Hi Gang, I was thinking of picking up a Crosby Prix De Nations close contact saddle that I found in excellent condition and for a good price. I had one wayyyy back when.
Can anyone tell me who makes them now and any experiences with them. It looks pretty but that doesn’t really mean a darn thing. Is there a serial number or stamped code that can help define the tree size and flap length? I believe the tree sizes used to be stamped on the stirrup bar but not sure if it still is.
Thanks
[QUOTE=Scratch N Dent;8677090]
Hi Gang, I was thinking of picking up a Crosby Prix De Nations close contact saddle that I found in excellent condition and for a good price. I had one wayyyy back when.
Can anyone tell me who makes them now and any experiences with them. It looks pretty but that doesn’t really mean a darn thing. Is there a serial number or stamped code that can help define the tree size and flap length? I believe the tree sizes used to be stamped on the stirrup bar but not sure if it still is.
Thanks[/QUOTE]
Crosby’s were always made by the same company. Walsall Riding. They are out of business. Weatherbeeta owns the name but I do not believe they ever had a Crosby saddle made once Walsall Riding closed up.
The quality of the PDNs was always good. They are out of fashion, but not everyone cares about that.
Loved mine!
Miss mine!!
[QUOTE=Dewey;8678852]
The quality of the PDNs was always good. They are out of fashion, but not everyone cares about that.[/QUOTE]
Yep, their quality was top notch…
We’ve found two Sovereign PDN’s in recent years, both in mint condition. I couldn’t snap them up fast enough!
[QUOTE=M. O’Connor;8678981]
We’ve found two Sovereign PDN’s in recent years, both in mint condition. I couldn’t snap them up fast enough![/QUOTE]
Ugh yea… No doubt that was the finest saddle that Crosby ever built
I still haven’t been able to convince myself to part with my California PDN. All the blocks and knee rolls but with that Crosby balance. I wish I still fit in it!
I’m told the Black Country Solare feels very similar to the old Crosbys. “Like coming home!” was one quote.
[QUOTE=Scratch N Dent;8677090]
Hi Gang, I was thinking of picking up a Crosby Prix De Nations close contact saddle that I found in excellent condition and for a good price. I had one wayyyy back when.
Can anyone tell me who makes them now and any experiences with them. It looks pretty but that doesn’t really mean a darn thing. Is there a serial number or stamped code that can help define the tree size and flap length? I believe the tree sizes used to be stamped on the stirrup bar but not sure if it still is.
Thanks[/QUOTE]
Is the saddle you are looking at possibly not a Crosby? I can’t tell if you are trying to find out if this “look a like” is actually the same as a Crosby, or if you already know it is, but are lookign at newer options as well??
As others mentioned, lots of Crosby PDN love from me too! I learned to Ride in a PDN and I think that is why I developed such a strong base. Properly balanced saddle, but not all the fluff that keeps you put, just your position! 
Plus, those suckers lasted FOREVER!!!
Yup, my first saddle was a PDN; no knee roll, flat like pancake and hard like a 2x4 but had good balance.
I was looking to purchase this saddle for someone else but knew the PDN I rode in is no longer being made and wondered what was up; is the balance and workmanship still good and who owns the name and is building these. This saddle is obviously quite new and is being sold at a tack shop. I actually think it is a Crosby XL based on photos on the internet but it is listed as a PDN.The flap is crazy long so it won’t be a good fit anyway. Here is what the saddle looks like: http://www.pleasantridge.ca/index.php/saddles/used-english/close-contact/used-like-new-17-crosby.html. If not a PDN do we think it is an XL?
Mods, feel free to let me know using this link as an illustration is not OK.
Also consider a Beval Devon. They are not in production now as far as I know but had been in much more recent times compared to the PDN.
[QUOTE=Scratch N Dent;8679518]
Yup, my first saddle was a PDN; no knee roll, flat like pancake and hard like a 2x4 but had good balance.
I was looking to purchase this saddle for someone else but knew the PDN I rode in is no longer being made and wondered what was up; is the balance and workmanship still good and who owns the name and is building these. This saddle is obviously quite new and is being sold at a tack shop. I actually think it is a Crosby XL based on photos on the internet but it is listed as a PDN.The flap is crazy long so it won’t be a good fit anyway. Here is what the saddle looks like: http://www.pleasantridge.ca/index.php/saddles/used-english/close-contact/used-like-new-17-crosby.html. If not a PDN do we think it is an XL?
Mods, feel free to let me know using this link as an illustration is not OK.[/QUOTE]
Looks way fancier than my PDN. Mine too was flat, no knee rolls, blocks or anything but I loved it. Something like a 2 x 4 with stirrup leathers. Too bad once my horse filled out the saddle didn’t fit as well and I had to move on. I still have it. I love it and it has more sentimental value now than dollar value! 
Some Prix des Nations were made with knee padding, so it could be a newer one. The XL is also a really nice saddle, cushier than the Prix des Nations. I can’t tell from the picture which it is. Anyway, it looks to be in excellent condition and will be a nice saddle for someone.
Thanks for all the info gang.
[QUOTE=PROTACKGUY;8678845]
Crosby’s were always made by the same company. Walsall Riding. They are out of business. Weatherbeeta owns the name but I do not believe they ever had a Crosby saddle made once Walsall Riding closed up.[/QUOTE]
Wait a sec. Walsall Riding closed up? I thought they went on to make some of the same saddles under the Exselle nailhead? Crosby, the house brand of Miller’s, was the saddle that was re-born several times under other distributors. Did I get that wrong?
OP, that is a Crosby-era PdN and not an XL. You can tell by the pigskin seat. It’s not a Hampton Classic or a Touchdown (PdN sub-species made in the 1990s with knee pads of suede and hard/pebbly football-like leather, respectively). But the rather forward panel and thick knee pads remind me of those.
My story about that (entirely made up) is that Bruno Del Grange had just launched the pace-setting French Bucket of a saddle, the P J. That would be in the early 1990s. It was the first saddle in a long time to boast very large, puffy knee rolls. Afterwards, I think some saddle companies were abandoning the “postage stamp” design that Hermes had always done, and which the PdN had brought to the American masses.
You must remember, too, that we all saw the American Olympic team win the gold at show jumping in 1984, with riders clearing enormous oxers in very flat, minimalist saddles.
[QUOTE=mvp;8679982]
Wait a sec. Walsall Riding closed up? I thought they went on to make some of the same saddles under the Exselle nailhead? Crosby, the house brand of Miller’s, was the saddle that was re-born several times under other distributors. Did I get that wrong?[/QUOTE]
Yes they did… But last I heard they completely closed. The Exselle was their saddle but sold thru Intrepid.
Although Crosby was the house brand of Millers it was ALWAYS made by Walsall Riding. The business with developed by Len Holmes of Walsall riding and Joe Miller of Millers. Len Holmes created the ply bond tree which was the first laminated flexible tree as well as the panels that integrated foam and wool together. He was certainly responsible for modern 70’s era saddle used in the USA. The Crosby line really took off after they copied Bill Steinkraus’s version of the Hermes saddle. Prior to the Steinkraus the Hermes was more of a show jumping saddle and was designed by Nelson Pessoa. The Prix De Nations with the help of Bert Nenemethy’s fine tuning and the endorsement of the USET went out to define the modern jumping saddle of the era. Allthough the non knee roll, pad less flap & flat seat defined the PDN, there were in fact many variations over time to attend to the changing preferences of ridings. The Excel series was a movement away from the PDN per se to get more inline with what Pessoa, Butet and Pierre was doing with his PJ saddle from Delgange.
Ideal’s page lists a Walsall Riding Saddles line. Is this a carry-over or a new company? They also carry the Barclay & Co. line which are the old Barnsby patterns, but Barclay used to be made by WRS and had Steinkraus look-alikes also.
http://www.idealsaddle.com/catalogue/view/12/walsall-riding-saddles#ad-image-0
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/leading-saddlery-firm-resurrected-467472
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