I know there are some topics out there already (trust me I’ve read them all) but I wanted to inquire regarding saddles for a big boned muscular shouldered jumper with pretty standard withers. I’m struggling to find something that fits him and me well. Voltaire seems to fit him the best out of all the brands and saddles I’ve tried, but the flaps just never fit me quite right. I was wondering if anyone had experience with Devoucoux’s D3D technology for a big shouldered horse? I’m looking at a Biarritz Lab with the D3D technology and 3-10 and 4-10 paneling. Any thoughts? I’ve also heard good things about Meyer and Arion’s shoulder relief technology. Unfortunately I haven’t had the chance to try a Meyer or Arion as they don’t have a ton of inventory out there and I’m trying to go the used route, but any opinions or thoughts on those brands are welcome. Thanks in advance!
I believe D3D is the shape of the panels in the back - something about being 30% wider to evenly distribute weight?
4-10 3-10 would be 10mm of foam removed front and back of the panels, so essentially a wider fit. “SB” is their shoulder brush that would give even more space in the shoulders.
Just had a saddle fitter that was not saddle specific look at my wide-shouldered horse.
It appears that there’s 2 things at play… you may have a wide-shouldered horse, but if they become leaner or more normal behind the shoulder, some of the super wide saddle technology may not fit them properly and require more padding or flocking to balance towards the back where we actually sit.
I recently bought a used Arion for a good price through the CWD used saddle site. It was part of their Black Friday sale on used saddles. Mine is an AO tree with the shoulder cut out and it does have quite a bit of room in the shoulder area. The tree doesn’t have a ton of curve to it, so if your horse’s back is very curvy it might not work. In my searches, used Arion saddles can be found at some retailers (I’ve seen the most at Highline Tack), but they’re pretty expensive because they’re fairly new (within 4-5 years old) and the market is not flooded with them. You could contact Highline and see if they can offer any suggestions of saddles for you. They have a huge inventory.
The regular D3D has a wide channel and twist. The foam padding towards the shoulders is thicker to fill the pocket behind the shoulder blades with the wide channel making sure spine is clear. I had mine custom made for my horse. I got a second one when his shoulders changed with the SB and more foreword flaps for jumping. I don’t like the stirrup leathers making a dent in front of the girth billets. It pushes me back into a chair seat. I think the LAB may be better. I love my 2003 Devoucoux. Will be trading to something else. Don’t get too deep a seat as you can hit the cantle on landing.
I have a similar saddle on a big-shouldered, broad-backed, moderately curvy horse. He likes it. But he may be a totally different shape than your horse. The panels on the Lab you mention seem to be cut for a pretty broad-backed horse so if yours is big-shouldered but more A-frame I wouldn’t expect great results.
The D3D panels are just wider in bearing surface and have a wider gullet than the previous panels DVX used.
