Team Members

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

Executive Director

Emma Hallam

Denise Silman

Executive Director

Helen Dart

Executive Director

Emma Hallam

Richard Brown

Executive Director

Sam Belasco

Executive Director

Helen Dart

Executive Director