Are Stubben saddles out of fashion?

cundlegreen

cundlegreen

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I've always thought that to have a Stubben was the ultimate, but I've been advertising one for some time now, and no interest at all. Its not as if I want a lot of money for it. Are Albions the in thing now?
 
I haven't tried a new stubben but in my past experiences Stubben saddles have been heavy, hard and old fashioned so yes definitely out of fashion from my experiences!
 
in my opinion yes due to the fact that they are heavy and quite hard compared to the other saddles out there. I rode my aunts show jumper in a Stubben they had there, it really held me leg well and I felt supported but when I sat down on it, it wasn't the most comfortable saddle I've sat in. This is just my opinion, I'm sure others out there disagree. Nice saddles but a bit out-dated :o
 
I wouldn't take a present of a Stubben!! That being said the only people I know who like them are really tall and leggy which I am not but I do find them hard and uncomfortable
 
Think they did go out of fashion. The new ones are rather nice though. We had and old one we used to call the plank as was like sitting on one.
 
Al loves the one she rides in- it's a Legend 5000 XC saddle and it's like it was made for her and the horse. If yours is the same as that, PM me, lol!
 
They are very heavy compared to modern saddles. I saw a lady collecting hers from the local tack shop as they'd been unable to sell it second hand and they had this exact conversation. The girl basically said that stubbens just sit there and sit there now and noone wants them anymore. I think it's a classic case of a company failing to move with the times.
 
Quite apart from being old fashioned and usually uncomfortable, they no longer fit well on the 'modern' horse. They're designed for fit slim TB's and really don't sit well on wide muscled warmbloods or fat allrounders and are awful on most natives.
 
For whatever reason they seem to have lost popularity and market share here. The newer models are built on a different tree and they have some quite high tech innovations like the Biomax seat but people here seem to equate them all with the very old style saddles. I think this does make them much harder to sell in the UK, as most people who want one have one and they are not drawing new customers. It seems a lot of fitters speak ill of them, too, although that is not necessarily the case in other markets so I take it with a grain of salt. That doesn't help you though, sorry.
 
Kallibear said:
Quite apart from being old fashioned and usually uncomfortable, they no longer fit well on the 'modern' horse. They're designed for fit slim TB's and really don't sit well on wide muscled warmbloods or fat allrounders and are awful on most natives.
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Agreed - they have long points (hence their cm sizes end up rather narrow, if long points are a certain distance apart, they must be narrower than the same measurement taken across shorter points) which only work on narrowish horses (and I dont' believe horses are naturally below a M width anyway). The trees are also rather curved from front to back, as are the panels on most models, and the bars rather upright. And yes, they're hard for the rider on the whole.
 
Stubbens apparently have some sort of a rolling pin design which causes a tense/ sore back.
Did love the old stubben jump saddle that I used to have tho , it was so secure and comfty! It had to be sold tho as it wasn't right for the horse at that time . Haven't gone back to using stubbens as other saddles have a much more sympathetic design.
 
One of my horses has a stubben scandica jumping saddle that is lovely I really like it and my other horse has a saddlers branded ideal event saddle which I also love. They are both really comfy and secure. I wouldn't say they are out of fashion, I think as there are more makes for them to compete with (keiffer, albion etc) due to the wider range of saddles available people are going to be buying them less as there are so many make to compete with. I always wanted brown saddles for my horses as I personally prefer brown tack but when the saddlers came they only ever had black saddles in my budget and when I enquired about brown saddles they said it would take weeks for them to get one in. Sadly, I think Brown saddles are going out of fashion as it was impossible to find brown saddles, it was either black or black and I hate black!
 
There was a Stubben stand at the SW equine fair last month, their new, modern range of saddles look really good. Tim Stockdale was there doing a demo and he said that Stubbens are the best saddle for SJ.
 
I have a lovely stubben roxanne that I bought 2nd hand almost 10years ago. It was used on my cobxtb for years, and since then I have used it on a few new/ young horses that I've had which it fit (under saddle fitters advice). It isn't the most comfy saddle in the world as the seat is hard, and so once I was used to the horse I've always progressed to other saddles, and I adore my equipe monoflap that I have for my mare, but I don't think I have ever fallen off when riding in the stubben it really does hold you in place well! :). Though I am one of the tall leggy people mentioned above! It also still looks in good condition despite being second hand to me that long ago :).
 
Lolo said:
Al loves the one she rides in- it's a Legend 5000 XC saddle and it's like it was made for her and the horse. If yours is the same as that, PM me, lol!
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I'm an utter dimbo and got Albions and Stubbens muddled... Al hates the Stubben she has (leggy rider on a TB, so technically the ideal combination) and now doesn't use it it. Sorry!
 
I used to have a Siegfried for my tb sj horse, it was great at its actual job of jumping and if I was going on a fast hack I would use it. It was awful and horribly uncomfortable for relaxing hacks and flat schooling, I ended up buying a vsd for that as my bum couldn't take it
 
I haven't seen a huge amount granted, but they always seem to rise at the back. I don't think i have ever seen a stubben really, truly fit. But maybe I have seen poor examples.
 
Polos said:
Sadly, I think Brown saddles are going out of fashion as it was impossible to find brown saddles, it was either black or black and I hate black!
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Not in my world, the only saddles we stock in black are dressage saddles, everything else is stocked in brown! Bought previously, but my dressage saddle is brown, I much prefer brown leather too.

Not sure what to say about Tim Stockdale saying Stubbens are the best saddle for jumping, they might be for him, and some or even most of his horses, but they do not fit every horse and every rider and it's not a clever or helpful thing to say. He simply prefers them, fine.
 
I have got a new Stubben jumping saddle, with a Biomex seat, fits my boy well and the seat is a God send for my back, it doesn't appear to be that heavy either.
 
Haha Lolo! I have that saddle but was going to say its an albion!

I used to have an old stubben dressage saddle! It was rock hard but it kept its condition so well I made a profit when I sold it!

A few years back I tried a horse at a dealers and had a lovely soft squidgy close contact saddle which turned out to be a stubben! Agree with Tarrsteps though, people associate stubben with the rock hards and they have lost market share!

Speaking of rock hard, I still have my dad's made 2 measure 1975 passier dressage saddle! It should be in a museum! He won the NZ national dressage champs in it in 1976 and I competed at the british nationals in 2004 with it! #history!
 
I have a Stubben Siegfried II and I absolutely love it. I'm tall with v long thighs and it fits me very well. I do love a flat hard seat though, so I'm probably in the minority! Unfortunately it no longer fits my big mare, so it's currently waiting for my youngster to start jumping, and I'm hoping that it'll fit her...fingers crossed!
 
i love my stubbens of which i have several, and i hate my albions of which i have several. also love my ideal jessicas. i need my saddles to be versatile which the stubbens are, the albions are not, the ideals are. i also love my italian jumping saddle which is versatile but could do with being an inch bigger!
 
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