Antares Saddles

[aks710]

I brought out a specialist to get some advice on saddles for my new TB horse, and she said that an Antares saddle would fit his back better than my current saddle (an Ovation-- it's been great, but it sits too low in the back/seat area and won't work for the long-term).

However, I didn't realize that even used Antares saddles would be so expensive (I'm seeing figures around $2K). Are there any other "alternative" saddle brands that might provide similar structure and support as an Antares, but that aren't so pricey?

I'm pretty tall (5'9), normal weight, and do hunters/eq. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

[mkevent]

If you can at all spring for it, the Antares are totally worth the price. I've never ridden in a saddle so balanced-for both the horse and rider. If you can, try to borrow someone's and ride in it-they really are incredible saddles.

[hollyhorse2000]

Antares is a great saddle. There are other great saddles, too. My Antares did not fit my mare at all (despite being "customized" for her) and I sold it and replaced it with a Black Country Maelstrom. I love the Maelstrom and it was less expensive than the Antares (although not but a huge amount). If I were you, I'd ask the fitter what specifically it was about an Antares that worked for your horse and other brands that might use a similar tree, etc.

[deltawave]

Me love. :)

I sat in my trainer's Antares and went "Oh my GOD, what kind of saddle is this?!" I usually hate other peoples' saddles, but this was love at first buttock contact. :D

I was lucky to find a used and rebuilt one--Antares on top, CWD (a sister company) underneath for a very decent price. Fabulous saddle, not made of the most rugged leather in the world so I have to baby it a little, but it's super for me.

I forget the website where I found mine--something like "high end used saddles dot com".

[jn4jenny]

I brought out a specialist to get some advice on saddles for my new TB horse, and she said that an Antares saddle would fit his back better than my current saddle (an Ovation-- it's been great, but it sits too low in the back/seat area and won't work for the long-term).

However, I didn't realize that even used Antares saddles would be so expensive (I'm seeing figures around $2K). Are there any other "alternative" saddle brands that might provide similar structure and support as an Antares, but that aren't so pricey?

I'm pretty tall (5'9), normal weight, and do hunters/eq. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Antares saddles are very well made and certainly very comfortable.

But to be 100% fair, there are PLENTY of great saddles int he price zones between Ovation and Antares. PLENTY.

I say this as someone who owns one of the super-pricey brands (Amerigo, which is about as expensive as Antares): once you get above a saddle retail price of about $2500, it's just pure markup from there. Yes, certainly brands like Amerigo/Antares/CWD/Devoucoux/etc. have put in a lot of time, research, etc. into their product and you get something that rides fantastically. But you're also paying for advertising hype, customer service, often for an extensive network of reps, etc.

Other brands have found ways not to launch into that price stratosphere (yet still turn a profit) by nixing some of those things that are NOT directly related to the saddle itself. Black Country, for example, will fully customize for about $2500. Your saddle would be built from the tree up by Master Saddlers in Walsall, England. The turnaround time is usually faster than the big-name brands too. But most people don't consider a Black Country because there's not a smiling rep standing in their barn, showing them a whole car-full of them. There are several other brands that follow this model that have even LESS brand recognition and advertising, and they too will customize. I'm thinking of brands like Classic (http://www.classicsaddlery.com/saddles/saddlesclassic.htm).

To be fair, there are cheaper ways to get that "big brand feel" too. Antares makes off-the-rack models like the Antares Richard Spooner that retail for less than the typical "custom" Antares. Amerigo makes the Vega line. And there are brands that do nothing else besides try to provide the big-brand feel in a cheaper saddle. The Phillippe Fontaine saddles by Stubben, the Toulouse Anisse (which a certain tack shop owner told me was explicitly designed to mimic Antares brand saddles), the Equipe Expression, etc. are all examples of this. And again, you're always going to find a brand or two who's willing to sacrifice that big markup (yes, the markup is still big on Vega/Philippe Fontaine/etc.) to sell. I'm thinking here of Meyerstone, which makes a perfectly nice product but you hardly ever see them (http://www.classicsaddlery.com/saddles/saddlesjumpingmeyerstone.htm). But again, you're not going to get that same customer service experience.

Too bad you don't still have the specialist at the barn to ask her, "And what OTHER saddle models should I consider?" If your horse fits in any given Antares, he probably fits in 15 other saddles on the market. It's a pity she didn't tell you which fit features made it a good match, or else you could have tracked down those other brands and tried it.

I love my Amerigo and won't part with it. But the truth is that if the saddle fits the horse and the rider, expense doesn't add much to the comfort. I've ridden horses that were perfectly fitted in $800 saddles and the saddle happened to fit me, and it was about 90% as enjoyable as riding in my Amerigo. Most of the big-name brands convince people to shell out The Big Bucks by actually putting you in this situation of well-fitted horse, well-fitted rider. You fall in love with that sensation and come to associate it with that particular product. And then boom, you're writing a $4000 check. I didn't write a check quite that big, but I couldn't find anything else on the market that rode like the Amerigo AND was cheaper, so I bit the bullet. If that's how you feel about the Antares after trying some other saddles, then maybe it's time to start saving up.

OTOH, if you are truly in love, there ARE cheaper ways. Ask deltawave how much she paid for her Antares. No better, don't--just go talk to the person who sold it to her. http://www.highendusedsaddles.com/contact.htm

[Lulu]

this was love at first buttock contact. :D


I don't know about you, but I'm sold!

[deltawave]

jn4, thanks for the link--I can't believe I remembered the name of the website, and I certainly don't remember how much I paid for the saddle but it was in the $2K neighborhood, and that's with a 100% new "underneath": billets, flaps, etc. Only the seat and outer flap is original. Great saddle.

Also thanks for all those tips on which brands are knockoffs of which--very enlightening!

[Gry2Yng]

My buttocks and my "eye" were also in love at first sit. When you are properly balanced, the fences come up like butta.

[PennyChrome]

Did they suggest the Antares because of the foam flocking? There are lots of saddles out there these days with foam flocking, which works well for some horses (and not at all for others!) Especially lots of French Saddles have foam flock. You may check Fineusedsaddles.com often as the woman sort of 'specializes' French saddles, she may give you some good suggestions.