André Jaques Bubear
 “I’ve been a saddler for 28 years. I was in the army
for 18 years – where I became a saddler. I left the army in
1985 to take up the position of Master Saddler for the
Mounted Branch of the Metropolitan Police where I worked for
eight years.
“In 1990 I rode across Romania on a horse, it ignited my
interest in the working horses and highlighted the problems
they faced. After that trip I approached the ILPH, they had
been looking for a saddler for their overseas training
programme and I got the job. There were two elements to the
job: to work as a saddler, saddle fitting for the horses in
rehab in UK, and secondly working as a saddler instructor
for the newly formed overseas training team. Initially I ran
a team comprising of a saddler, a farrier and a nutrition
management specialist. In 2000 Ian Kelly arrived as Head of
International Training, the training teams have expanded and
I am the team leader for our projects.
“I put together all the training courses, coordinate the
team, sort out all the logistics and help looking at ways of
solving the saddlery and the harnessing problems.
“I worked in training programmes for ILPH in various
countries: Fiji, New Zealand, Vietnam, Pakistan, Egypt,
Ethiopia, Jordan, Romania now, to name a few. Each setup
lasts five years, and can be extended if needed. The
projects are interlinked and they are overlapping.
“The quality of the harness used in Romania for the working
horses aren’t all bad, but the quality of repairs is poor.
We can offer our experience and know-how in harnessing and
farriery, but we are open to local solutions. We insist that
the students learn the about anatomy and physiology of the
horse, something working saddlers have never done before. We
teach why a saddle should fit in such a way, why a bridle
should do a certain job; this is an area they tend to be
hazy on. You can have the best harness in the world, but if
it does not fit correctly, you’ll have problems
People are very interested in our training courses, each
course is tailored to suit the local culture. An experienced
saddler we saw yesterday is happy to send his boy to the
training, so he can learn more.
“Out of ten students, one or two will stand out, they are
encouraged to become instructors, to work locally and
continue sharing the knowledge they learn on the courses.
This has been successful in Mexico, El Salvador, and South
Africa. We also advise the students on setting up a small
business and how to manage it. All the trained saddlers are
listed on the ILPH site.
“Here, in Romania, there is a horse culture. People try to
look after their horses well, there are exceptions, but also
the willingness to learn and improve. Eventually,
mechanisation will return again and the horses will be used
for recreation, the ILPH project will contribute to this
transition being made easily with horse welfare in mind.
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