Lovas saddles anyone?

[Scribbler]

Anyone heard of the brand Lovas? The name is Hungarian for “rider.” They are being marketed locally as an affordable “custom” saddle jump or dressage in the CAN $ 3000 range. Also selling girths etc.

This brand shows zero hits on Google except as her business.

The seller is a reputable long established consignment seller who has also been a rep for a couple of higher end international brands. But on social media she won’t reply to my question about where she is sourcing these saddles. Obviously they are not being hand crafted in her garage, she isn’t a saddle maker and we don’t have the infrastructure here for that. We do have artisan Western saddle makers but not English.

I figure there’s only a couple of options.

1. This is a small company in a country with a favorable exchange rate (eastern Europe? Hungary?) and she is the first person to import them to English speaking countries.

2. This is a rebrand of an existing reputable manufacturer like Ideal. We have another local fitter/consignment sales person who has “her own brand” which is a specific configuration of Ideal. She does not use the name Ideal in her marketing.

3. She is dealing direct with a factory somewhere maybe Argentina India or China.

Anyhow this mystery is bothering me as I like to know provenance. I’m not saddle shopping but I like to know the full range of the local picture and what saddles are repped and resold locally. When the seller refused to answer basic questions about a new product like, where are these saddles made? I am suspicious.

[Scribbler]

Hey I’m bumping my own post from over a year ago because I saw another FB ad for Lovas and when I went to Google I found my old post, no one ever replied.

Any ideas?

[Rackonteur]

Lovas Equestrian

Lovas Equestrian

Lovas Equestrian

[fanfayre]

With the links provided, I can tell you she’s a high-end consignment saddle seller (and fitter, I presume) here on the Island, and I know at least half of her customers personally, and recognize the names of 1/2 of the remaining names, so she’s either doing something right, or has a whole bunch of people drinking her brand of koolaid.
Since I’m not in the market for saddles, high-end or otherwise, our paths have not needed to cross, so I can’t reassure you or recommend alternatives.

[Scribbler]

@fanfayre

With the links provided, I can tell you she’s a high-end consignment saddle seller (and fitter, I presume) here on the Island, and I know at least half of her customers personally, and recognize the names of 1/2 of the remaining names, so she’s either doing something right, or has a whole bunch of people drinking her brand of koolaid.
Since I’m not in the market for saddles, high-end or otherwise, our paths have not needed to cross, so I can’t reassure you or recommend alternatives.

Yes she’s got a good reputation. I was just curious about who was making these saddles. We have another person selling her “own” brand, and it’s made by Ideal in England, but I had to research a bit online to figure that out. Just curious where saddles originate.

[sascha]

@Scribbler

I figure there’s only a couple of options

From the website:

All of our Lovas Classic saddles are expertly hand crafted by Master Saddlers in Walsall England

[Scribbler]

@sascha

@Scribbler

I figure there’s only a couple of options

From the website:

All of our Lovas Classic saddles are expertly hand crafted by Master Saddlers in Walsall England

Oh oh Ok! I missed that. Problem solved, thank you. It could very well be “white label” Ideal Saddles, like the other saddle fitter is selling.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I was just very curious where they were sourced

[fanfayre]

@Scribbler

I was just curious about who was making these saddles. We have another person selling her “own” brand, and it’s made by Ideal in England, but I had to research a bit online to figure that out. Just curious where saddles originate.

Yes, she comes over to the Island on a regular basis too (monthly/bi-monthly?), peddling her brand and the saddles she reps. Same thing with her- I’m not in the market for saddles so I don’t need her services either.

And, I was just about to point out exactly what @sascha did!

[BadTB]

It’s not Ideal that is making her saddles. She went through a number of different brands/companies when she was doing her prototyping, but I can’t recall now which one she finally settled on to work with.

The saddles are lovely, great price range, and have a unique adjustable gullet (nothing like the wintec, etc.). She’s done a really great job developing it!

[Scribbler]

They do look nice

[supplication2018]

Sorry to bring up an old topic - did you ever end up finding out any more about these saddles?

I’m having a hard time finding a saddle that ticks all my boxes without spending $4k+. My horse isn’t a hard fit, I just have really particular taste and I do like all of the custom options they have and that they’re Canadian (regardless if it’s a private label)

[Scribbler]

@supplication2018

Sorry to bring up an old topic - did you ever end up finding out any more about these saddles?

I’m having a hard time finding a saddle that ticks all my boxes without spending $4k+. My horse isn’t a hard fit, I just have really particular taste and I do like all of the custom options they have and that they’re Canadian (regardless if it’s a private label)

Haha, no. I totally forgot about this and had to read the thread to remember what I was talking about! I would say worth talking to her about based on this thread!

[Virginia_Horse_Mom]

@BadTB

It’s not Ideal that is making her saddles. She went through a number of different brands/companies when she was doing her prototyping, but I can’t recall now which one she finally settled on to work with.

The saddles are lovely, great price range, and have a unique adjustable gullet (nothing like the wintec, etc.). She’s done a really great job developing it!

The gullet sounds a lot like the system Ideal and Fairfax use. It’s a good system.

But you are right - very different from Wintec.

[Fourwinds]

Just another friendly fitter popping in:

A lot of the Walsall makers are going with exchangeable gullet systems that aren’t the Simatree (Fairfax et al) or the Ideal T&T or 3XL T&T

The trees are sourced from a Polish tree marker or an Indian maker (not casting judgement on the quality, a well made tree can be sourced anywhere as long as the QC is in place)

As to who’s making the saddles, it’s hard to say and likely not overly relevant if there is a good warranty/after sale service in place. The saddle is as good as the fitter/retailer/rep selling them and consumers absolutely should ask about warranty if they’re worried about quality.

Most Walsall makers are excellent. Most UK manufacturers are adding a cardboard made in the UK hangtag these days (seems to be a new initiative) The Lovas ones should have them too depending who they are made by.

You can ask questions about whether the trees meet UK code BS6635:2015 for wooden spring trees (BS6635 will have fewer rivets overall and only 3 rivets on the stirrup bar)

Plastic trees (or gullet bar adjustable) would be BS7875:2009 * there could be a newer certification, I can’t remember and didn’t dig that hard *

Not every manufacturer uses trees with the British Standard certification guidelines, plenty of the manufacturers we use still have the old standard of BS6635

[sheltona01]

PS: I know Fourwinds in person and her knowledge is great!