Stubben
Tristan
Dressage Saddles
Manufacturer: Stubben
Model: Tristan
Category: Dressage Saddles
Purchase: I bought this saddle brand new in 1971 for $245 (yup, that was full retail!). I was a dirt-poor college student at Cornell University and found this tree at a backyard tack shop out in the boonies.
Likes: Everything about this saddle is perfect for me from its narrow twist to its moderate (by today's standards) yet perfectly sufficient knee rolls to its not confining yet very secure seat to its ability to fit a decent variety of equine backs. I'm a distance rider, not a dressage rider per se, yet this saddle is balanced in such a way that I can do absolutely everything in it from ponying colts down the road to swimming my horses to jumping.
Dislikes: The leather, although of excellent quality, is a bit slick. The knee rolls are fine, being suede (even though they're worn shiny now), but the seat and flaps do better with an occasional coating of Black Rock to sticky them up (yes, I admit it, I cheat!).
Quality: The workmanship and materials are superb and of an old fashioned quality that's hard to match today. Because I lived in this saddle for decades and abused it so (submerging it under water, etc) I eventually needed to have it overhauled by a professional. He praised its quality to the hilt, adding that Stubben is one of the very few companies that still maintains its original, high standards.
Summary: I've ridden many saddles in my half century of owning horses, but my beloved Trusty Tristan is such a part of me that I've written into my will that it be cremated with me and our ashes scattered together!
Rating: 5
Author: Wendy Tobler
Date: 2010-05-16
Usefulness Rating: 2.96154 out of 5.
26 reader(s) voted.
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