Join us for one of the Livestreams listed below at your convenience and learn about the latest developments in saddle fitting! Mark your calendars!
Plus, keep an additional eye open for additional Q&As and lectures to be shared on the Schleese YouTube Channel and the Schleese Facebook Page.
AUGUST
Stephanie Saporito – https://www.instagram.com/theearnestequestrian/
- August 11, 2025 @ 3:00 pm EDT
- Stephanie Saporito has been a lifelong equestrian. Her mother was a professional rider and exercise jockey, so horses have always been both a love and a way of life. As a child, Stephanie rode Western and competed in vaulting, earning a Bronze Medal. Over the years, she’s explored many disciplines and continues to find joy and purpose in the saddle. She is a former appointee to the City of Los Angeles Equine Advisory Committee, where she worked on key issues including the proposed rodeo ban, equine welfare policy, and equipment standards for equestrian sport across the city. Stephanie hopes to pass on the same passion, sportsmanship, and deep connection to horses to her son. She documents her journey with her off-track Thoroughbred, Zeppelin, on Instagram. The account is more than just a riding diary—it’s a platform for advocacy within the equestrian community, promoting sun-safe riding, skin cancer prevention, and working toward a more inclusive, ethical, and sustainable future for the sport. Stephanie is especially passionate about making the equestrian lifestyle accessible to all—regardless of background—particularly in urban environments where horses continue to hold cultural, historical, and recreational importance.
Josepha Guillame – https://www.instagram.com/josepha_guillaume/
- August 14, 2025 @ 8:00 am EDT
- Josepha Guillaume has been ‘rehabbing’ horses through classical (in-hand) dressage combined with positive reinforcement for over three decades. As an international educator for 20+ years, she is the founder of the Equus Universalis Institute (Est. 2012) and an award-winning equestrian writer published in multiple languages. Since 2004, she has also been designing horse-friendly tack. Josepha is the driving force behind the Yellow Horse Revolution, a global movement raising awareness of the horse’s five basic needs: Freedom, Friends, Forage, Force-Free, and Free Feet — the core values also reflected in the Yellow Horse Revolution Magazine.
Michaela Magan – https://www.instagram.com/mickiemaganequineherbalist/
- August 14, 2025 @ 6:00 pm EDT
- Bio TBD
Kate Kudelko – https://www.instagram.com/painted__dressage/
- August 15, 2025 @ 11:00 am EDT
- Kate is a young professional based in Brooksville, Florida, specializing in training ponies, small horses, and rescues in dressage. Most of her clients’ horses are paints and stock crosses, so she has run into her fair share of complications fitting horses that have very wide shoulders in comparison to their body size.
Alesia Willard – https://www.instagram.com/rudniktheroan/
- August 15, 2025 @ 3:00 pm EDT
- Alesia has been riding most of her life. Her dream was always to become a horse trainer, and she worked very hard towards accomplishing that dream. By 20, she had already successfully started multiple horses, including a once-feral mare who was untouchable when Alesia adopted her. In 2019, she adopted an 11-month-old untouchable colt rescued from a livestock auction. Alesia did everything with him, from halter training to saddle starting. He was her biggest challenge yet, but he pushed Alesia to work through every fear and doubt she had in herself and her training. He’s now 6 years old and the most amazing horse she’s ever owned and met. Alesia believes in taking things slow, and because of this, their riding journey has been a positive and willing one with no negative or fear-based training methods used. It has given them a level of trust in each other that can only come with time. Alesia has noticed the difference well-fitting tack makes for her horses, and she wants to learn more about the importance of saddle fit.
Emmalee – https://www.instagram.com/emmaleeawake.eq/
- August 18, 2025 @ 9:00 am EDT
- Bio TBD
Alysen Starko-Bowes – https://www.instagram.com/trainyourseat/
- August 18, 2025 @ 3:00 pm EDT
- Train Your Seat is an equestrian training methodology developed by Alysen that integrates embodied rider biomechanics with mental imagery to enhance the rider’s awareness, movement efficiency, and communication with the horse. The approach is designed to fully acknowledge the unique interaction between horse and rider, helping equestrians refine their movement and balance to create a more harmonious and effective partnership. Embodied Rider Biomechanics is the foundation of this approach and focuses on how the rider’s movement affects the horse, how the rider can absorb and redirect forces to move fluidly with the horse, and how biomechanics, psychology, and sensory awareness combine to create more effective riding. Train Your Seat has grown into an international community of certified Rider Biomechanics Trainers, equipping equestrian coaches with advanced tools to help their students achieve true stability and fluidity.
Joanna Lepiarczyk – https://www.instagram.com/horsesexplained/
- August 18, 2025 @ 4:00 pm EST
- Joanna has been immersed in the horse world her entire life, growing up on a family-run riding facility and showing horses since 1998. As a certified coach in both Poland and Canada, her focus is on building respectful, enjoyable partnerships between horse and rider—always with the horse’s mental and physical well-being in mind. Joanna specializes in working with horses that need extra patience and understanding, using a calm, structured approach that supports learning and confidence. She is the author of Understanding Horse Depression, a book exploring equine mental health, stress, and depression, offering practical tools for better care and deeper connection. Her credentials include Equine Canada Competition Coach; specialized equine orthopedic training; certified thermographer; FEI courses in conformation and movement evaluation; and specialization in Animal Psychology.
Christine Pinna – https://www.instagram.com/caballobarefoottrimming/
- August 21, 2025 @ 2:00 pm EDT
- Christine Pinna got into barefoot trimming at the age of sixteen when she bought her first horse, a barefoot Thoroughbred. She instinctively preferred the idea of a barefoot horse, so this was part of the appeal of owning this particular horse. After her horse’s first trim with her new farrier, she was immediately foot-sore and eventually her hooves began to crack quite badly. The farrier’s solution was shoes. Instead of going along with the idea, Christine discovered barefoot trimming, and with the help of two mentors overseas – Lisa Huhn and AnneLouise MacDonald from Equinextion – she was able to keep her horse out of shoes through nutritional support and regular but non-invasive trimming. Despite plans to train showjumping horses overseas, life had different plans and some of the owners of the various horses she was training asked her to trim their horses’ hooves, which was an introduction to a different career. Christine also studied to be an equine bodyworker and has completed a course in Darkfield Microscopy with a focus on both human and animal health. Christine and her husband Giacomo now own a thriving barefoot trimming business working with horses in South Africa, as well as various neighbouring countries. Along with their colleague Theo Janssen, they have founded an association aiming to offer formal education for hoofcare providers in the future.
Isabelle D’Costa – https://www.instagram.com/honosnutritionco/
- August 21, 2025 @ 4:30 pm EDT
- Bio TBD
About Jochen Schleese and Schleese Saddlery Service Ltd.
Jochen Schleese got his certification as Master Saddler in Germany at the age of 22 and came to Canada in 1986 to establish and register the trade of saddlery in Ontario, Canada. With over 100 different models designed over the years, Schleese Saddlery Service Ltd is the world leading manufacturer of saddles designed for women, specializing in the unique anatomical requirements of female riders. Schleese authorized representatives provide diagnostic saddle fit analysis and saddle fitting services across the globe to maintain optimal saddle fit to horse and rider and together they have enriched the lives of over 200,000 horses. He and his company have been the recipients of numerous business and industry awards over the years and have been featured in the Wall Street Journal , twice on the Discovery Channel as well as PBS. He has also won a “Winnie” award for his DVD “Beyond the 9 points of saddle fit” as best educational video in 2017 at the EQUUS Film Festival in NYC as well as one in 2019 for best educational book for his best-seller: Suffering in Silence: The Saddle Fit Link to Physical and Psychological Trauma in Horses. He is a regular guest lecturer at various equine and veterinary colleges around the world.
For more information about Jochen Schleese and Schleese Saddlery Ltd. please go to
http://www.saddlesforwomen.com/
or
Media Contact:
Madison Loach. Schleese Marketing Lead
madison@schleese.com