Phillipe Fontaine saddles by Stubben??

[FlashGordon]

Anyone know anything about these? Supposedly affiliated with Stubben??

http://www.pfsaddles.com/PFrenee.html

I was perusing ebay and saw one of these, have never heard of them. The gel-infused panel thing kind of intrigued me.

[pinkme]

I kind of like it! Never heard of them though

[FlashGordon]

Looks like a few places are carrying them, but not many. Must be a new line.

Nice to have more saddle options under $1000. And with the Stubben name on them too....

[LiveToFly]

They look nice to me.
Idk about the gel panels though.

[FlashGordon]

Originally Posted by LiveToFly

They look nice to me.
Idk about the gel panels though.

yeah how would they be altered?

and wasn't it decided that gel = a big no no under saddles? (despite the gel pad rage of the late 1990's...)

[Alterageous]

I know this is an old thread, but has anyone seen one of these? The leather looks lovely online, but I have no idea what the deal is with these and there are no dealers near me

[FlashGordon]

Alterageous, I never did see one in person.... seems only a few places are carrying them online, and they don't really seem to be in tack shops.

I'd still be interested in hearing more about them. If they are stamped with the Stubben name I'd think they are decent quality, and an affordable price point.

[Alterageous]

I am thinking about calling Rose at equus now and asking her to send me some additional, non stock photos so I can take a look at the tree width, under flap configuration, etc.

[FlashGordon]

Originally Posted by Alterageous

I am thinking about calling Rose at equus now and asking her to send me some additional, non stock photos so I can take a look at the tree width, under flap configuration, etc.

Hey if you do, let me know... I'd love to hear what you find out....

[Alterageous]

Sure thing. I also sent an email out to Phillipe Fontaine asking for more info, in particular about a model that doesn't appear on their website that I saw for sale somewhere. I'll let you know the outcome of that too.

[jn4jenny]

I saw one in person at a show this summer. The gal had taken it out on trial. The leather quality was nice enough for the price, but it was softer than the traditional Stubben leather--picture "Stubben makes a knockoff of a schmancy French saddle". The gal who was riding in it reported that it felt great over fences but that the stirrup bar placement made flatwork difficult (this from someone who had been riding in an HDR for many years before, so hardly a tack snob). Of course, that's only one person.

[FlashGordon]

Originally Posted by jn4jenny

I saw one in person at a show this summer. The gal had taken it out on trial. The leather quality was nice enough for the price, but it was softer than the traditional Stubben leather--picture "Stubben makes a knockoff of a schmancy French saddle". The gal who was riding in it reported that it felt great over fences but that the stirrup bar placement made flatwork difficult (this from someone who had been riding in an HDR for many years before, so hardly a tack snob). Of course, that's only one person.

Thanks for the info! Interesting comment about the stirrup bar. I mostly flat and do very little jumping nowadays....

They kind of remind me of Toulouse saddles. I love the Toulouse styling IN PICTURES, but not a huge fan of them in person.... lol.

[see u at x]

I can't speak about this particular saddle, but for as much as I absolutely LOVE my Stubben, I'd be really careful in choosing to buy another one. From my experience with them and from what I've heard from others, I'd have to agree with the girl that jn4jenny talked to. Doing good flatwork in my saddle is a challenge, because it does tend to place my legs a little too far forward. However, I do love the quality of their saddles and I'm sure not everyone has the problem with the saddles that I seem to.

[Alterageous]

Well, I called the number that is on the pfsaddles.com site, and the person who picked up said "Stubben North America."

They are apparently the distributor. The Stubben rep says they are french made saddles. They are not built on any Stubben components, the tree, leather, etc are not Stubben and are being manufactured somewhere else.

I spoke to him about the quality of the leather and he said it's very soft, french. There is a fifth model coming out called the "Danielle" which is more of an equitation saddle, flatter seat and a little bit of a straighter flap. Velcro blocks. Because this is relevant to me, the flap length on it is 14".

I'm about to call Rose now.

ETA: I spoke to Katie at Equus Now and she said they chose to stock the Diane because that configuration rides very similar to an Antares. She also said the quality was very nice for the price.

[Nix]

i work part-time at a local tack shop and I've been drooling over the saddles since they came in. The leather on them is VERY nice and the price tag is appealing to me as well. I had no idea they were associated with Stubben. I find them appealing to our type of customers... not super "high end" but not willing to buy "just anything" either.

[Alterageous]

Nix-- which models do you have in store? Would you be willing to take some measurements of one of them for me so I can take a guess about fitting one?

[Nix]

I can't remember them off the top of my head... I'm really only there about 2-3 days per month on Saturdays. Give them a ring and ask for Sue. She can describe them and take measurements for you!

Horse Emporium
262-549-5422
800-236-5507
m-f 10-8, sat 10-6, sun 12-4

On the website Sue has the Diane, Lauren, Taylor and Renee listed.

http://www.horseemporium.com/catalogue_c300741_1.html

Good luck!

[FlashGordon]

Alterageous, good detective work!! So not actually made by Stubben, just distributed.

I like the look of the Lauren but thought the Diane would maybe suit my needs better. Would be interested to see what the Danielle looks like when it comes out.

Nix, nice to hear that they are decent quality for the price... One of our local tack shop sounds a bit like yours. They are carrying Toulouse at the moment which they say has been popular at their shop, but perhaps will pick up this line too as it seems comparable in price to Toulouse, and also a bit higher-end looking than the standard "under 1k" saddles.

[Alterageous]

Here is the Danielle. It's the model I'm most interested in, as it looks almost identical to my beloved amerigo DJ:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Stubben-Phillipe-Fontaine-Danielle-17-saddle_W0QQitemZ260310787677QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_ DefaultDomain_0?hash=item260310787677&_trksid=p328 6.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1 |240%3A1318

[FlashGordon]

Oooh the Danielle is yummy looking.