I think it depends. The difference, many times, between a BNT’s horse and say, a BN amateur’s horse (which is the bigger market) is that the BNT’s horse gets a full spa treatment almost after every major event. Chiropractic and massage work regularly, hydrotherapy, shockwave, theraplates – basically, the whole therapeutic gauntlet thrown at the horse to make any residual body complaint after hard work go away.
The BN horse usually does not have this luxury - maybe regular chiro/massage work once a month, but in my experience in many barns, not much more. So… the damage accumulated from a badly fitting saddle is more likely to be worse IMHO with the horse that does not have a bevy of therapeutic work done to it on the regular.
I have seen many big barns, in your area, switch from Devoucoux to Stubben or CWD in mass exodus style after complaints of very sore backs. I think that says something.
The reason Devoucoux has the reputation it does is not a fluke, but I am not 100% sold it is because purely of the quality of the saddles. I believe it is because a lot of the Devoucoux reps quite frankly have no idea how to fit a saddle to a horse, and push saddles onto clients that may not be the best fit for the horse. Saddle reps are not saddle fitters, despite their claims to the contrary - and people should stop taking their word that a saddle fits. They are trying to sell you a product; they don’t care, IMHO, if that product is useless to you down the road.
Just as a BM who has a casual knowledge of saddle fit, I can tell you I have seen some glaringly obvious fit errors on Devoucoux, immediately after purchase - bridging, pinching the shoulders, completely unbalanced, etc.
Ironically, the Devoucoux rep in my area circa 2012, made the bold claim to me many times that Devoucoux was the best brand and all other saddles were “garbage” - I was one of the only riders in the barn that had not made the switch (and never did). She didn’t like my Kieffer much.
She is now a Stubben rep, and swearing up and down that all other saddles are terrible for horses’ backs, Devoucoux are known to be horrible and have “ruined so many of her clients’ horses backs…”, etc etc… as if people cannot remember that six years ago she was peddling for Devoucoux and was the one that sold her clients the very saddle that ruined their horses’ back.
Saddle-fitting is such a nuanced, complex thing that I don’t think a representative with passing knowledge of horse anatomy and saddle construct should be able to assert claims of saddle fit/not saddle fit, unless they are actually certified saddle-fitters… which most are not.
