Could/would you ride on half a saddle???

kerilli

kerilli

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This is the new Butet Training Saddle:
Screenshot2012-03-06at125106.png

(photo nicked from AN's fb wall, hope he won't mind).
linky here:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...28368696.66724.277273205677925&type=1&theater
There's photos there of him riding in it on there too. It's a really good new fb page, interesting stuff in every update.
Apparently the aim with this saddle is to have it as "a training aid for younger riders to promote natural balance". Sederholm Selected's fb page has pics of top adult riders trying it too though.
With the recent revelation about my position bareback cf with a saddle, I'm itching to try one, and have emailed Sederholm Selected to ask.
So, thoughts? I'm obviously not good at thinking outside the box since I recoiled at first at the sight of half a saddle!
 
Yes I would use this, I think I ride better bareback so anything closer to that for me would be a bonus :)
 
Yes, it looks brilliant, no way to hide a shabby lower leg there!! I love my jeffries flyover, it is not that extreme but not far off, gives you an amazing feeling :)
 
Ohh I like! Assume it is on a full tree? In which case I would really like to give one a bash, advantages of bareback or pad with stirrups without any worries about how your weight is distributed. Dread to even think what it costs though. I wonder if it would count as a standard english saddle re BD?
 
Apart from thinking I’d never get my jods clean again….I’d love to try one and I’d be interested to see how the arrangement helps free up the shoulder on the funny to saddle-fit types. I’d bet I’d be the one-in-a-million who gets my stirrup caught in the lower flap in an acrobatic moment and spends the rest of the test flapping around trying to free it:o
 
Ha I doubt it :p but I also dont think butet would suit a flat backed pony so theres not much chance of me getting to have a proper go in one :(
 
Love the look of it. Very similar to a lot of the very minimalist XC saddles about now, just with a different appearance. I imagine being a butet the stirrup bar position would be perfect, which is the main thing.... :D
 
I bet it's double the price because it's specialist!
Whats the brown front flap for? Is it solid? Would it annoy the horse sitting on its own like that? Woudl be nice to see it in use.
 
Would love to see a review of how it rides (given that i'm very unlikely to ever get to sit on one!) It looks like it would be the ultimate in 'close contact' but with no knee rolls or anything to help your lower leg...exactly what it is designed to do but rather 'Mr Stickability' than I to go XC in it! :D
 
I've ridden a lot of racehorses (including one called Psycho! :eek:) on a similar amount of leather, even over fences and was quite secure.
 
Aces_High said:
I was thinking the same thing and one of the ones I used to ride was called Staple Head :eek: :eek:
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The Psycho incident led to me always asking what each horse was called as I was getting on. Previously I'd neither asked nor cared but it's surprising how much you can glean from knowing that a horse is called Donkey/Knobhead/Buckaroo :rolleyes:. Forewarned is forearmed and all that ;).
 
When I was a child the saddles I had were very similar in type- the old half panel serge lined saddle with no knee rolls. Mine didn't even have a sweat flap, only saddle flap so pretty much this saddle. We had nothing but our own balance in those days!

Now though- definately not! I love my jumping saddles thank you with a pencil knee roll!
 
What is the main difference between this and a race exercise saddle? Genuine question! I imagine an exercise saddle far cheaper to experiment riding on!
Fwiw, I love riding in my barely there saddle and would quite happily sj and xc in it if it was more the norm to do so.
 
I'd love to try it. When I was a poor student my loan horse didn't have a saddle which fitted so I rode bareback for a good six months. Did wonders for my balance. I keep looking at my new horse's back and thinking he'd be really comfy bareback but reckon we need to get to know eachother a bit more first...
 
i dont think its that far off the bum breaker i am borrowing at the moment lol! I rode for years in a deep seated dressage saddle then when I got grace nothing fitted her but Jakes MTM saddle. It is now very quickly growing on me and I have the opportunity to have exactly the same made (but with knee rolls if i want them lol )
 
Gamebird said:
The Psycho incident led to me always asking what each horse was called as I was getting on. Previously I'd neither asked nor cared but it's surprising how much you can glean from knowing that a horse is called Donkey/Knobhead/Buckaroo :rolleyes:. Forewarned is forearmed and all that ;).
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I went riding with friends in Mexico (don't ask) and managed to glean the horse I was given was named "Kangaroo" . . .hmm. Truth in advertising, that. :)
 
If it's to promote balance for younger riders, then you can pick a cheaper option.

My second pony was little S**t at times and could buck like billio! literally, if he was excited, it was basically vertical, if he was confused, if he was angry, you name it, whatever emotion he was having, he'd buck, I remember we were out doing XC and we were doing the steps and sunken road, he got confused and bucked, huge buck, right at the top of the stairs (they were about 2'). We couldn't afford a properly fitted saddle for him while we were saving up, so got a second hand, 25 year old saddle with no knee rolls (we had it re-flocked, so the bucking wasn't due to the saddle, according to the saddler) I was 9 when we got him, and pretty much learned everything I could about balance and confidence and the 'just get on with it!' attitude haha.

But if it's for that purpose, I'd definitely sit any rider on it to teach them how to stay on no matter what the horse/pony throws at you :) it's a good idea :)
 
Gamebird said:
The Psycho incident led to me always asking what each horse was called as I was getting on. Previously I'd neither asked nor cared but it's surprising how much you can glean from knowing that a horse is called Donkey/Knobhead/Buckaroo :rolleyes:. Forewarned is forearmed and all that ;).
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My fav little chap (amongst others) was called Little **** but I adored him. I must admit the one thing I stopped very quickly was lunging a horse before getting on it. Watching their lunge antics wasn't good for ones constitution!!!! I agree with the names. Destructive, Nail Biter another couple and they are passported names!!
 
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