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st tribune october 30 1991 pi1 saddlemaker schleese takes pride in his work bruce stapley correspondent jochen schleese is a man with mis sion a dedicated professional deter mined to gain respect for the industry he has given so much of his life to promote the 29yearold schleese is a mas ter saddler and while that doesnt mean much to provincial or federal authorities let alone the average canadian citi zen the local resident is out to con vince the powers that be to afford saddle making the same official recognition given other trades which require the learning of specific skills schleese who served a threeyear apprenticeship as a saddle maker in his native germany came to canada for the world dressage champi onships in 1986 while attending the event which was held at cedar valleys eglinton equestrian club schleese was approached by club official hans pracht to set up a saddle making shop on the premises there was no one making custom english saddles in north america schleese said they were being brought in from europe schleese tookpracht up on his offer five years later he is the owner of a flourishing custom saddlery operation with five employees in addition to himself and his wife sabine who looks after the business end of the endeavor he makes saddles for members of the canadian equestrian team and includes 1988 canadian olympic bronze medallist dressage team member ashley munro on his list of customers schleese was recently commis sioned by prime minister brian mul- roney to make a halter for the presi dent of mexico and he was also called upon to repair the saddle of canadian show jumping champion ian millar at a recent event at the equestrian club schleese has established an apprenticeship program for saddle makers for the province of ontario he currently has two apprentices working in his shop with one john banbury soon to become the first certified canadian saddle maker rec ognized by the ministry of skills development butdespite his efforts schleese has been unable to convince the fed eral government of the necessity of proper training for saddle makers his apprenticeshipprogram has been accepted but it is still not mandatory we have made saddlery a regis tered trade in canada he said our ultimate goal is to convince the government that the trade should be regulated horseback riding is a dangerous sport if i make a saddle that breaks and the rider is hurt i could be sued schleese said there should be guidelines for saddle makers just as there are regulations for auto mechanics as a first step in this direction he is working on having saddlery put on the governments skills shortages list so as to be able to apply for gov ernment funding for his apprentice ship program schleese who once rode with the german three day event team which came close to qualifying for the 1984 los angeles olympics said that his is a trade which demands specific knowledge of both horses and their riders part of his own extensive training included a study of human anatomy he keeps models of the skeletal structure of human pelvises on hand to assist in the making of saddles unlike production saddle makers he recognizes that there is often a huge difference between male and female pelvises with saddles traditionally being made for men this has led to extreme discomfort for many female riders the vast majority of riders in canada are women and the top five dressage riders in the world are females explained schleese but the female pelvis is often wider than that of a male so women sometimes feel like they are sitting on a two by four consequently schleese sometimes goes so far as to make a plaster mold of his customers seat to ensure a proper fitting saddle especially if the rider has suffered a pelvis injury in the past schleese said he has made some progress in his attempt to bring sad dle making into the mainstream of canadian trades but he knows he still has some convincing left to do theres still a long way to go as it is now in canada if you can sew you can call yourself a saddle maker notice to seniors hrofjlliiftfi jochen schleese and wife sabine operate a custom english saddle shop r stouffville district secondary school notice to parentsguardians term 1 interim reports will be distributed to students on tuesday oct 2991 parents night wednesday oct 3091 principal mr alan dickson vice principal mr jay hooper i vote wayne emmerson for mayor a vote for wayne is a vote for security authorized by cfo for candidate wayne emmerson atthe allcandidates forum stouffville district secondary school friday nov 1 8 pm sponsored by whitchurchstouffville public library 6402395 come and question the candidates for stouffville shopping try boutique ladies fashions 6389 main st 6407772 3 doors east of post office we carry linda lundstrom laparka coats dresses separates also mary rosejesprit hollywood jeans marci lipman sweat tops pants phantom silks jockey briefs socks isotoner gloves slippers silk scarves lingerie special sale rack tor november iii d 10 lwou iqk iqiil m u i i for leadership and experience authorized by the cfo for the gl oconnor campaign r ti