Butet ??????

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sarahs

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Hi,

Does anyone have an opinion on Butet saddles ? Looking at getting a dressage saddle and have heard more positive things about Butet than I have about Devoucoux.

Sx
 
Not owned but ridden in the close contact saddle and as someone said 'How can you fall off in one of those?'
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Can't help you with the dressage one though sorry.
 
i am with kerrilli from my personal experience. i have ridden in both and personally prefer to rode in the butet but as devecoux have cornered the market you will get loads of people here telling you how fab theirs are. i do not care for the amount of devecoux 's i see these days being used with various sorts odf pads as they come in so many fittings etc and surely you would only buy one when the horse was muscled for its job not when unfit and flabby so not sure where all this pad ting comes from. the amount they cost they should fit properly.
IMO you would be just as well spending your money on a saddle that really fits you and your horse even if not close contact. i think a case can be made for close contact not supporting the weight of the rider and causing back problems because there is less support for it and some makes use this hideous foam panel stuff instead of proper flocking which can be adjusted better to fit.
The fact that butet and devecoux are both great for the RIDERS to ride in does not make them great for HORSES to be ridden in.
 
thanks, ReadyTeddy... i'm glad i didn't say any more, because you have said everything i wanted to say, and very eloquently!
i think what is needed is for a saddler to make a xc saddle which is very comfy for the rider, very secure, encourages a great lower leg position, and which is also very comfy for the horse, doesn't crash down on its withers/scapula on landing (as a LOT of very trendy makes do), doesn't do damage to the horse's back. if there's one like that on the market at the moment, i have yet to find it.
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still trying to persuade my saddler to start making the above...
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well before everyone went mad on close contact i worked for a foreign rider (who went to olympics, etc that sort of level) who had a few of both makes dressage and jumping. as i said the butets fitted me better but i liked the fit of them on our horses which were mostly TB types. it a bit like Nokia phones or VHS video (compared to betamax), in that the current market leader is not nessecarily the best product but has the best marketing.
 
Hear Hear Ready Teddy!
Completley agree.
But why oh why are so many pros so devoted to them?
Surely they must have more of a 'feel' for what makes a horse comfortable ?
 
[ QUOTE ]
Hear Hear Ready Teddy!
Completley agree.
But why oh why are so many pros so devoted to them?
Surely they must have more of a 'feel' for what makes a horse comfortable ?

[/ QUOTE ]

'So many pros' often don't own the horses and care only for results, to get results, they have to ride well and they can ride well in these trendy saddles
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i have a kieffer dressage saddle and a stubben pessoa for jumping. And severn mistletoe dont be silly that is not at all what was said but if you are riding five at a one day that is 15 different sections then the riders are as much concerned with theri own comfort as anything. obviously if the saddle fits so badly it affect performance no one is going to use one but there are other factoors involved in what a pro uses i.e. their sponsor ship deals, owners preferences and how much money they have. Like anything it is easier to make a case for spending moey or using something if you can cite ??? pro rider. Likewise if a rider is very winning and says i put it down to ??? saddle then more people will use it and some without regard to actually using the best product. is there going to be another masssive row on here now because people are misreading or mis- interpretting posts?
 
its pretty old but i love it, i think its just a style they made which was endorsed by rodrigo before they started doing their own thing. very forward cut and quite lightweight.
 
I have a close contact and disagree with your statement that all close contacts are bad. I did a lot of research and asked a lot of questions before plumping for my saddle. My close contact fits my horse well and he is a tricky horse to fit due to high withers. As well as the horse being tricky I am also tricky to fit as I ride short and have long thighs so cannot deal with conventional saddles. I do not think you should tar both pros and amateurs with the same brush regarding saddles. In this respect amateurs actually are more aware and do better than pros!
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tigers_eye, you must be joking... have you looked underneath a stubben? like sitting on top of two rolling pins. designed for rider's bum, not horse's back.

Severn_Mistletoe, i use Barrie Swaine saddles, have done for years and years. i had a very brief flirtation with wow saddles a few months ago, having heard so much good about them. won't be doing that again. Barrie's are the only ones i trust not to do any harm to my horses' backs... just got to persuade him to start making an ultimate jump saddle that'll keep me on over anything!
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I had a horror of Albion's having seen a few nasty examples, but have ended up with a K2 jump. A well known back man saw my horse and told me I must have incredibly well-fitting saddles. So I have changed my tune about them! It keeps me on over anything....well it has so far!
 
and i do agree with that last statement lec as private owners often spend enormous amount of time money and effort on their horses not because either cares more than the other but because of the simple logisticsof having a couple of horses to having a yard full. But i dont think kerrilli or anyone said all close contact saddles were bad. I liked riding in the butets myself.
 
lec, which saddle do you use then?
spotted_cat, i tried 2 horses who had the K2 jump, really liked it actually, felt very secure, just not totally convinced it's comfy enough for the horse. might have another look at them if i get desperate when the fences get bigger!
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I would love a Butet, but I don't have the money. The one I tried was, so I was told, flocked with latex, so as the horse warmed it up, it moulded to the back then returned to its original shape. Seems to make sense and be a pretty sensible idea to me.

For horse comfort I have never used anything as good as Saddle Company., Trouble is they are real 'leisure rider' saddles and no good at all for the serious competition rider. If they would make something better for the rider I would have them again in a shot, dressage and jumping. Until then I'll stick with my K2 and my Kieffer dressage saddle.
 
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spotted_cat, i tried 2 horses who had the K2 jump, really liked it actually, felt very secure, just not totally convinced it's comfy enough for the horse. might have another look at them if i get desperate when the fences get bigger!
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i got desperate - ask BBs who watched me get jumped out of the saddle when my horse did his usual over-enthusiastic jump down a drop....only it was into water....I hung on for long enough to reach dry land but hit the deck in fine style and lost most of the skin off my arm! I then vowed to find a jump saddle!

Put it this way, my horse has been wearing his for over a year and on every back check has not had any sore spots along his spine - in fact the only thing he's ever needed doing was a tweak where he was sore after hitting *that* fence at goring! And he did do some amazing contortions to stay on his feet!

I thinkAlbions went through a really bad spell about 3 years ago which started to affect their reputation, so they pulled their socks up and are much much better now.
 
I have a Prestige Paris K.
For me I like the cut back head so no pressure on my horses withers as conventional saddles tended to be too close, I also like the wide panels.
 
agreed about the bad spell. just not sure i want to splash out £1800 on a saddle and then have it gutted just to make sure... for that much money, i want to be able to trust it from the start. nightmare, isn't it.
and just because you have a very good K2, doesn't mean the next one will be... they're as good as the saddler that made that one, if you know what i mean.
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Albions have improved massively I remember when they went through a bad patch of falling apart and being dodgy. I just cannot ride in Albions though due to the knee blocks being too big. I would love to try the one WFP uses as there is no way he can ride with big knee blocks but do not have £1800.
 
True. Only I bought my off ebay for £400! The theory being that I would ride in it and see then if it was no good flog it...
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My horse is not a pain to fit as such, but has to have half a size wider than normal as he has to had a sheepskin half-pad next to his back, so although he'd be a narrow-medium by rights, I have to use a medium - I often wonder what difference that makes.
 
ah, that's interesting. i bet a lot of people who use those pads don't use a wider saddle though... like wearing thick socks with shoes you bought to wear with no socks, i reckon. why does he need the sheepskin half-pad, is he just much happier in it?
 
Nope, he developed a really nasty sweat rash and the vet advised it! I am sure he is fine without now but it put him out of action for two months and I am too paranoid to risk it again!
 
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