This thread is for saddles you loved and believed to be extinct…… only to discover one that was cryogenically preserved and now available!
I found the exact model of my already-rare Crosby AGA Grand Prix from the late-1980s.
And now check out this Hunterdon:
I mean, where has it been and what has it been doing for, like, 20 years?
I have one, not sure the model, it has some knee rolls and knee padding!
I have a Walsall Saddlery Selle Francaise saddle that is damn near impossible to find for sale. I love my rare artifact of a saddle as does a girl in my barn. She is saddle shopping and can’t find anything but my saddle that will fit her horse and she knows I’m not parting with it. She’s been borrowing it and searching everywhere for one like it.
Another saddle out from the deep freeze!
A Lynn Palm. Anyone ever ridden in one of these? IIRC, they were Crosby’s attempt to corner the Western, HUS market. I don’t know what those folks were riding in before. Note the width of the flap at the top. I think that’s to accommodate the thigh of the rider… who is riding more upright than would an AHSA hunter rider.
(The USEF hadn’t been invented yet when these saddles were around.
In any case, here’s one for you, thawing on the counter.
[QUOTE=OveroHunter;7585004]
I have a Walsall Saddlery Selle Francaise saddle that is damn near impossible to find for sale. I love my rare artifact of a saddle as does a girl in my barn. She is saddle shopping and can’t find anything but my saddle that will fit her horse and she knows I’m not parting with it. She’s been borrowing it and searching everywhere for one like it.[/QUOTE]
I think those were made for just a minute during the whole Miller’s break-up/take-over by Eisers. WRSC made the Selle Francaise and then I think that saddle quickly became the XL… or one of them. The XL saddles had different letter designations with them-- H for Hunter, which was a long, straight equitation flap. They were a medium light English calf and pretty. Then those saddles became Exselles.
Or does your Selle Francaise friend have something different?
Now that you mention it, I wonder what my old Crosby Corinthian and Collegiate Senior event saddles are doing right now… I left them at my trainer’s barn when I stopped leasing my horse and took a temporary break from riding during college…and that was 15 years ago. Never went back to the barn, either to ride or even to collect my stuff, and much time passed before I realized it. I also had a nice handmade wooden tack trunk that I’m sure someone is still enjoying. Ah well, pay it forward, right? Hope all of it was used and enjoyed by some horse crazy kid.
FWIW, my heart saddle was a borrowed Crosby PDN that was magic for me and I enjoyed using for several years before the real owner showed up out of the blue to collect one day, which was heartbreaking to me. The Corinthian that I purchased was a poor substitute and I never really loved the Collegiate SR Event, either, so whatever. I currently only trail ride and am enjoying someone else’s nice Tucker saddle, and I have no plans to do anything else at all, but it still makes me happy that I know I can have a classic PDN for less than 400 bucks off ebay anytime I want one…
This past weekend I thoroughly cleaned my Crosby PDN - I don’t use it anymore (doesn’t fit me or my horse) but I’ll never part with it! That saddle is in incredible shape - I even have my original stirrups and leathers on it. I always took care of it and never stored it in the barn - it lived in my bedroom or anywhere inside year round. And the best part…I got it as a Christmas present in 1980 :D. Yup its old! I won a lot of eq classes with that saddle - lots of good memories with it :yes:.
I also have a Crosby Equilibrium but that’s only about 12 years old and still looks great :).
[QUOTE=mvp;7586645]
I think those were made for just a minute during the whole Miller’s break-up/take-over by Eisers. WRSC made the Selle Francaise and then I think that saddle quickly became the XL… or one of them. The XL saddles had different letter designations with them-- H for Hunter, which was a long, straight equitation flap. They were a medium light English calf and pretty. Then those saddles became Exselles.
Or does your Selle Francaise friend have something different?[/QUOTE]
Pardon the picture, but this was the most up close picture I could find of the saddle without going down and taking a new one of it: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10101429917775160&set=a.10100790706699280.3010187.4923850&type=3&theater
Then I did some googling and found a helpful post by you in 2009! http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?209777-Exselle-Saddles
I’ll have to let the girl here know she should look into Exselle saddles since she wants one like mine.
[QUOTE=mvp;7586645]
WRSC made the Selle Francaise and then I think that saddle quickly became the XL… or one of them. The XL saddles had different letter designations with them-- H for Hunter, which was a long, straight equitation flap. They were a medium light English calf and pretty. Then those saddles became Exselles.[/QUOTE]
Thank you mvp! The only stamp on my Crosby XL H is the “WRSC” on the flap and I have been trying to figure out what it means for a while now. Feeling a bit dopey for not having put the pieces together already since I knew who made it but so glad I finally know!
[QUOTE=Barn Dirt;7587007]
Thank you mvp! The only stamp on my Crosby XL H is the “WRSC” on the flap and I have been trying to figure out what it means for a while now. Feeling a bit dopey for not having put the pieces together already since I knew who made it but so glad I finally know![/QUOTE]
My saddle must be from a weird era because there is no mention of Crosby anywhere on the saddle. It is strictly a WRSC Selle Francaise.
ETA: Sorry for the derailment of the thread to a WRSC history lesson!
I had a Phase Five jumping saddle that I loved. Anyone know who made them or any info about them? My instructor at the time told me to buy one so I did and never looked back. Such a great saddle.
For Europa:
http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-292309.html
http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-35008.html
http://solitairemare.blogspot.com/2011/07/goodbye-libertyville-saddle-shop.html
I have this older saddle. The only thing I know about it is its a Hartley and from England. I think it might be the Galaxy (?) model. It looks very similar to a Crosby PdN though. No KNee rolls, flat seat etc. MVP, you seem like the expert, know anything about this saddle? I don’t have pictures right now. But tis a very comfortable saddle and in fantastic shape.
I wish I’d taken a photo right after I bought it, but I didn’t think to. End of 2012, I bought a Harry Dabbs Original A/O from the Middleburg Tack Exchange, which looked brand new. I mean, not a mark on it, like it had never seen a horse. It is buffalo, but still, after a year and a half of moderate use by me, it definitely has stirrup leather marks, etc. on it. Serial number was easy to read, so I dug up an email for Dabbs, which doesn’t seem to be distributed in the US anymore, and emailed merry olde England. Apparently the saddle is a 2004 model! I don’t know where it had been sitting, unused, for almost decade, but I feel like I got a steal of a deal on what was for all intents and purposes a brand new saddle.
I love love love the ride of those old Hunterdons, and my TB has a back that will actually quite nicely fit in a Crosby (her dressage saddle is one!! :eek:). But I haven’t seen any that are big enough to fit my massively long leg. If I ever seen one bigger than a 17", I may have to snap it up.
I bought this Kieffer Zugspritz Springen Spezial last year. It had never seen the back of a horse. It was made in about 1974. It was in absolutely perfect condition and was a steal of a deal.
[QUOTE=OveroHunter;7585004]
I have a Walsall Saddlery Selle Francaise saddle that is damn near impossible to find for sale. I love my rare artifact of a saddle as does a girl in my barn. She is saddle shopping and can’t find anything but my saddle that will fit her horse and she knows I’m not parting with it. She’s been borrowing it and searching everywhere for one like it.[/QUOTE]
If she is interested… I did find this one:
http://www.stcroixsaddlery.com/Used_Close_Contact_Saddles_p/scj_con_12216.htm
I did a google search just to see what it looked like and this popped up.
Thanks! I sent it to her 
[QUOTE=saitou_amaya;7587337]
I have this older saddle. The only thing I know about it is its a Hartley and from England. I think it might be the Galaxy (?) model. It looks very similar to a Crosby PdN though. No KNee rolls, flat seat etc. MVP, you seem like the expert, know anything about this saddle? I don’t have pictures right now. But tis a very comfortable saddle and in fantastic shape.[/QUOTE]
I know that I know nothing about Hartleys. But I have only ever heard of a Hartley Galaxy.
Yanno, I have a Warwick Dressage saddle on trial that I can’t find any information about. We should have some kind of Saddle Paleontologist Diagnosis thread the way natural history museums do for amateur fossil hunters.
[QUOTE=Bogie;7587520]
I bought this Kieffer Zugspritz Springen Spezial last year. It had never seen the back of a horse. It was made in about 1974. It was in absolutely perfect condition and was a steal of a deal.
http://equineink.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/kiefer.jpg[/QUOTE]
O. M. G. I remember when you posted pictures of that saddle once before. It’s The Jetsons of saddles… with an aesthetic so old that its ultramodern. Way cool, and even better to have been Cryogenically Preserved!
I’m such a sucker for a new saddle. That’s hard when you are also only willing to buy the old stuff you know you like.
[QUOTE=karasha;7587623]
If she is interested… I did find this one:
http://www.stcroixsaddlery.com/Used_Close_Contact_Saddles_p/scj_con_12216.htm
I did a google search just to see what it looked like and this popped up.[/QUOTE]
Now I remember those saddles… at least seeing them in tack stores. IIRC, the stitching was a little on the yellow side when new (you didn’t notice that when they had aged and gotten a job).
The distinctive stitching on the stirrup leather keeper reminds me that WRSC made a whole line of Selle Francaise stuff- bridles, girths and martingales.
It seems to me that they got into that with the Hunterdon. Remember those London bridles that were single layer but stitched all around? They went with the saddle and were given the same name. The Hunterdon was not the last saddle or generation of saddles made before the Crosby/Miller’s thing seemed to fall apart. But I think the short-lived Selle Francaise line (that intermediate species to the XL saddles) had bridles in it. The XLs did, too, I think.
Really obscure: Have any of you guys seen those Crosby bridles with the wide-beveled edges? They were London and the edges rubbed black (as was standard), but the edges weren’t square. It was a very fine, almost flimsy bridle, but it was very pretty. It would rock my world to find a frozen one.
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
