Used Butet Saddle

Antares, Devoucoux, Butet, Hermes, County Stabalizer, or other?

What hunter/jumper saddle do you think is best? Also, I am very petite and have short legs. Which brand would best accomodate this? I want to buy a used saddle and don’t know if I am going to be able to find a short flap in my price range. My current saddle’s (a Dover circuit pro) flap is way too long for me and places my calf right on top of the theigh block and I don’t want this to happen in my new saddle. I think I am leaning toward an Antares… I have only heard good things about it. Thanks!

Best answer:

Answer by Fizzing Whizbee 7 weeks ago I ordered a saddle from Devoucoux. I went on their website and found my local rep, who I called. She wanted a picture of my horse untacked, then a picture of me standing alone, and a picture of me on my horse where my leg was positioned how I would want it to be. She asked me lots of questions, was very kind and helpful, and put in my order for a saddle right away. I believe they have 3 different options for flap length, position, and size, and they are just so accomodating to make sure they order the perfect saddle for you.

She sent me a demo saddle to ride in while mine was being made, which was the exact saddle I’d purchased, so I could see what it would be like. She also sent me 2 other demos of different styles so I could try them, and let me use the one of my choice for the 2 months it took for the saddle to come in.

My saddle just arrived this week and it’s gorgeous; they called to make sure I loved it, and my representative is coming from Michigan to Ocala, FL to make sure I love it, and to see me ride in it! Lovely people, my dad (the financier of this whole debacle) was VERY dubious about spending approx. $ 4,000 on a saddle when I’d been riding in a used Stübben he bought for about $ 800, but it is absolutely worth every penny, he and I both agree.

Their service is excellent, they really care about getting you matched with the best saddle they can find for you, and they’re awesome about connecting you with a used/demo saddle too, if you want one broken in for a few hundred dollars less. The leather is incredible: mine is all calf-skin, which is sort of the middle-of-the-road option (grain leather, calf, or buffalo are the options I believe) and it’s grippy enough to keep me in perfect position when my pregreen pops me out of the tack.

In fact, when I inquired about the buffalo for extra grip, my rep refused to sell me a buffalo saddle, on the grounds that she said it would be way too grippy unless I was doing stadium jumpers, and that for amateur a full-calf saddle was much more appropriate, that I could move much more easily although the leather would still stick me in the tack. Most sellers would encourage the buffalo upgrade, which would earn them a few more hundred dollars comission!

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