I’m ordering a new saddle, and I’ve decided to go with the Devacoux Biarritz O. The next question is - do I go with full buffalo or the “half grain”, which has buffalo on the seat, knee rolls and underside, but has full grain leather on the flap. Does anyone have any experience with the difference between how the two will wear and ride? Thanks!
I would definitely recommend doing half grain. I have two custom saddles from the mid-2000s that are both half grain and have held up exceptionally well to this day. My friends who have had full buffalo have often needed to send their saddles back for repairs due to tears.
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I just did half-grain calf (on a different brand of saddle) and love it.
I have both a half grain and a full Buffalo from Devoucoux that are going on 12+ years.
I am going against the grain… I love the full Buffalo. I find it stickier and it’s held up nicely. I find it easier to keep looking pretty with regular conditioning and oiling. The grain is harder to keep dark and matching the seat and knee rolls.
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I recently had a used full buffalo saddle on trial. I nearly cried when it didn’t fit my horse and I had to send it back. I had never experienced a saddle so soft, so grippy, so wonderful.
With respect to wear, this saddle was several years old and still looked brand new.
Yes, this was my only, and very limited, experience with buffalo, but if I ever found myself in a position to order a brand new expensive saddle, I would definitely go full buffalo.
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I have a Stackhouse with a buffalo seat and flap, and grain on the skirt and flap edge. I wish it was all buffalo. The grain is much slicker, and as Showy pointed out, the color doesn’t oil up the same on my saddle, either. The color discrepancy is greater in sunlight, the buffalo is dark brown and the grain is almost cognac.
The only spot where the grain has become smooth is at the very bottom of the flap, where my boot meets the flap, but I only ride 1 horse in this saddle, 3-4 days a week.
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