In the lower price ranges, you see a lot of shortcuts that look the same as these high-end leather tanning processes. In short, these are high-risk, high-reward transactions. And in general, the older the high-end saddle brand, the more likely you are to see it in this price range. For example, Butet and Hermes have been popular for a long time. But Devoucoux and Antares became more popular around the turn of the millennium.
Over in Europe, there are gobs of French- and Italian-style saddle brands that rarely appear on the US market. For example, the Belgian brand Tolga is crazy nice for the price and is styled like a French saddle. Zaldi , a Spanish brand , is another lesser-known player on the U.
The new stuff is okay for the price, but the old stuff is comparable to the much-storied early Pessoas, the ones that were luxurious and marvelous. Although Verhan is technically an American brand that manufactures in England, the saddles are very Italian in design. The Verhan Todd Minikus, in particular, is pretty common on the used market. In this price range, though, look carefully before deciding to buy a Pariani.
But a few years ago, Pariani made a contract arrangement with the saddle brand M. Toulouse, to sell cheap Toulouse saddles under the Pariani name. Saddle brands come and go…and when they go, they tend to plummet in value.
I am not talking about the later-issued Philippe Fontaine Lyon or Orleans. Philippe Fontaine is a contract product line owned by Stubben. Stubben is a German brand that builds mid-to-high-end saddles that are very, well, German. Same idea here with Stubben and Philippe Fontaine. Stubben owns Philippe Fontaine. But Phillipe Fontaine saddles are not Stubbens. And how close did they get? But, uh, just look at the pictures:. And if you picked them over with a fine tooth comb, you could where costs were cut.
The girth billets were cheap stamped Indian leather. But for the price, the Philippe Fontaines of yore were a heck of a bargain. The leather was very serviceable and broke in to be nice and supple, and they nailed the overall architecture of a high-end French saddle. The Diane, in my opinion, was the best of the bunch. It was a fantastic saddle for long-legged riders with withery horses.
Most people I know who own a Diane will not part with it. The other Phillippe Fontaines in this original run had the same tree and panels as the Diane. Each of them, however, had a different cut to the flap. For example, the Danielle:. One thing to know about these old-style Phillippe Fontaines: the trees ran pretty narrow.
You may have heard of him. But they also make product lines for other tack brands, and they sell some of their stuff under other names.
They were all made by Harry Dabbs. Jaguar, which came out a little later, also bears the design influences of forward-balanced Italian tack. In short, this is where Menet tested out certain saddle design elements. As the saddler's profession evolves, so CWD's technology workshop turns to novel techniques and quality materials like composite.
Every day the craftsman is faced with problems that require handmade solutions in order to realize the designer's dreams.
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Find out more about cookies here. The fourth line tells us the seat size, a Antares has 3 seat widths with E being narrow, L and XL begin the widest. Will it fit my horse? All the manufactures put information about the paneling on their stamp. Numbers and letters following the PA describe the paneling on this particular saddle.
In this case, this saddle has standard panels ST with a sculpted out area on the front panels to allow room for the scapula to rotate back RT. You will frequently see a series of numbers after PA such as The first digit in each group of numbers refers to the area of the paneling on the saddle, and the second two digits refer to how much additional thickness has been added to that area, in millimeters.
If we look at the Voltaire stamp, the fourth and fifth lines tell us the paneling. Looking at the Antares stamp, the tree and paneling information is stamped on the billet guard. It is a T1 tree with M20 panels.
If thickness had been added or taken away, it would be indicated by an RAR or RAG followed by a number and plus or minus. Seems complicated?
It can be! Just remember, the higher the numbers, the more thickness that has been added or taken away in different areas ,and therefore the saddle has been made with a more customized fit. Also remember, 5 or 10 mm is not much more than a half pad. The best way to shop for a fine used French saddle that fits? Ride in as many as possible, take pictures of the stamps and then talk with your used saddle retailer who will help you match the features as closely as possible.
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