Be Free Saddle Fitting

Be Free Saddle Fitting INDEPENDENT Saddle Fitting with on site adjustments by Luke McConnell, UK Society of Master Saddlers Qualified Saddle Fitter.

Be Free is dedicated to the comfort of your horse and quality customer service with emphasis on honesty and integrity. Luke offers impartial, honest and independent advice to gain high customer satisfaction and happy horses. With training in 5 different countries and qualifications in Australia and Europe, Luke offers a knowledgeable and independent analyses offering the right advice for any horse/rider combination, to get the best out of your horse or pony.

07/03/2026

Please note due too bearevment we will not be monitoring this page or messages, voicemail etc until Tuesday 11th March.

02/03/2026

Here is my first educational post about the need for maintenance Saddle Fitting.

Did you know horses in primal setting are well food for someone else.........so what can this mean for us from a Saddle Fitting perspective? It means horses hide anything that makes them dinner, your horse may not actually show outward signs of pain or irregular paces as a survival strategy. Did you also know pain can cause endorphins release? Some horses are in saddle pain but are experiencing a physiological pain response to survive, pain has it's own management system and although release of endorphins allows mental pushing the physical implications will accumulate. " Gets better as they go" can be a red flag. Diva's definitely exist too, if they were a person who chipped a nail works cancelled kinda horse. These ones are good, they generally don't push through pain and are very clear about their comfort but the push through one's can experience real damage.

** White Hairs under Saddle Area **Let's talk about white hairs, what are they? How do they occur? What to do..............
02/03/2026

** White Hairs under Saddle Area **

Let's talk about white hairs, what are they? How do they occur? What to do...........

White hairs under the saddle area are the hairs loosing pigmentation due to pressure, owners and or riders can become extremely concerned upon observing the development of white hairs under the saddle area and sometimes this rightly indicates a current saddle fitting issue to be addressed immediately, other times some introspection is required 😉 White hairs can take four to six months to become visible from the triggering event. A very common dynamic is owner or rider become aware of need to Saddle Fit BEFORE the white hairs develop, quite often the signs are observed before the Saddle Fitting is requested and although the outcome of this Saddle Fitting is very good not long after those previous observations manifest visually and the panic sets in.....the logical answer is to associate the visibility of the white hairs with the very recent Saddle Fitting and the unfortunate assumption that the Saddle Fitter is too blame - sometimes they actually are but that's a story for another day and I certainly don't advocate blind professional loyalty BUT! here's a really hard truth - the vast majority of people have ZERO Saddle Fitting maintenance, we've reached a point where maintenance Saddle Fitting is barely undertaken and has been replaced with problem reaction Saddle Fitting or new Saddle purchase SaddleFitting. I empathise with how our life situation and animal ownership has become significantly more challenging financially and I also will never shame anyone anywhere when they do eventually reach out for Saddle Fitting help - I will be there for you but we need to know Saddle Fitting IS like shoes - or something else for our barefoot friends, it's something that is a recurring feature of horse care. Do you call your hoof care professional after the shoes fall off and the horse can't be ridden without issues? I certainly hope not.....but this is how Saddle Fitting is working for the vast majority. How can I educate you? What's the best way for me to help here?

A big week...thank you to everyone who needed reschedule. Fortunately, I was able to get to my Lake Boga run, kept runni...
26/02/2026

A big week...thank you to everyone who needed reschedule. Fortunately, I was able to get to my Lake Boga run, kept running smoothly by my friend Stuart 🥰

Luke's 20th year of Saddle Fitting 🇦🇺 🇬🇧 still have that coat 😄
04/02/2026

Luke's 20th year of Saddle Fitting 🇦🇺 🇬🇧 still have that coat 😄

18/01/2026

Hello Yarra Valley, It's so good to be home. Well almost! Tonight will be my first night in our new home, very much looking forward to seeing my beautiful family and dogs again after a super three days of Saddle Fitting in NSW, a massive thank you to everyone involved in coordinating the Leeton event and everyone who trusted me to work with their precious horses again. Thank you for looking after me so well 🙏

👋 Touching base to let everyone know I'm away in NSW for a Saddle Fitting trip 🙏 I wasn't able to messages done as plann...
17/01/2026

👋 Touching base to let everyone know I'm away in NSW for a Saddle Fitting trip 🙏 I wasn't able to messages done as planned on Thursday due to injury but I will as soon as possible 🙂

14/01/2026

How beautiful was today's Saddle Fitting location 😍 the owners have done an exceptional job in creating this space. All today's horses and people were absolutely delightful to work with and I really appreciated it, it was a lovely Saddle Fitting day and I am very grateful for the good people out there, thanks for an amazing day🙏

** It is the 10 year anniversary of Be Free Saddle Fitting and the 20th anniversary of Luke's Saddle Fitting career toda...
10/01/2026

** It is the 10 year anniversary of Be Free Saddle Fitting and the 20th anniversary of Luke's Saddle Fitting career today ** as far as we know Luke is still the only Saddle Fitter to have fitted in 4 countries and the youngest in Australia to gain qualification with the UK Society of Master Saddlers.

We are dedicating the occasion to our beautiful horses that have been our friends for the past 10 years, please enjoy the pics of some of them below 💙 I couldn't get all of them on post so some others are in comments. Yay for horses!

10/01/2026

Ok, let's talk about the Anonymous Poster in a FB group today. It was a post that needs some explanation but firstly although I am disappointed that a member of the group admin approved that post, I have done several Saddle Fittings for that admin member and one wasn't successful in their assessment so I provided a full refund to that person who I wasn't aware until today was an admin, I believe honouring the refund request should be where that situation finalised - it was a pleasant professional interaction so I thought it actually was. I liked that person and the animal I fitted so was personally disappointed with myself. A member of Admin on same page did remove the post and I am grateful to that person 🙏 BUT let's get down to the original post.....I have not done a saddle fitting, accepted any payment or made any adjustments to that person's saddle...... I simply said I don't think I am the person for you and left it at that. I received several negative messages after apologising several times. I am sorry to see this person is almost a Doctor. A few people jumped on board and one is a Primary School teacher, in general I can't help saying that I expect better from these people. I'm disappointed with the industry, I'm disappointed with the ongoing dynamic of other Saddle Fitters manipulating clients with personal vendettas towards me, the same Saddle Fitters I Saddle Fitted for when they couldn't resolve their own horses fitting problems, the same SaddleFitters who called me for advice but turned heavily against me for going out on my own and threatening their businesses. I do not deserve 10 years of this Professional bullying, like me or not it is not ok

2025!I have paused to do the Merry Christmas post....long day driving (still going) so plenty of time to recap the year ...
22/12/2025

2025!
I have paused to do the Merry Christmas post....long day driving (still going) so plenty of time to recap the year that was. I didn't realise how big a year 2025 was until now. It did not start well...... I started the year with some bad nerve problems in my hands and neck so spent a lot of time being tested for Multiple Sclerosis, my liver decided to be very unhappy too, we lost a horse, we lost a dog. We had a head on car accident that took out our Range Rover, I had a medication response that saw me collected by ambulance in the early morning and rushed to ER while my heart tried to explode, I also got pneumonia and was bed bound for 4 weeks and there was more including some people who really let me down in caring for my horses 😴 but we also welcomed 3 new horses, I stated riding again and I had a successful competition ❣️ my daughter did an amazing job of starting and finishing her first year of High School 👏 my son made enormous progress with his eating disorder and ended the year nominating himself for school captain 👍 I said goodbye to clients I never thought I would and I welcomed the return of clients I also never expected I would. It really was a year of extremes. I learned to stay calm (mostly😆), be strong and resolute and stand my ground while pushing through 🙏 I made amazing progress in my health and am loving going to gym 5 days a week 💪 I chose this picture because of a moment where a stranger approached my daughter to tell her how beautiful her dress was and how happy she looked (dress under the coat), the moment really struck me with the positive impact these small acts of kindness can have and I realised how fortunate I was to receive so so many small moments of kindness from my Saddle Fitting clients this year, a bottle of water on a hot day, a coffee, home made brownies, a hug, a thank you follow up message. I experienced many lovely gestures from you through the year that may seem so small but the intention really helped me and please know was received with much appreciation. In January 2026 we move into our new home in Launching Place with horses at home again and we will be celebrating 10 years of Be Free Saddle Fitting and 20 years of my Saddle Fitting career. Thank you for choosing Be Free Saddle Fitting in 2025, thank you for showing me kindness 🙏 I sincerely wish you all peace, connection and joy this holiday season and I look forward to seeing you in 2026 🩵

Congratulations to Grace Murphie-Ryan and Teddy.2025 Australian Para Dressage Championships. 🏆 Winners 🏆 of AUSTRALIAN P...
23/11/2025

Congratulations to Grace Murphie-Ryan and Teddy.
2025 Australian Para Dressage Championships. 🏆 Winners 🏆 of AUSTRALIAN PARA VIRTUS II3 Championship. I'm so proud of you Grace. Thanks for choosing Be Free Saddle Fitting for the past few years, Teddy was Saddle Fitted for this event two Wednesdays ago. Congratulations again 👏

Address

Healesville-Koo Wee Rup Road
Woori Yallock, VIC
3139

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

0415923354

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