henri de rivel saddles

[keep the faith]

does anyone own a henri de rivel saddle?

if so how do you rate it. i'm thinking about getting one of the event models with the knee rolls
either that of a jeffries falcon. depending on which one suits the horse better obviously.:rolleyes:

[Rowena]

My friend events, and she had the H de R saddle. It was awful! Even I tried it and hated it. Awful seat, rock hard, with an odd slippery shape to it. And the cantle far too high, which interfered with you sliding your botom backwards for jumping position.

But the Jefferies! now there was a lovely saddle... I would have fancied one of those myself. And I saw many competitive riders useing those, and they said they were great. I remember asking a top class show jumper, about her fab saddle. She said it was the Jefferies Falcon.

[galadriel]

HDR: Foam panels. Skip it.

Jeffries Falcon: Jeffries uses mostly flocking but some foam. They actually don't *say* on their website whether the Falcom jumping saddle sis flocking or foam, which leads me to suspect it might be foam. They do say that the Elite jumping saddle has flocked panels, and that the Pariani has foam.

[keep the faith]

ok thanks for the replies so far.
do your recomend any other saddle makes with big knee rolls/ knee blocks suitable for jumping.

[galadriel]

In general I like County, Kieffer, Passier.

The great majority of what you'll find in the way of close contacts (square cantle/shallow seat, knee blocks or not) will have foam panels. These things are torture devices made specially for horses; it is well worth the work to find a high quality saddle with good flocking, that fits well.

Each has its own drawbacks and it's essential that you have the saddle checked out to be sure it's straight, sound, and smooth before using it. Any saddle, even a brand new one, can be twisted or lumpy.

[poppynurse]

My daughter uses a HdeR and loves it..........I think it's an individual thing :)

[The Flying Irishman]

Love mine, the most comfiest saddle I have ever ridden in:D

[Kate F.]

I have an HdeR close contact dressage saddle which is great for dressage - very comfortable and terrific feel - at least for me, on the horse I have it on!:D Dunno about the jumping or event models, though.

I think a great deal depends on the shape of the horse and fit to the horse as to how comfortable any saddle will be. I've often found that a saddle comfortable (for me) on one horse is less comfortable on another, even though it fits both of them. For jumping, I have a Stübben VSS/event on the same horse that has the HdeR dressage - and find it fine for me, though riders with shorter legs seem to find it less comfortable (I'm a rather leggy 5 foot 9).

With any manufacturer there's a lot of variation from one model to another, and of course there's a lot of variation from one rider to another - so the only way really is to try it for yourself. Your own size, shape, length of leg, centre of gravity etc. will all affect how comfortable you find any saddle - so I'd go for fit to the horse and fit to you rather than any particular brand, and make sure a really good saddler checks it both for the fit on the horse and for you.

Good luck... finding the right saddle can be a long process - but keep going until you find the right one and you'll save money and a lot of hassle in the long run!;)