Beval Butet Saddles,

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I have a Butet that I got used about ten years ago. I’ve ridden a huge variety of horses in it and it almost always keeps me in a balanced position. Mine has the extremely flat seat but I always feel secure - far more than in deeper saddles with larger blocks.

@CinderellaSpice

I actually just joined this forum to find some advice on where to have it repaired. I LOVE this saddle and want to be sure I send it to the best. Beval in France is an option and I have that money saved, but I want to know if any other Butet owners know a saddler they would trust here in the States. Thanks! -K

I sent my saddle to Butet in New Jersey earlier this year. While I think Beval has ended their distribution relationship with Butet, their saddle repair crew is amazing and they were happy to replace my billets. On a different occasion, I watched an employee of Beval repair a saddle in person at their booth at WEF and it was amazing to see the skill and expertise involved.

[Elementgrl2]

Butet has a USA Repair Center. Beval isn’t working on Butet saddles anymore. If you are interested message me and I can pass the info along.

@CinderellaSpice

They hold up amazingly. I am the 4th owner of my 1999 and while on hiatus, the younger girls in the barn were using my saddle a lot (because it really does fit every horse in the barn and makes you sit perfectly). While the rest of the saddle is still in perfect condition after 18 years of heavy use, the seat has developed some small holes.

I actually just joined this forum to find some advice on where to have it repaired. I LOVE this saddle and want to be sure I send it to the best. Beval in France is an option and I have that money saved, but I want to know if any other Butet owners know a saddler they would trust here in the States. Thanks! -K

PS. For the OP, the women at my barn seem to love their Devoucouxes. Im still super partial to my Butet but they’re super comfy to sit in. And I always say go used. They don’t make them like they used to I think.

[chaserider]

I leased an OTTB a couple years ago that came with a Butet. That’s what his owner had and that’s what fit him, so that’s what I used. It was a very comfortable saddle - it just put my legs in the wrong position. But hey, it fit the horse, so …

[SnicklefritzG]

I’ve ridden in Butet saddles and thought they were ok, but not worth the ~$5k price tag. I used to ride with a trainer who pushed these saddles but didn’t see what the big deal was. For the price, one can get a greater variety of custom options elsewhere.

[babalina]

I am the original poster for this questions, and years later, i had the pleasure of riding in a Butet. I did not know it a the time, it was lesson saddle… after a couple of rides on it, i looked up the maker and saw it was a Butet. I then tried to find a used one online, and they are expensive. They are very lovely saddles…

[iJump]

I switched from Antares to Butet 6 years ago. Best decision, I find they fit everything as well as they could without going fully custom and I was able to get a more close contact feel.

I personally ride better with less getting in the way trying to keep me in place if that makes sense. I found with the different Antares I’ve had sometimes I ended up fighting the saddle for my position and ultimately being loose in the tack.

[anon510129]

FWIW, I believe Beval and Butet have “divorced”

I have a Butet premium and LOVE it. You couldn’t pry it from my cold, dead hands.

My old boss had two Butet Premiums and she had me get on a horse that was already tacked up for her…needless to say I bought her EXACT saddle that week and sold my beloved Tad Coffin.

We had about 30 horses at that barn ranging from OTTBs to GP jumpers (warmbloods). We adjusted the half pad depending on the horse, but our vet was very happy with the Butet. Happy to give you my flap info if you’re interested!