Antonia Wills Saddle Fitter

She will travel any distance by arrangement from her base in Northamptonshire.Tel: 07941 512933 for an appointment Introducing Antonia

Antonia Wills is qualified and registered with the Society of Master Saddle Fitters, and operates under the procedures and code of conduct as laid down by the SMS. She is happy not only to fit you with a new or second hand saddle, but also to check and alter your

existing saddle if that is appropriate, and offers an on-site flocking service. She will travel any distance by arrangement from her base in Northamptonshire. An independent saddle fitter

Working as an independent saddle fitter, Antonia has access to a vast number of saddle brands in a comprehensive range of fittings, so that she is frequently able to supply the right saddle for you, whatever your discipline, from the back of her vehicle. To meet today’s high standards of fit for both horse and rider, and to accommodate the more challenging horse and/or rider physiques, Antonia may recommend a made-to-measure saddle. Then you can choose exactly which colour, leather type, knee block position etc you require, and Antonia can specify the correct tree/panel type/gusset depth etc for your horse. Antonia is a former three day event rider, and has taken many horses from scratch to advanced level. She still competes in all disciplines and derives the greatest pleasure in producing well trained and confident horses for others to take on up through the grades. She has been running an event yard since 1982, although nowadays is so busy with the saddle fitting that she only has time to do one horse, and has rented the rest of the yard out. She is a BE Accredited Trainer, and any spare time is taken up with teaching today's eventing hopefuls. In fact, unlike many saddle fitters who started out in the saddle manufacturing or retail sectors, Antonia came into saddle fitting from the teaching and training perspective, which gives her a clear insight into the needs of the modern competition rider and horse. As she puts it “I got really fed up with trying to teach riders to sit in a correct, balanced position on saddles that were out of balance, and was forever putting make-shift pads under the front or back of pupils’ saddles to give the riders some idea of what I was trying to achieve! And of course it’s not just the rider at stake – if the rider is out of balance, his or her weight is not in the right place for the horse to carry it, which leads to poor performance at best and a sore back at worst.”

Antonia's passion for correct saddle fitting grew and she set about acquiring as much knowledge as possible. The SMS's training and qualification procedures are very thorough and necessitate a full knowledge of saddle construction, horse and rider anatomy and the bio-mechanics of how the horse works, and how important it is to relate each of these factors.