My experience with Voltaire Design has been second to none.
I follow many riders who have Voltaire saddles or are part of Team Voltaire and I’ve always loved the look of all their saddles. Never did I think I’d be lucky enough to now have one.
I first contacted them soon after we bought Didi. They only have one rep who comes to Ireland and they had just been over. They said they’d be back in January but for us that was too long to wait so I forgot about them. We continued riding Didi in Blu’s saddle and we tried getting a saddle fitter out. But in Ireland that is nearly impossible, there are only a few saddle fitters in the whole country, and it is so difficult to get them to come to our yard. We also had a saddle which we wanted to part exchange which no one wanted to do. So we sold it privately and then we became urgent for a saddle.
Blu’s saddle wasn’t right for Didi and as I thought about it, I remembered Phil from Voltaire saying that he was coming back in January. I emailed him, got an instant reply and he was due to arrive in Ireland the day after. Extremely last minute but because our horses are kept 5 minutes from the harbour he fitted us in. It was pitch black when we were trying the saddle as it was about 7pm but we had the arena lights so it wasn’t too bad.
Phil was very friendly and so knowledgeable. He had a range of saddles with him but we just tried the Stuttgart. Which is a deep seat, double flap jumping saddle. It fitted her quite nicely. We girthed up, tacked up and went out to the arena. I got on and immediately loved the saddle. It is super forward cut and really comfy. Didi also seemed to like it. My mum said it looked like it had been made for me. We had a few jumps and I felt so secure and comfortable. We got off and said we had to have it. Because the saddles are made for the horses, we didn’t get to have it there and then. It was sent off to France to be slightly adjusted (because we went for a second hand one instead of a new one) to fit Didi even better. The whole experience with Phil was so easy, it was easy to make the payment and it was just such a good process.
We waited a few weeks and we then had an email saying it was on its way. Throughout this time, we were in contact with Phil and nothing was ever too much trouble and the whole team are very quick in responding to messages. The box arrived and it was so exciting. I felt like a kid at Christmas, while we were waiting for the saddle Didi had a bit of a holiday and then just some lunging work. I was super excited to be able to get back on board. I got it out the box onto my saddle rack at home and I just couldn’t believe it was mine. It is such a nice saddle and I’m so grateful to have a Voltaire.
Now we have had it a bit over a month and I can fully say I won’t be going back to any other brand. It is the comfiest saddle I have ever ridden in, its super lightweight and Didi feels a lot freer in it. She is in top form at the moment and even when she throws her special moves, I feel so secure and I can’t imagine not riding in it. The after service from Voltaire is also amazing. Phil was over in Ireland again and we asked him to come check the saddle. It was no problem for him, he came straight to the yard after getting of the ferry, again was very friendly, checked the saddle and said he was really happy with the fit, just like us.
I highly recommend Voltaire and especially Phil to anyone and everyone in the need of a saddle. the saddles are expensive, but I think they are worth every penny. We were lucky we got a second hand one. They always have second hand stock and they do dressage and jumping saddles as well as a lot of accessories.
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