What is the Butet Practice Saddle?

We are here because we love saddles, all saddles really. Even saddles that are missing certain parts. When we first began to work with Butet Sellier as a distributor I was super curious about the practice saddle and to this day it is our most talked about saddle model. Why? because it is definitely missing some key parts BUT for some key reasons.

I always have a lot of people ask me "what's the point?" until they try it and all the right muscles in their core and legs are on fire.. The Butet practice saddle is not only a work of art but a tool. It is great for a barn to have on hand for students who need guidance finding the proper lower leg position. It's the perfect compliment to a lunge lesson and solid reminder when bad habits start to form. Why not just ride bareback? Because what makes it so great is you still have the alignment and connection from seat to stirrup to learn proper balance. It's a saddle designed to stop habits like pinching with your knees or sliding your leg too far forward (or too far back if you are me), having the seat still gives you the connection that is necessary to learn proper position while IN a saddle.

As much as I could talk about the practice saddle all day I think it is even better to see real results. We had the pleasure of helping an amazing client who had dramatic results. First, lets talk about HER results. Her lower leg would slip too far forward in her old saddle and caused her to get ahead of the motion when she jumped (on the right in both screenshots) and the alignment changed so much as you can see (on the left in both screenshots) when she was in the practice saddle. (Also, a big shoutout to all the husbands out there who support our horse habits!)

Not only did she have amazing results but her horses did too. The changes a properly fitted saddle can make are astounding and couple that with complete freedom in the horses shoulder and who needs a flap? Her horses had copious amounts of freedom to use their shoulder. Their musculature changed dramatically and her AND their overall balance was SO MUCH BETTER. Pictured below are her two beautiful thoroughbreds, the top photo are the "befores" and bottom are the "afters."

Still curious? We offer a Butet practice saddle rental program and shameless plug... you can also buy a Butet practice saddIe or other Butet saddles and accessories through our store as well. I would be happy to talk about this saddle all day and answer any questions you may have and I hope you all found this post to bring you a little more information about our most talked about saddle. And on that note, I'll leave you with one last screenshot. :)