Beval Butet Saddles,

[babalina]

I am wondering, what the big deal is about the Beval Butet saddle? I have been out of the loop for years, and why are they so coveted? I never sat in one. Also, can someone recommend a good saddle for a 50 year old lady that like to ride hunt seat, go over some low fences (low). I bought a dover circuit elite and I am not entirely thrilled (after riding a Passier All Purpose). Oh, I live far far away from tack stores so I cannot “try” them out at the tack store.

P.S. I have a small appendix qh mare with TB like withers. She fits into a regular tree.

[brummelhorsefarm]

I have two Butets… theyre just great saddles. Comfy and hold up well. One is over 20 years old :yes:

[babalina]

Bevel Butet Saddles

some additional info.

My mare is not wide, and so it seems that I hardly need to errr…, spread my legs on her. So my conformation is a fat thigh and then my knee must come out in order for me to get calf contact. Please don’t ask me to lose weight, I just was born with fat thighs and that is my conformation. In the Passier, this was not so noticible, but on the Dover it is. I bought the Dover for the close contact saddle over fences. I also may plan to fox hunt next year. The Passier Paxton I had was A/P with an emphasis on Dressage…so that is why I had to switch. I am kind of looking for another possibility other than the Dover Circuit.

[BridalBridle]

I have three. I won one, bought one used at a show and another on ebay. LOVE THEM ALL. I sold my 2 Pessoa AO’s. The Butets have fit every horse from a FAT WIDE warmblood to the high wither narrow off track TB. I will say the older ones are more comfy but they are broken in the best. There is a reason they are so pricey…they are worth it.
Free advice is worth the price you pay;-]

[monalisa]

Sit in one, you will know why so many people love them. I own 2 - would not trade them for anything else.

[mvp]

At least sit in a Black Country Quantum and also a Butet back to back before you plunk down money.

The circuit does not compare to either of these in terms of quality materials or quality design.

You might also have Smith Worthington send you some demos. They have many, many different saddles and sizes to offer. The people there are very nice, know their saddle-fitting stuff and will really go out of their way to work with you.

You might like their beautiful S-W Trainer for a traditional but longer-lasting Butet-like saddle. Or you might like their Stellar line for something with a little more support. All of these S-W saddles and the BC saddles have the advantage that they are wool flocked.

Trumbull Mountain Tack has pictures of the Black Country saddles on their website. They are “more saddle” than the Butet and look that way. That may not be bad if you want to take your old bones fox hunting (no offense-- I’d want a comfy, helpful saddle for my somewhat younger bones while out on a 3 hour hunt).

The big reason to sit in a Black Country is because the twist is wider. That bit of saddle conformation has a whole lot to do with how your leg falls on the side of your horse. We of the wide-thighed variety need to make sure our toes are pointing forward, which means turning our whole leg forward from the hip joint. That helps you avoid the “knee off the horse in order to have calf contact.” It’s a devil’s bargain because it means you have turned out from the hip. Rolling toward the back of your thigh to achieve contact with your lower leg screws everything else up. But keeping your legs turned forward from the hip will make you a connoisseur of the saddle’s twist as it helps or hurts your cause.

Whatever you buy, sit in lots and lots of saddles until you figure out the geometry and padding that you want.

[Equinoxfox]

OH TRUST ME …
You sit in one and you will know .
I have a Flat Seat because I am tall , I had it custom made with XL Flaps and let me tell you .
Nothing fits me better and being that I always ride different horses. The tree width works great and there is no pinching whatsoever.
Once You try it you will like it …

[buggs95]

butet

I’ve had a Butet for 12yrs now and I love it! You can call Beval and have one of the demos mailed to you. I think they let you try it for a couple of weeks. That should help you make a decision!

[EquineLVR]

[QUOTE=Equinoxfox;4537211]
OH TRUST ME …
You sit in one and you will know .
I have a Flat Seat because I am tall , I had it custom made with XL Flaps and let me tell you .
Nothing fits me better and being that I always ride different horses. The tree width works great and there is no pinching whatsoever.
Once You try it you will like it …;)[/QUOTE]

What size tree is yours?

[Equinoxfox]

hey there.
Since right now I am riding lots of different horses because my boy is a youngster.
I believe the tree is Medium . The seat is Flat. and the Flaps are XL Forward.
I love it. Although it took quite awhile to be made it was well worth the wait…

[Sunny_s_Mom]

I’m a 40 year old rider and I love my butet. I could finally sit UP, rather than always leaning forward and hurting my back (my other two saddles were a Pessoa (old one) and a County Stablizer). I don’t know why it puts me in the right position, but it does. I got the wider tree because…well…Sunny is fat and it fits him better.

[theinstigator]

Looks like I’m the only one that has hated every Butet I’ve ever ridden in. They never seemed to fit me or my horses correctly.

However, I loved loved LOVED my Childeric…and I wish I could afford to replace it! But, since I can’t, I’m making due with my hand me down ripped seat too small Stackhouse.

[babalina]

[QUOTE=mvp;4537160]
At least sit in a Black Country Quantum and also a Butet back to back before you plunk down money.

/QUOTE]

Thank you for your post. I will consider all the links you gave me and check out your suggestions.

[Invite]

My butt adores my Butet. I bought it when I was riding mostly dressage, but I wanted a close contact to jump one of my horses a few times a week and gallop on the trails. I dealt with some awful, out of nowhere spins and spooks on the trails and I stayed tight as a tick.

Even though my Butet horse is now retired and I am riding entirely dressage, I cannot bring myself to sell my Butet. I might need it someday

[Pony_Soprano]

I have had quite a few over the years and love them. I do hunt in my Butet and I find it quite comfortable. Bevals Saddlery does not make them, but is the main N. American distributor. I think that they are so popular because they are as close to a modern close contact as you are going to get.

As far as personal anecdote, I grew up with a Jimmy’s , then PDN (which even then I treasured), then a Butet. Maybe my parents brainwashed me, which is always a possiblity. I have ridden in Jaguer, CWD, and Hermes professionally and I still want to come back to the Butet. That being said, I ride many green horses and I am not always sure what is underneath me.

If I was given any choice, I would try to demo: Butet, Childeric, Antares, Deavacoux, and PJ.

I have ridden in all of them, but not enough to given a fair assasement.

PS - I did ride in one Antares that the rider (who did not own the trial horse) gave me so many warnings about the new cost of, made me feel like I should be taking out my own insurance policy on. Needless to say, I was not interested in the 50K eq horse that has not EVER been even in a regional final, in addition to the most UnCoMForTaBle tRoT, CanTEr, JUmP, EvEr!!!..Don’t worry I am not going to ruin your saddle! How about you don’t put your saddle on a sale horse if you are that worried about it?

Ok sorry …vent over

[Lucassb]

The Butets offer a really nice combination of closeness to the horse and comfort to the rider. For those of us that grew up with (and liked) the old style PDN and Hermes pancakes… it can be hard to ride in the more heavily “padded” models that are also v. popular these days. I’ve had a number of the nicer French saddles - Antares and Devoucoux - but although they were certainly cushy, I never could quite get used to not being able to really feel my horse’s back underneath me, and I just felt like I had “too much saddle” in the way. Also had a Tad Coffin which let me feel my horse a bit better but g-d! that thing was hard as a rock, and pretty darn uncomfortable ( I hear the new ones have more cush, though.)

I have two Butets, both flat seats/#2 flaps and lovelovelove them. Saddle fit and preference are very individual, but I find the Butet offers a really nice balance, allowing me to sit in the middle without struggling to keep my leg properly underneath me with that good hip to heel balance. Interestingly enough, although Butets have the reputation for fitting riders better than horses, my saddles fit my horses better than the Antares and Devoucoux models that were “custom made” for them. Go figure.

[xeroxchick]

I LOVE my Butet - it fits me like a glove and I swear it puts me in the right position. I hunted in it; found it was great with a spooky horse. It does not fit my main hunt horse and was pinching him. I ride him in an Antares now but it has a wider twist and is not as comfortable - nice, but not perfect like the Butet. What happened is that I just bought it without trying a few out.
What size tree fits a lot of different horses?

[Alterrain]

I love LOVE LOVE butets! I have two, one is a 97 model, one a 89. Whatever your budget is, I would go with an older (or just old) butet over anything new. They fit both my horses perfectly. And my horses could not be more differently shaped! And I swear they lock me into the right EQ position so cushy and yummy . . .

[EventMo]

Sitting is believing

Love my Butet, it is my 3rd one simply due to seat size changes, but I will never, ever, ever ride in anything else (and I’ve tried most of the other high-end saddles). And I have fat thighs, too. So try it, I think you’ll like it!

[WorthTheWait95]

[QUOTE=Alterrain;4540415]
I love LOVE LOVE butets! I have two, one is a 97 model, one a 89. Whatever your budget is, I would go with an older (or just old) butet over anything new. They fit both my horses perfectly. And my horses could not be more differently shaped! And I swear they lock me into the right EQ position so cushy and yummy . . .[/QUOTE]

If you’re in the market for a Butet def look for one that is older like this poster has. The older models are wonderful and hold up really well. I’ve had a lot of trouble with the newer models (post 2000) making my horses back sore even when properly fitted. I ended up selling off both of the new ones I bought in 2004 because my horses were so sore from them. Wish I had never sold the '92 model I bought used in 1998. It was my first ‘adult’ saddle and I loved it. I sold it b/c it didn’t fit a horse I bought later but I wish I had hung onto it b/c I’m sure it would have fit at least one of the horses I’ve owned since then.