to make and design new bridles. I am very proud of my successes over the years at the National Saddlery competition, Including Best in show 4 times.  However, I feel my greatest achievements will always be passing on skills to the next generation and seeing them gain success in the competitions and to pass their fitting qualifications.”

Diana Fisher

Jocelyn Danby

Jocelyn has worked in the equestrian industry her whole career. Having owned her own horses and come up through the Pony Club she started as a groom on various different yards aged 19.  She started learning bench saddlery 25 years ago but it was a side line to start with as she became a qualified instructor and then worked for a while in the equine veterinary industry as a nurse. Riding and competing her own horses Jocelyn enjoyed dressage, side saddle and eventing. These roles stood her in good stead for her future role as a saddle fitter as she learned a huge amount and gained an eye for both the harmony and balance of horse and rider along with recognising the soundness of the horse. It was in 2009 when she turned to saddlery and saddle fitting full time and gained level 3 bench skills in 2010 and QSF in 2013. She upgraded to Master Saddler in 2014 and Master Saddle Fitter as soon as that category was opened in 2019.

Teaching saddlery and saddle fitting for the Society is a new role which Jocelyn took on in 2022 but has been teaching in Poland since 2018.

As a Master Saddler Jocelyn loves the craft side, including making side saddles  but she is  equally interested in both bench work and saddle/bridle fitting.  The two roles as bench saddler and fitter complement each other, and she feels each role makes her better at the other. She is fascinated by all of the saddlery research which is happening now and believe that new knowledge gained can hugely assist to improve the welfare of horses.

Setting up the saddle fitting courses in Poland has been one of Jocelyn’s greatest achievements and developing one of our Independent International Training Partners the Polish Saddlery Association, (Polski Związek Siodlarski). Students come from all over Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic and even Ukraine. There are two groups now working towards becoming SMS QSFs .

Ian Hastilow

Ian has been designing, manufacturing and fitting saddles from the late 1970s, opening his own saddlery shop and workshop in 1984.  He is a Master Saddler and Master Saddle Fitter  and held the post of President of the Society in 2005/2006 he was SMS Saddle Fitting Course Co-ordinator from 2007 until recently.  In 2010 Ian was made a Freeman of The City of London through the Worshipful Company of Saddlers and subsequently a Liveryman.  In 2023 he was awarded a Fellowship of the Society of Master Saddlers for his work for the Society over the last 30 years.  He has been a lecturer and assessor since 2004 and still works on the saddlery courses held every year.  The SMS National Competition is a prestigious competition to enter, Ian has won it twice for a Trade Saddle and has judged on various occasions.

Ian helped setup the North American Saddlery School  in 2006 when he was President of the SMS, writing a large amount of the course content, then teaching it in America.  Lecturing and fitting saddles has taken Ian worldwide.  He is still a manufacturer of bespoke saddles in his own workshop in Wales and fits them across the UK, he is a consultant for saddle tree and panel designs.

Denise Silman

Emma Hallam

Helen Dart

Sam Belasco

Steph Bradley

Steph has been in the equestrian industry more than 20 years working as a saddle fitter and coach,  which is quite a big change for her second career as she previously worked in financial services and banking,.  Although quite new to assessing Steph is hoping to go into lecturing, as a rider coach it will be a natural progression, she regularly delivers webinars for the Society and writes copy for educational articles.  Her main focus within the industry is very much education of the public about saddle fit and safeguarding the ridden horse and research to support this.

The monthly Performance Panel Clinic at Steph’s Equestrian Centre, where clients take their horse to be assessed by a team of paraprofessionals including a Vet, Vet Chiropractor, Farriers with a gait assessment tool,  a Human Physio, Feed Adviser and Steph as both Rider Symmetry Coach and Saddle Fitter show Steph’s eagerness to safeguard the ridden horse through teamwork. It’s a dynamic and incredible day from an equine welfare and CPD perspective.  The outcomes have all been positive for the horses attending.