I have my eye on a used antares… but I have read some threads on here about the trees breaking, sometimes multiple times :eek:. Is this really as common as it sounds on here? Are there certain years that are worse or is it just better to stay away?
This would be a pretty significant expenditure for me so looking for something that will hold up long term. Thanks!
I know someone who recently got their saddle back from Antares and they broke the tree while replacing the panels so badly that the saddle upon return was completely twisted, and Antares told her that it was fine and to continue riding in it! They refuse to reimburse her for even just the panel replacement, let alone the whole saddle, so she is stuck with a broken saddle and is in the hole a ton of money AND has to shop for a new saddle on top of it.
Even if certain saddles/years/what have you are better than others, her experience is more than enough to make me avoid them at all costs, and I know she isn’t the first or last to have that kind of issue with their customer service.
Ugh thats awful, definitely something I want no part of. Most of the threads I saw were from 10 or so years ago so I thought maybe they had fixed the issues but apparently not. :sigh: Back to the search.
A friend of mine had the tree in her 3 y/o Antares break back in December. So no, its not something that they have corrected.
I’ve read enough about pretty much every prestige brand out there that I wouldn’t buy any saddle new as much as I like them. I’ll buy used after someone else has taken the big financial hit. But I also live in an area with a ridiculous number of good consignment shops where I can find pretty much exactly the flap configuration, etc I need in the tree size the horse needs and just take it one of several ridiculously good independent shops to make any adjustments. I realize that not everyone is that spoiled for options, though!
I loved the way antares rode but the broken trees scared me off. I would also avoid a 2018 CWD if you need something a bit wider. Something went a miss when they changed their panel connection the first year. I’d probably avoid the first model year of any saddle after my previous experience. I do love my 2019 Mademoiselle though!
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