Unlimited access >

Your Favorite French Saddle Brand

One of my mares is finally ready to move up to the big girl stuff and I need to get a saddle that is just hers.
All of my other horses have required some sort of crazy saddle type, so I’ve never been able to get anything but English special made type saddles.** Amazingly this horse is an exact fit for the off the rack medium tree French type saddle. It’s like they used her as the template :rofl: So for the first time ever, I have my pick of pretty much any saddle brand.
Which French/Italian brand is your favorite? What’s the dream saddle?

** nothing wrong with English saddles. Two of them I will keep until my children bury them with me. But I’ve always loved the look and feel of the French and Italian type saddles.

What is an “off the rack French saddle”? All the quality brands are semi custom just like the quality English and German brands. It’s true French saddles can run more narrow and not fit every horse. But there will be differences in tree curve etc. You will still need to be measured both horse and human and have a saddle put together. The foam panels will be fitted to your horse. And it will cost about twice as much as a comparable English or German saddle.

Do you already know you like foam panels? And carbon trees?

Another thing is the grippy calf skin leather everyone loves is notoriously fragile and wears holes that you never see on old school saddles.

However if both horse and you are easy to fit you are well placed to shop second hand once you figure out the panel and flap configurations in your target brand.

The best saddle is the one that fits you and your horse the best. And that you can afford. Where I live CWD has been really oversold the past decade so there are lots on the second hand market. Unfortunately my horse has massive shoulders and she isnt a candidate for French fashion, she fits a Passier like it was made for her though.

In Canadian dollars, a new Passier or Stubben is about $5000 and a CWD or Voltaire is pushing $10,000, so I’m quite happy with second hand!! Also your new semi custom saddle is only as good as your local rep, so ask around about that.

I have an “off the rack” Butet premium and I loooove it. I got the pro panels since I worked at a barn and now I have just my personal horse and one other that I ride. It slides back slightly on my horse (she has big, muscular shoulders), but nothing a breastplate doesn’t fix. Otherwise she goes very well in it (no back pain). It actually fits the other horse I ride even better (such is horse ownership :rofl:).

Happy saddle shopping!

1 Like

I loveee prestige/equipe but they never fit my mare right :(. I ended up with an older delgrange which I like, but the newer ones look super comfy!

2 Likes

See if you can sit in a bunch! French brands are popular and notoriously (for a lot of them) don’t fit the horses they’re bought for, so there’s often a lot out there used to try. A decent fitter should have a good selection on the truck. Personally I find them all to feel rideably similar if the seat and flap fit me, but I’m built like a “typical” Eq rider (tall and leggy) and there’s a TON of long flaps out there.

CWD has a wider, higher twist, Voltaire often has a wide seat (an option, but they’ve all been wide for me), I don’t like devacoux (sp) cause they’ve all put me in a bit of a chair seat, etc.

In my unhelpful opinion, the best French saddle is a used one that fits your horse! Better to spend $3-$5k that way than $8-$10k for something built wrong or not to spec!

3 Likes

I like my Devacoux that I bought off-the-rack, not custom. It fits me and my horse very well and its also very comfortable.

1 Like

I recently bought a Richard Spooner, which is an off rack Antares. It’s a great saddle. Fits my two riding horses, with different half pads, as recommended by my fitter. I like it because it’s not a big bulky ugly thing.

1 Like

I, too, am a fan of Butet. The balance, even in saddles that are too small or large in the seat, is always good for me.

3 Likes

Almost all of the brands carry an ‘off the rack’ saddle. Sometimes you have to ask. Sometimes it’s called a different name, but for other brands it’s labeled their ‘pro’ saddle or similar. Just a saddle that is a standard medium tree to fit a wide variety of horses. :slight_smile:

2 Likes

[quote=“StormyDay, post:9, topic:771762, full:true”]
Almost all of the brands carry an ‘off the rack’ saddle. Sometimes you have to ask. Sometimes it’s called a different name, but for other brands it’s labeled their ‘pro’ saddle or similar. Just a saddle that is a standard medium tree to fit a wide variety of horses. :slight_smile:
[/]

That makes sense, a “standard” model. But I’m assuming you still have to order it and have it assembled for you. And you are going to want to think about seat size and flap length. And tweaking the panel fit. I bet it’s not appreciably cheaper either.

My idea of off the rack was the Greenhawk house brand saddles that are sold in a tack store with one seat size and one wither size in a package with all the fittings for $1500 :slight_smile:

1 Like

Yeah I do think a lot of the brands sell as “standard” saddle with no customization to the paneling or tree. As someone else noted, they’re often called “pro” panels or something similar.

I’ve always loved all the Childeric’s I’ve ridden in. I ended up with a L’Apogee that I think rides similarly, and I love it too. I get grain calf, not the covered calf, which is even finer and grippier but also less durable.

1 Like

Have had an off the rack Butet and an off the rack Childric and been very happy with both. Neither was “assembled” on order just for me, both were available in several different combinations of flap and such but they were off rack at an authorized dealer or, in the case of the Childric, the NA distributer in Toronto who shipped two for me to try.

1 Like

I have a custom Arion on order: https://www.arion-hst.com/saddles/jumping-saddle/. Can’t wait to get it.

2 Likes

Balance and feel is important, but so are some more modern considerations. Most brands have nice wide gullets nowadays, but also look for brands that have nice wide girthing systems.

Antares has been sadly very behind the trend on this, they continually seem to have very narrow systems that pull down right in the middle of the saddle, creating a pressure point. Butet, Devoucoux, and Voltaire are better about it. I do think that CWD has a nice wide system that truly pulls from back to front, but the fit of a CWD can be tricky.

Either way, buy slightly used so it’s broken in and sit in a lot of them!

1 Like

I agree the best one is the one that fits and feels good to you! I also agree with the people who say buy a nice used one - then you know exactly what you are getting, and you know it will fit and you don’t have to wait for your new one to come in. I’ve had a CWD that was comfortable for me, but it made my horse back sore and CWD was never able to fix the fit, and then I moved to a Voltaire Palm Beach that has worked well for both me and my horses. Voltaire also seems to be better at repaneling when tweaks are needed (the way their panels connect apparently makes it easier to make changes). So, try some things and figure out what you like. Highline Tack usually has a great selection of used ones and is very nice to deal with.

2 Likes

Butet for me. I got my first one in the late 1980’s. A new one in 2003 and then I purchased another, the Premium, used in 2016. I love them all! They have fit warmbloods and TBs and are so comfortable.
The first one now sits on a rack in the living room as I am no longer a 16" seat :slight_smile: Happy memories anyway!

2 Likes

The hunter girls at my barn like Butet and Voltaire. They do spend quite a bit of time stressing over every mark and wrinkle on the leather, though.

1 Like

They look beautiful! Did you get to test ride beforehand? If you don’t mind sharing, approximately how much was it?

Your horse and my horse must be related :joy:. My horse has massive shoulders as well and cannot fit in any of the French saddles I’ve put on him recently. He absolutely loves the 30+ year old Passier dressage saddle we have been borrowing lately and we are trying to find a Passier jump saddle that fits both of us, but they are hard to come by in the US. Fortunately I’ve got a great independent saddle fitter that is helping me order one from Germany.

OP, all French saddles are not made the same! The shape, balance, and fit will vary from brand to brand. I’d recommend an independent fitter who can give you some direction about what brands will work well for you or your horse. Many fitters also carry different saddles they have for sale, so you might luck out and find one that way. Good luck and I hope you find your dream saddle!!

1 Like

Yes OP! If you have been trying or borrowing a French saddle that really fits well, find out the brand and model and look under the flaps for serial numbers. This will help you find the same configuration whether you shop second hand or order new.