Sunday 10 January 2021

New Place to Shop?

 Over Christmas, I was hoping to find a new winter coat to replace my current barn winter coat that is about 10 years old and starting to fall apart. There were lots of sales, but I have a list of things that I want in a coat and I wasn't able to find anything I was willing to pay for. 

In my search, I came across a website called decathlon.ca. I figured it was the website for the national sporting organization, and that since jumping is a sport in decathlon it made sense that it sold equestrian stuff.

However, I was wrong. Riding is not a sport in decathlon - it's in modern Pentathlon. Also, Decathlon is a sporting goods store.

Decathlon is a French company that is the largest retailer of sporting goods in the world, selling in 57 different countries. In Canada they have physical stores in Ontario and Quebec, in the US there are only a couple of stores in California. They sell stuff for something like 62 different sports, all under their own branding. No name brands. Thus, their prices are really good. 

They sell all kinds of horse things sold under their house brand Fouganza. Most of the horse care/tack items seem to be introductory level quality, so I don't know that I would buy much of it. But some of their clothing seems to be very reasonably priced and worth looking at. 

This leather halter looks cute and it's only $55!

I bit the bullet and ordered a pair of winter riding breeches. I've been looking for some to add to my rotation other than the Kerrit's full seats that I regularly wear, but I haven't found anything I've been willing to pay for. 

Decathlon had a few options at really good prices starting at $30 CDN. I ended up ordering this pair that has a silicone full seat and costs only $60. They even have a cell phone pocket, though I'm not optimistic that it will fit my cased Galaxy 10+.

I was going to order a different pair, that have a weatherproof finish to them that gives them a leather look but they didn't have my size. Having all sizes in-stock seems like it might be an issue as many of the items I looked at were only available in very small or very large sizes.

If the winter breeches work out, I might try these breeches for summer.

I did a search before ordering to see if I could find reviews and they were generally all positive saying that the quality is much better than the price reflects. 

There are a lot of things I wouldn't order from there - the sizing charts are horrible with little information of use and the descriptions on many items leave much to be desired. Returns are free if you return to a store but if you have to ship it back you would have to pay for shipping. 

I don't know that I would buy a $35 helmet, but I could see the appeal to parents of kids who are just starting and don't know if it will stick. It's not ASTM approved - it has an EN rating  (European) so it appears to still be legal to use in Canadian competitions.

For basic clothing staples however, it is worth a look.

I'll post a review when I receive the breeches. Fingers crossed that they are decent!





6 comments:

  1. I have gloves from them that I've had for like a year and half now. LOVE them. Their products are definitely hit or miss - some are great, some are crap, but a friend of mine loves their breeches. I saw some in the store that looked really decent!

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    1. That's good to hear! They seem to have three levels of equipment, recognizable by the item number. I have a feeling that the entry level stuff is going to be kinda crappy, but the mid-level and up stuff looks promising.
      A barnmate also ordered the same winter breeches that I did and received them this past weekend. She said they look nice so fingers crossed that they fit!

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  2. I ordered a shirt and the same breeches you did. I saw that they had a store not that far from me so I figure if I don't like it I can return it easy enough.

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    1. I wish I was closer to a store - there are quite a few things I like the looks of but I just don't know about sizing!

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    2. okay, so I ordered the breeches- size large and they fit really well- I was worried about them being low cut but they are not. I also ordered a polo shirt (large) and it fits slightly loose which I like. I was impressed with the quality.

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    3. I got my breeches last week. They aren't going to be as warm as I had hoped, but they are warmer than normal breeches. And so, so comfy!

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