The consultation
What happens when I come to your yard
A full fitting takes 1½–2 hours and follows six careful stages — from getting to know the horse, to watching you ride and adjusting the tack for the work you're doing.
Talk about your horse
Including any issues in your ridden work that could relate to bit or bridle fitting.
Examine the head
Checking for asymmetries of facial features, and any reaction to palpation which may indicate soreness from the bit or bridle.
Mouth assessment
Looking at tongue, lips, palate, bars and the length of mouth (the 'smile') — and how much room there is for a bit.
Walk-up & trot-up
Unbridled, to assess your horse's natural way of going.
Watch you ride
How the horse goes and the communication between horse and rider — looking for signs of discomfort, or how we can improve and enhance communication, optimise comfort for the horse and enhance performance.
Adjust & fit
Making changes to the current bridle and bit where necessary and if required.
Before I arrive
How to be ready
To get the most from your consultation, it helps to have your horse in, with their current bit, bridle and saddle to hand. Have a think about anything you've noticed in your ridden work — resistance, head-tossing, reluctance to be bridled — as those details point me in the right direction.
I bring a large selection of bits and bridle components with me, so in most cases we can make changes there and then.
Pricing & travel
Simple, transparent, no surprises
The consultation
A full 1½–2 hour yard-side fitting — assessment, ridden evaluation and adjustment, with a large selection of bits and bridle components to hand.
Travel
Free travel within 25 miles of SP5 2EA. Beyond that, 50p per mile is added to the consultation — and where several horses are booked on one yard, the travel can be split between owners. Longer distances are quoted individually.