Reklame: Innlegg i samarbeid med Butterfly Mobil Norge / Post in collab with Butterfly Mobil Norge

Geschrieben von Matile Brandt Website: http://matildebrandt.no/
in Zusammenarbeit mit Butterfly Mobil Norge Michaela Ensinger

Wir dürfen uns bei beiden Damen für diesen Bericht aus Norwegen sehr herzlich bedanken!
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Finaaaally! I’ve been so excited about this blog post because it seems like our saddle hunt is finally over! I have been hiding something awesome underneath my riding skirt, literally! The past weeks, I have been riding in a Butterfly saddle.

Since Iver arrived, I have been searching for our future saddle. I’ve looked at maaany different brands and models recommended by friends, followers and retailers. All I knew is that I wanted a baroque type saddle without knee rolls, in other words; I had absolutely NO IDEA about where to start. I had no experience with Dole horses and how they are built and did not even know for certain what kind of body type Iver has. He is also only 3 years old and he will hopefully grow a lot more – do you just buy a cheaper saddle and then find your ultimate dream saddle when the horse turns seven? Or is it possible to use the same saddle all the way? Is the saddle that is best for me also best for him? I had absolutely no clue – I definitely needed some professional guidance.

I have always ridden in “random chosen” saddles, and love Batman’s Marjoman Riaño, but that type won’t fit Iver. So I don’t really have any opinions about the subject, except from these two:

• The saddle MUST fit the horse properly
• The saddle MUST fit me properly

… which is basic knowledge. But I struggle with some lower back pain and stiffness around my pelvis, and the correct saddle can definitely help place me in a better position. So I should try to find a solution on that. I have early stage calcifications in both hip joints after riding a too wide horse with too big movements for 9 years, so a saddle that is a bit more friendly towards my body sounds good. I need my body to work for many more years!

One of the first brands I looked at was Butterfly Saddles and immediately noticed a sentence about saddles developed for the female pelvis. Bonus points. Baroque look. More bonus points. Local retailers here in Norway. More bonus points. A hybrid-saddle – best of both worlds! Even more bonus points!

I read a bit about the Butterfly saddle tree system and asked around, and after I posted about it on my Instagram Story, my followers gladly told about their experience with the Butterfly saddles. I received a lot of responses from riders who seemed very happy about their choice of saddle. I have some friends in Norway too who loves their Butterfly saddles, so we invited Michelle from Butterfly Mobil Norge to come over and visit – and she brought LOTS of saddles we could try!

“Butterfly saddles is basically the best of both worlds: it’s a hybrid saddle with the flexibility of a treeless, and the stability of a traditional saddle”

At first, Michelle had a proper look at Iver’s back and recommended me to book a new chiro-appointment, he lack some muscle in the topline and hopefully with a saddle who fits him 100{306234b7b2e67bf4da6502b7c7261badb2bfcbc5fe4c672f876aa0090dc9a4b0} his spinalis-area will get better muscled. Michelle showed me the saddles and answered all my thousand questions.

I rode in two different dressage saddles, first a Butterfly Carmen and then a coldblood saddle. The two I was most interested in is the BUTTERFLY® Richard Hinrichs Baroque Saddle Dressage and BUTTERFLY® Carmen Baroque Saddle Dressage. Both baroque saddles suited for Academic Art of Riding and classical dressage. They are basically the same, but with different seats.

I liked Carmen a lot and felt very comfortable in it in walk. My stirrups were a little bit too short (because I have ridiculously long legs and no stirrup leathers on the planet seems to be long enough) but I liked it a lot! I felt home in the saddle right away. I rode Iver a bit in the field in the Carmen and holy guacamole, he was FLYING! Iver with Butterfly-wings! I felt a huge difference, as the entire horse suddenly started MOVING for real. At first I thought something was wrong with him because he felt so different, but when I saw the photos Linn took I realized that it was simply Iver who was able to move his shoulders hahah. Iver-approved it was!

After testing the saddles a few times and reading more about the system, I decided to go for the Butterfly Hinrichs. It’s SO pretty and will feel like Carmen to ride in – in other words, I am suddenly in desperate need of stronger core muscles to be able to ride this summer! Iver might be a draft but he is moving like a Friesian. I can’t wait to sit in the one I’m having, as the saddle I tried on in these photos had a too large seat for me, I believe the Hinrichs will feel wonderful. And the best of all, Butterfly saddles are “lifetime saddles”, they can be adjusted as the horse grows so there are no need for saddle-panic when your horse suddenly turns seven.

While I’m waiting for our saddle, I’m currently riding in the coldblood prototype, which is one of the best English dressage saddles I have ridden in. Iver likes it too, so in the meantime, we are enjoying our wings and counting the days until the baroque beauty finally arrives!

Thank you so much for a wonderful afternoon, dear Michelle!

Peace, love and Friesian & Dole hugs,
Matilde, Batman & Iver