54 SIDELINES JANUARY 2014
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
Canadian Olympic show jumping champion Eric Lamaze rides in
a Butet saddle.
Photo by Cealy Tetley
“My Story” is a first person account of life in the equestrian
world. Would you like to write your story for Sidelines Magazine?
To be considered, send a brief description of your story to
About the writer: Sydney
Masters Durieux, an avid
equestrian and veteran
competitor, is a freelance
publicist and writer who
grew up riding and showing
at Stillmeadow Farm in
Stonington, Connecticut.
She graduated New York
University and decided to
combine her love of horses
with her passion for public
relations. During her career,
Sydney has represented
many world-class show
jumping
veterans,
up
and coming equestrian
talents, leading trainers
and stables as well as
internationally recognized
horse shows. Sydney lives
with her husband, web
designer Arnaud Durieux,
and their West Highland
White Terrier “Angus”
between their home in the
Loire Valley in France and
their apartment in New
York City.
Sydney and her husband Arnaud at a
chateau in France.
Mr. Lievre then pulled out one of the new trees, which promise
to make the saddle both lighter and stronger, and a lovely colored
innovative saddle pad. “This fits to the horse and saddle but is
not thick and bulky like many on the market. Again, we are using
new technology and materials so we can offer our clients the best
possible product. We spend years doing research to ensure that
any new product, or adaptation like the tree, does not sacrifice the
quality, performance or look of our saddles.”
Saddle racks lined the walls with brand new Butet ready to be
shipped out to some lucky customer somewhere around the world.
My eyes were instantly drawn to a Butet Classic Flat Jumping
Saddle. “I love the Butet because they are a simple saddle,”
Candian Olympic champion Eric Lamaze had told me. “It doesn’t
have knee-pads or blocks, and you really feel the horse. It’s the
only one on the market where you really are connected to your
horse; they are unique in this way.”
Then I spied the new Premium Butet, which features strategic
stitching on the flaps and recalled my recent conversation with
Olympic show jumpingmedalist Chris Kappler. “There is something
about the way the new one is built that doesn’t allow the flap to
roll up,” he explained. “I was first introduced to the saddle by Mark
Walter, the CEO of Beval Saddlery, around 1991 or 1992 and was
immediately in love with it. It was the first one that had a knee roll,
but was a flat saddle, and it was made of super soft leather, like
the calf skin inside your boot after you have worn it for a year. I
begged Mark to sell me his demo for weeks, but he refused saying
he needed it to show to everyone. In the end, I did manage to buy
it from him.”
“From the beginning,” explained Mr. Lievre, “Frederic knew
that his saddles had to offer the perfect union between rider and
horse and provide comfort while enhancing performance. When
he began his company in 1985, saddles were bulkier and padded.
The proximaty between the horse and rider and the balance that it
afforded was revolutionary.”
Innovation is ongoing with all Butet products. When my host
and guide pulled down the practice saddle, I was a bit perplexed,
intrigued, and, yes, slightly intimidated by the new training tool.
It had no knee flaps, no blocks, no padding … I wondered if I’d
be able to stay on, and said as much. “The practice is a tool for
teaching riders how to hold the correct position,” smiled Mr. Lievre.
“Sometimes riders are not so sure if they want to try it but once
they do, they immediately feel the correctness in their position.
This is not a competition saddle, this is a training tool to make for
better riders. This is the way of Butet.”
“Our rule has been, and always will be, to maintain a creative
spirit and constantly invest in technical research,” said Mr. Lievre,
as we finished up. “We adapt the product to address riders’ needs
and, at the same time, we refuse to change the shape and style of
our saddles in the name of modernization.”
I glanced at my watch and realized that two hours had passed. I
thanked bothMr. Lievre andMr. Pedrix for their time, for introducing
me to the history of Butet, and giving me a special glimpse into
the future of the brand. With so much planned internationally, from
Switzerland to China to the United States, I am sure that others
will soon be as wowed as I was in the year to come. As I passed
through the foyer to leave, I looked (longingly) back at the different
saddles on display, thinking to myself, “Maybe today’s the day for
a Butet!”
Watch a video of the practice saddle at:
For more information on Butet go to
or Beval Sad-
dlery at
.
