French Saddle recommendations and suggestions please!! UPDATE #55 decision made!

[TheJenners]

If you already know you like the Dev… I have a four-year-old Oldara, calf seat and knee, grain flap. I do my best to not wear jeans, but this thing is not wearing any more than I was expecting. The grain leather is soft and grippy and was from the get go, and isn’t wearing through at the bottom; seat and knee are in great condition other than one little whoopsie on the “trim” where I caught it with something.

I also had a meh rep, but I’d probably go back to a Dev unless I was seriously convinced otherwise.

[SquishTheBunny]

Thanks for all the help - really, its been VERY helpful.

Waiting from an email back from Vince. I just LOVE my devoucoux and would love another as close to the same as possible. The problem with my current one is that its wearing, and its only 5 years old. And Im um…a little chunkier than I used to be. I do have 4 horses though, so I need something that will wear better long term. I ride in breeches and field boots only.

Have contacted the rep for Butet and Delgrange. The Delgrange saddles are pretty “hot” in this area right now, but I know its more about fit and function.

I really need somewhere too that will take in a partial trade…this is going to be part of the deciding factor.

Can not find rep for CWD?? Too bad because they used to be booming around here and now people have kind of forgotten about them…I assume because there is not a rep here anymore? Anyone have a GOOD rep that I can followup with on this one?

I am not against Equipe, Prestige or L’Apogee either, will look into these too just have zero experience with either of these.

Good to know about Antares, the rep I used was amazing but I do need a quality product!

[xSelleFrancaisx]

[QUOTE=FineAlready;7137210]
I had problems with Antares trees breaking (twice in less than 3 years, with no trauma to the saddle at all - the second one snapped while I was walking around on the buckle). The company was not good to deal with. At all.[/QUOTE]

Yep. Run away. Fast.

[findeight]

Check on the Childeric too, comfy as a Butet but much better wear plus they fit more horses easily with fewer…issues…then the Butets.

[SquishTheBunny]

[QUOTE=findeight;7137425]
Check on the Childeric too, comfy as a Butet but much better wear plus they fit more horses easily with fewer…issues…then the Butets.[/QUOTE]

I actually sold my old Childeric and got a collegiate years ago…I really dislike the childerics for some reason. To me, they felt nothing like the butet and more like a Crosby centennial which I also didn’t like.

They are good quality saddles, just not my style.

I think from experience my preference is towards the devoucoux, Bruno’s and CWD’s unfortunately im having a hard time finding any contact info for CWD and waiting to hear back re the devoucoux.

[LTLFLDF]

Our calf and grain saddles are very sturdy and super comfy. All calf is fine for someone ride a horse or two but we do not recommend for a professional.

Let me know if I can answer any questions for you.

[wishfulthinking711]

Love Devoucouxs! Oldara, Chiberta, Biarritz… all of them!

My newest obsession (besides my tad) is the Bruno Delgrange. SUPER comfy and just really nice. PJ also makes some really nice saddles.

Luc Childeric and L’Apogee are also nice.

Some of the nicer Butet’s are to die for but you have to find the right one.

Antares are pretty nice but not my personal cup of tea Same with Prestige

[DebutsShirrocco]

CWD fan over here

Although, I also have a calfskin biarritz and love it to death… I guess it depends on personal preference.

[RugBug]

I absolutely adore my Bruno Delgrange Athena (flat seat). It as calf seat and knee rolls and grain flaps and still looks band new three years into owning it. I’ve also ridden quite a bit in my trainers Partition and and find it really nice as well.

I actually just bought a used Tad Coffin to use on my new horse and I’m “m’eh” about it. It will work until the horse the Delgrange is built for is sold and I can get new panels so it will fit new girl. I’m so spoiled with that saddle. It has such great balance and is the perfect blend of cushy, grippy yet flat.

BTW - I kind of always maintain that “grippy” is more a function is a properly balanced saddle that fits YOU rather than a particular type of leather. I think you can feel just as secure in an old pancake PdN as yo do in a super cushy CWD as long as the balance and fit works for you.

[Spartacus]

To OP and any others looking for saddle repair/complete overhauls…there is a guy here in CA who is phenomenal. He is French, and worked for Devoucoux in Paris for 8 years before moving to the US. He has done work on all of my friends’ saddles, and can use whatever leather you want. He is reasonably priced—and works quickly. His name is Shamss Bennadja; his company is called Sport Saddle Service, in Santa Cruz CA. I am not affiliated with him or his company in any way I just know that he does beautiful work. You can google the company name and quickly come up with the webpage.

[Spartacus]

P.S. My magical no-fall-off saddle is a County Innovation. I’d had all varieties of Frenchies over the years, and I’ll never go back after riding in my County. If you’re a jumper, be sure to get/try a forward flap.

[Lucassb]

I had a Devoucoux Socoa that I absolutely adored… it was grippy, fit me and the horse well, was pretty… the whole package. I asked Devoucoux to make me another one (thinking, as posted above, that they could just take the serial number with all the specs, and produce another one; how hard could it be?) FOUR saddles and almost a year later - they couldn’t make one that even remotely fit my horse, never mind me, and he’s not hard to fit. The rep did come out several times - and tried, each time, to convince me that the saddle was “far superior” than the one I loved, and the changes were “all to make it even better” for us. Well, if you wanted the saddle to sit on his shoulder, or smack me on the @ss every stride, I guess so… They were Beyond Awful to deal with, at one point suggesting that “everyone is at WEF now, so just ride in it til we get back and someone can come look at it…” Yes, well, after spending $5K plus I don’t freakin’ think so - ! It was a nightmare.

I later had an Antares that was so-so, really a Very Pretty saddle and well made but they couldn’t seem to tweak the fit on that one for my horse, so it went back; I had pretty good customer service from them but have heard quite a few horror stories about their more recent product, including LOTS of broken trees, so I would be wary of buying another one.

I ended up going (back) to a Butet; I had an older one that was lovely to ride in and had held up well, so I figured it was worth a shot. I got the FB2 tree, which is wider than the standard, and although it is calf it’s held up surprisingly well. I would buy another one in a heartbeat.

[alto]

Can not find rep for CWD?? Too bad because they used to be booming around here and now people have kind of forgotten about them…I assume because there is not a rep here anymore? Anyone have a GOOD rep that I can followup with on this one?

What happened to Danny Forbes? he may still be willing to talk saddles
otherwise talk to Lisa Duke in Alberta - I found her very knowledgeable/helpful.

For multiple horses every day, calfskin is just not the way to go - I’ve seen some lovely grain CWD’s: they take some break-in time, but afterwards, I much prefer them to the calf (& even buffalo - which can be odd - occasionally I see some very nice buffalo but I’d hesitate to order).
You can of course, order a combination of leathers - generally an experienced rep will know what’s going to work best for your intended use in their saddle lineup.

[airineek]

What about a Voltaire? They have leather options and models that may suit and I was happy with the customer service.

[SquishTheBunny]

Got in contact with Vince, with a quote etc Issue is, that we are in another country

CWD, Delgrange and a rep from Butet have also been contacted. Id really like to demo all the saddles and find the right one, with the right pricetag.

I was also considering a Voltaire, but after a few days have still heard nothing back. Assuming they don’t distribute in Canada.

[alto]

[QUOTE=SquishTheBunny;7139969]
Got in contact with Vince, with a quote etc Issue is, that we are in another country

CWD, Delgrange and a rep from Butet have also been contacted. Id really like to demo all the saddles and find the right one, with the right pricetag.

I was also considering a Voltaire, but after a few days have still heard nothing back. Assuming they don’t distribute in Canada.[/QUOTE]

If you really want a saddle (even just to demo), get on the phone to the “right” person in Head Office & arrange to have a saddle shipped out - if nothing else, you’ll find out immediately if they are interested in doing business with you: one would think the US to be across the galaxy (from Canada) rather than an arbitrary line drawn in history …

Note that CWD often seems to have some Voltaires in their used collection so that may be another way to trying the saddle.

Only consideration is, that in general, companies are the best they can be, when courting the sale of a saddle, so if the service is poor then, you may be assured of much worse should there be any warranty or fit issues.

MD Tack Exchange has a good selection in 17.5 in the companies you’re interested in, so perhaps a group shipment would work …

[Denzel]

If you are looking for a Canadian CWD rep, contact Lisa Duke! She is based out of Calgary, but worth a shot to see if they travel to Ontario at all, her husband, Jay Duke, is a pro and may show at the Royal? Lisa is fantastic to deal with and has PHENOMENAL customer service!

She helped find me a used saddle very quickly, and even checked on several serial numbers I sent her for privately advertised saddles (that she would have made no commission on!). One of the clients at my barn ordered a new 2G, and they upgraded it to a 2GS for him, and because it was A WEEK late, let him pick whatever he wanted out of the catalogue as a consolation. Fantastic!!

[Hunter85]

Judy is the CWD rep for Lower Mainland BC, I just bought a CWD through her last month. She was amazing and got back to me instantly! She could definitely tell you who your closest rep is - she is incredibly helpful and friendly!

Oh and you can call her or text her

Judy - CWD Saddles
1-604-902-5839

[SquishTheBunny]

Uuugh, one would think that as a saddle rep, you would WANT to get back to potential customers ASAP. Guess not.

Vince has been great, very prompt in response and quote. The rest not so much.

Devoucoux used to have such horrible customer service, now it seems like they are at the top of the list.

[BAC]

[QUOTE=Reminisce;7136826]
Love my CWD buffalo saddle. Granted mine is grain/buffalo, but you can customize the block size and knee padding. Lovely saddle, balanced, secure, and sturdy. I’ve heard enoug awful things about Antares I would never buy through them. Buffalo is much tougher than calf.[/QUOTE]

i recommend CWD as well, I loved mine although it was grain with calf seat and knees. You can get any size blocks, front and rear, that you want. I also love Butet saddles although I am not sure if they offer buffalo. Grain is more durable than calf.