What saddles do the top riders use?

kerilli

kerilli

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And do you think it makes any difference at all to their results? i know WFP uses Albion, Francis Whittington uses WOW, as do Richard and Gillian Davidson, and i think Pippa uses Butet... does anyone know what any of the other top riders (in any discipline) use, please?
what saddles would/n't you use/recommend, and why? (PM me if you like.) thankyou.
 
Don't think the saddle makes the rider...
Each rider being different, he/she gets whatever works for him/her.
Preferences:Butet and CWD.Used to like Devoucoux but they're not what they used to be...
 
Have to admit being a total Devoucoux convert could never see what made them worth the extra money until I had one. They are used by many top riders including Lucy Wiegersma and Zara Phillips. Pm me if you want more info on them.
 
Well it seems that due to their enormous success, they've had to move fast from a very confidential/exclusive manufacturing process on to bigger scale production. As a result, quality of hides and craftmanship have suffered.
I've had devoucoux stuff from the time they started (back when hardly anybody knew o fthem) to now, and durability isn't the same with the more recent production.
If you can find a secon-hand Devoucoux in good condition, you might just end up with a better bargain than with a brand new one
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I guess a lot of them will use what they're given by their sponsors lol!

I know one of the Kent based (Swedish) eventers uses a WOW as I got to ride in it when we tried a horse at her yard....it was the saddle she had gone round Badminton in as she was very keen to tell me
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A more interesting question might be how many riders who put their names to tack actually use their own brands....i'm think Pessoa, John and Michael Whitaker, Funnell Range etc...
 
I agree that the saddle doesnt make the rider, however i think they can help a great deal, particularly as you start to reach greater heights in your chosen field.

I think you mentioned most of the ones i know of really... davisons use the wows, im pretty sure carl hester uses albion? Whitakes primarily use their own range and prior to that they were prestige fans (but the whitaker saddle is *exactly* the same tree and everything as the prestige anyway
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Sonia Webster (trainer of samantha harrison and, til he retired, manitu of course) likes the albions although since all her higher level horses are owned by other people, she tends to use whatever is handed to her.

I think overall, in dressage one of the most popular would have to be the albions. No clue about the other circuits though!
 
Pessoa arent as nice as they used to be imo either
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I can remember being warned by my saddler at the time that the company was changing hands and to keep hold of the little jumping saddle i had at the time (and god i loved that saddle!)

I stupidly sold it when i sold the horses and i swear ive regretted it ever since. That being said.. would never fit my horse :|
 
Jonty Evans uses whatever the owner wants on the horse

Noticed a wow due to the back of it, but didn't get close enough to look through the others!

Eventers is probably the whim of the owner

I'd really like to know what the SJ'ers use, but many tend to have their favourite saddle they use on all horses (Think Aachen when they each swapped their own saddle onto the horses and then jumped 5ft!)
 
Pippa Funnel uses a Devoucoux. As for the quality they have now added an additional tree to their saddle sizes so can now really accommodate the WB types more comfortably. The quality of the leather is the same as it's aways been (it's the same hide supplier to Louis Vuitton) The best hardwearing leather on a devoucoux you can get is the Buffallo hide, the calf skin does wear really quickly as it is so soft, so for a single flap saddle I would recommend the buffallo hide any day of the week. Having said all that I still love my pessoa, oh and the old stubben I have tucked away in the corner!
 
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I'd really like to know what the SJ'ers use, but many tend to have their favourite saddle they use on all horses (Think Aachen when they each swapped their own saddle onto the horses and then jumped 5ft!)

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The SJers all use Butet, Stubbens, Prestige and Pessoa.Eventers all seem to use Devoucoux now.

I know that the Sj'ers have always just used one saddle for all their horses, but as for the riders using their own saddles at Aachen when they swapped the horses around...that is just beyond me! I dont understand how the Sj'ers can adopt this practise! Still, theyv'e been doing that for years.
I feel that it is only us amateurs that are fussy about having an individually fitting saddle for each horse- the pro's dont really seem to care about this TBH. But the horses are obviously still performing well... but how is it that they dont care about saddle fit? espec. the SJ ers.
 
If you look at the horses they have in the stables they are usually a similar width, so they know what riser, pad to put under the saddle to get it as close to a perfect fit as possible. On the most important horse they would have the saddle fitted to that one and then just use pads for the others. Oh and if the rider always put a pad under the saddle then when it came to fitting the saddle it would be fitted with a pad under it.
 
Eventers seem to favour Devoucoux and Butet, Dressage riders Albion/Passier and SJers Prestige or Stubben! Agree re. Pessoa quality, the new ones arent nearly as good as the old ones, although they seem to find more horses....
 
Personally I love my Butet, but couldn't comment on any other makes as I haven't tried them, other than my Ideal dressage saddle. I know Peter Laidlaw uses Butets too as we had a conversation about them at YRC whilst on my course...
 
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