Saddle Fitting with Passion and Knowledge
Louisa is a qualified saddle fitter dedicated to helping the horse. Her knowledge and understanding of horses’ movement and symmetry has enabled her to create a specialist technique of saddle fitting like no other. The bespoke service Louisa provides goes above and beyond a standard saddle fitting. When Louisa fits a saddle to a horse, she spends time carrying out a detailed analysis of the biomechanics of the horse and then assesses the rider’s position and how those two factors work together to influence the horse’s movement. Louisa works with all types of horses, at every stage of their careers from newly backed youngsters to older horses and competition horses performing at the very top of their disciplines in dressage, show jumping and eventing. Some of the horses Louisa works with are undergoing rehabilitation programmes or are under-performing and need some help to realise their potential. Louisa believes that all horses can improve with the right people and support around them, unless a horse is lame and needs veterinary care. Louisa is a listed British Dressage Judge and trains her own horses. Before CUOMO saddles took over her life, she enjoyed competing the love of her life Boomerang before his suspensory damage ended his ridden career. Louisa believes in teamwork to help horses and riders improve and has a growing team of experts from bodyworkers to trainers who can assist owners and trainers in most areas. Her passion to help horses and riders has driven her to continue learning and studying horses all over the world to find more answers.
What to expect from your Saddle Fit Evaluation??
Louisa: "When I saddle fit I look at the whole horse. Before fitting a saddle, I want to understand as much as I can about this horse’s needs. I look at the conformation, the foot balance, the overall development of this horse for its age and level, its training, the general feeling of the horse – is it sore, is it happy? I like to know the veterinary history and any physical issues that could affect the way the horse moves and develops.
Once I have a good understanding of the horse. I will chalk the horse explaining exactly why I am doing this. This chalk drawing will make it very clear if any saddle we are going to put on this horse fits. Once I have checked the saddle is suitable for the horse, I want to see the horse ridden in walk trot and canter. Sometimes I may want to see it lunged or trotted up first.
I see all horses ridden in walk, trot and canter unless I find they are lame. If the horse is lame I will refer you to a vet. Saddles should not be fitted to horses that have a noticeable problem.
When the horse is under saddle, I can see the influence of the rider on this horse. Unbalanced riders can severely compromise the horse’s symmetry and ability to work, which can cause future issues and lameness. My aim is to help the rider understand if they are in balance with the horse.
Through the work I have done with Andy Thomas (USA's Olympic Team Physio) I can now a Certified Testt Coach qualified to correct the rider through a series of tests. I can assess your problem and fix it generally within that session. After providing the tools and awareness, it is the rider that would need to take responsibility for ensuring they work to create better balance with the horse. If required I can use my performance cameras (filming at 300 frames per second) to carry out a detailed gait analysis on the horse or the Tekscan Pressure Mat to assess pressures under the saddle. This ensures we are improving things by changing saddles, bridles, girths, rider position, foot balance etc. (there is an extra cost for use of the technology - please see the other pages in Menu )
The whole saddle, horse and rider evaluation, usually takes approximately 2 hours but can take up to 3 hours if we have a tricky horse/rider combination.
I note everything that I do on the day, including templates of your horses back and you will receive a copy of this for your records. I will use the original templates to compare with future templates I make to ensure the horse is improving and to evaluate any physical changes over time"
Please Read the Terms & Conditions before booking an appointment to ensure you are happy with pricing and service on offer
Contact Us
Please use the form provided and a member of Louisa Maria Cuomo Saddles will be in touch as soon as possible