I like the idea of the practice saddle, but not loving the $2k price tag I’m seeing on used ones on ebay. I was wondering if I could just pick up an old school close contact saddle for a couple hundred from my local used tack store (something without knee rolls), then take it to a local leather shop and have them cut the panels and sew on longer billet flaps to imitate what the Butet has going on? Has anyone ever seen/attempted something like this?
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Not quite, but a previous trainer of mine only bought old flat pancake Crosby saddles for her new students for this same reason. The old leather is usually a little slick, and there are no knee rolls, suede - nothing. Really requires you to learn to balance yourself and not rely on your tack.
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I like @Mander’s idea. There are lots of nice quality older no blocking style saddles that can be purchased for a pretty reasonable price tag. No need to modify it to be like this. The lack of knee rolls and thigh blocks and the smooth leather should do the same thing.
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Upon returning from a loooong absence, for several weeks I rode in a DREAM borrowed ‘spensive saddle. I loved this thing and hope to get one of my own some day. But now I’m back in my own old pancake and once again am using my thigh and lower leg for all they’re worth. Years ago I got compliments about my rock-solid leg position. It was completely manufactured by that saddle, with quite a bit of stirrup-less riding — not by any natural talent.
The pancake doesn’t totally accommodate my crazy-long legs but it works for schooling and getting myself back together. In that sense it’s a great tool. I love the suggestion to pick up an old one. PDNs are on eBay at good prices and they’ll last forever.
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I grew up riding in flat, pancake saddles. I switched to Butet when I couldn’t find a pancake saddle w a wide enough gullet for the horses I was riding. I recently bought a used Butet practice saddle as I was curious about it. I really like it…and it is definitely different than the flat, slick pancake saddle. I don’t know how to articulate the differences…it’s more like riding bareback and letting your leg drop down. It’s now my saddle of choice, actually. In addition, because it doesn’t have a flap, it fits a variety of horses well.
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How does the lack of a flap change the way it fits the horse? Would’t that be entirely dependent on the tree/panels?
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You are right…it has a tree, but it has no panels so my experience is that it seems to fit more horses. The billets are attached with a wider piece of leather; there is no panel. It takes a short girth.
No panels? or no flaps?
I’d be amazed if it had no panels.
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I just edited my response to try to be a little more descriptive. See if you can google it to find a picture. I’d do it, but I haven’t figured out how on my phone. I was really surprised when I rode in one the first time. I reach across the saddle and grab the panel when mounting. I had a terrible time getting on because there is no panel!
There’s a very real possibility my saddle anatomy is wrong and that’s causing the confusion. My understanding was that the panels are the padding between the tree and horse, while the flap is the leather that extends down between the rider’s leg. The billets come down (I assume from the tree) between the upper and lower flap, and oftentimes the lower flap is sewn to the panels. On a monoflap saddle, the billets are usually an extension of the flap (or attached to it in some way).
On the practice saddle, I see panels, a modified/extended skirt and a modified “monoflap”.
Now someone else can come along and tell me how I’m wrong 
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You piqued my curiosity so I found one on ebay with photos of the underside. It definitely has panels – and a tree. How they can charge so much of something so minimalist has me shaking my head. There are other flapless saddles available. I frequently ride in a Freeform Ultimate Trail saddle, which has no flaps (it’s treeless), EQ Science makes one, as does Reactor Panel. There are also a fair number of endurance saddles that use this approach as it reduces weight. The Pandora saddle is barely a seat strapped to a horse!
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It won’t be quite the same, but I know people who ride in racing saddles for a similar feel.
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Actually, you are right😀.
Why wouldn’t you just ride bareback?
Bonus. It’s free.
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Itchy hairs!
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Or use a bareback pad? Honestly I’d love to try it but no way am I paying that much $$$ for one.
ooo sort of love the way this looks: https://www.ridingwarehouse.com/WC_Bareback_Pad_Iberica_Plus/descpage-HDFI.html?color=BK&from=gshop&gclid=CjwKCAiA0cyfBhBREiwAAtStHAPc5MgSkEJmiL2joKsiggY4A0ghK9wmxwGKVqfwi5hLLnpekonLpRoCcIgQAvD_BwE
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Though I have zero experience with the Butet Practice Saddle and therefore can’t compare it to anything, I completely second everyone else’s comments about just riding in an old plain flap if one would fit your horse. They really do encourage a good seat and a solid leg! Grew up in them and still have three.
I once saw a cut-up Crosby Prix des Nations on eBay that the sellers were trying to sell as an “economical Butet Practice Saddle”, so someone has done it (though this one looked like an uneven amateur hackjob and not professionally done, sadly). TBH, as a lover of pancake saddles and Crosbys in general, the thought of cutting up one of those made me sad! 
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That’s why I use a saddle pad, even without a saddle. Lol.
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My mother, who was a very wise and experienced horse person, was dead set against the idea of a bareback pad. She said it was very unsafe, because it was not actually secure enough on the horse, and it was an easy way to get tangled up if something went wrong.
At least if you’re riding bareback and you come off, you’re just on the ground, not getting dragged along under or behind the horse.
I logged a lot of time as a kid riding bareback with a halter and two lead ropes. I will still do it once in a while, although I am pretty darn selective about the horse these days. Lol.
Additional bonus- no tack to clean! 
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It’s my understanding that a bareback pad w a girth puts pressure on the spine.
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