[Alternative1]

My saddle rule is "stay away from anything foam filled and French."

Then again, I prefer having a qualified Master Saddle Fitter (takes three years minimum to get certified) drive to my place, give me several different brands and options to test ride, custom build what my horse and I need, and then hand deliver and personally ensure the fit (as opposed to just mailing), for half the money.

Really puts spending $4.5k for something that is not adjustable that a single-brand, uncertified rep sends me via a box into perspective.

So what saddle do you ride in?

[DraftHorsePower]

My horse is thankfully an easy fit. The run of the mill Antares wide-tree saddles fit him well with no modifications. I'm *hoping* the CWD does as well, but to be honest, I've never sat in one before. However, I expect that what comes out will fit him pretty darn well, and he isn't fussy about saddles at all.

FineAlready, your sounds similar to my story. '04 Antares broke about 4 years after getting it. Tree replaced. New tree broke I think 2 years later. Maybe less. I ended up trading it in for a new one, and then taking a hiatus and selling the saddle 6 months later. I'm 5'5 and 125 and I can't imagine I am doing something so terribly wrong to BREAK a tree. Hasn't ever happened to me before this at least...

It's just a lot of cash to drop on something that seems so temporary, and to be questioning the quality so much. Also, no, I don't have a rep. I don't think there are any reps in Idaho. Though the Seattle CWD rep did say she comes out this way occasionally, so that's good to know, if ever I really NEEDED her.

[meupatdoes]

So what saddle do you ride in?

I have Albion Kontakt and Albion Jewell for my jump saddles, and a Kent and Masters for my dressage saddle.

I also like, but do not own, the Black Country brand and the Fairfax.

[TheJenners]

I had a ick rep for Devoucoux, but love the saddle and the main office is fantastic and helpful. Have heard that the reps can be that way...

FWIW, go with the CWD. If I get a new custom saddle again (hopefully not!), I'll probably go there or possibly that new brand with the colored gullets, I think Voltaire? Heard good things about them. Have never honestly heard anything good about Antares in the last few years.

[FreshAir]

I am also in the camp of nothing foam filled or French. I got a saddle custom to me and my horse made by Masters saddles out of Long Island and it was way less than a new French saddle.

[Alternative1]

To those of you with custom saddles.....do you only ever ride your own horse? What do you do if you ride a different horse than your own?

[Renn/aissance]

To those of you with custom saddles.....do you only ever ride your own horse? What do you do if you ride a different horse than your own?

I own a custom saddle that was built specifically for a tough-fitting horse. It is hard to imagine it would fit something else really well. If I find myself riding someone else's horse, I either use a shim pad if I can make that fit work, or I ride in a different saddle.

If I rode a lot of horses frequently, I would have chosen to buy a more generic saddle and use a shim pad to adjust the fit to the horse's back (and if I were a pro who was going to be riding my horse frequently as well as a lot of others, I would probably have to look at buying a second saddle.) But I'm an ammy who mostly just rides my guy.

I will say this for my first Antares- that thing fit just about everyone I put it on, from my horse until his back development changed, to a narrow TB, to an enormous WB, to a medium pony. I have no recollection of the panel configuration, but it didn't slide, it didn't rock, and nobody had a sore back the next day. I was working at a sale barn while I owned it and rode everyone in it. On a couple of narrow or sensitive horses I added a ThinLine pad or similar, but other than that, nothing.

[meupatdoes]

To those of you with custom saddles.....do you only ever ride your own horse? What do you do if you ride a different horse than your own?

I am a part-time pro who regularly rides 7 horses in addition to my own. The horses go in whichever fits them best- either the ones their owners have bought for them or one of my own. I purposely own saddles in varying "fits" and will switch saddles or have the flocking adjusted if a change in the horse roster requires it. If one of my saddles fits best the owner rides in that. If the owner's saddle fits best I ride in that.

I think there was one point where my weekly horse roster was such that I was riding in $30k worth of other people's custom saddles a week. Those owners did not spend that kind of money ensuring the comfort of their horse so that I could slap one single saddle on anything from the high withered TB to a mutton withered PRE dressage horse.