Fair enough! 
Like I said. Opinions are a dime a dozen. But while I’m not the OP and while I also own an Antares, feedback is good.
I bought an Antares to fit a leased horse (his owner had one, said the medium tree fit him like a gem- and it did!)But the minute that lease was over that thing was GONE! Did not like it in the least, the leather was wonky (all calf…), it wasn’t comfortable, etc.
I have a Luc Childeric, harder to find used (which I think says something about how AWESOME they are!), but well worth it if you can get one
I also have a older Butet, I tried to ‘replace’ it with a new one, and EEEK can’t stand them! It really depends on the specific saddle AND the horse it’s on.
I would for sure hold off on an expensive saddle purchase until you have a horse in mind, even if everything you ride is a WB, I’ve had WB’s that take narrow trees, medium trees and wide trees, you just never know!
Remember that if you buy a quality, used saddle, you can resell down the line. I’ve actually sold a couple for more than I paid for them in the first place…
I’m currently riding in an Antares, and love it. I know they had some tree issues a while back, but haven’t heard of it in more recent models.
I would also recommend not going out and buying an expensive custom saddle when you do not own a horse. People told me the same thing when I was saddle shopping and I didn’t listen. I got lucky and the Childeric I bought fits the horse I later bought - but there was no gurantee.
I had a Pessoa that fit just about everything I rode for 15 years. I outgrew it and sold it and bought the Childeric because that was what fit the horse I was leasing and I LOVED it. It does also fit the horse I bought after that lease was up, but that was a risk. At least with the Childeric I knew I could resell it for darn near what I paid. I looked for a used one for months to no avail so finally just bought new.
I think I would look for a good quality used Pessoa/Jaguar/Northrun or the like that will fit well enough on just about anything with some padding modifications. Then when you do buy a horse - get the saddle you really want that fits the horse. Lots of places will do trials so you can test out the saddle first and make sure it fits you.
My two cents - Antares, CWD and Devs all have problems. They just do. You are taking a risk on buying any of those brands. You can find threads trashing or praising either one. Maybe you’ll get lucky and not have any problems. Maybe you won’t. But at least go into it knowing that it’s a possibility.
If I were buying for a leased horse I would look at a Bates or Pessoa with the interchangeable gullet, personally. They are also a lot less expensive and more likely to fit multiple horses. I sat in a friend’s Antares once and loved it, but am not about to plunk down $4k on a saddle that may or may not fit a horse I don’t have yet.
If I were paying that kind of money, I would buy one of the Tad Coffins with the new smart trees. I was very impressed with the one I saw and how well it fit everything in my barn (a range of shapes, to say the least!). Two of my horses, of opposite shapes, are very picky about saddle fit and they both liked it.
OP… I sent you a PM.
wow, lucky that you have that much to spend on a lease horse saddle. I’ve never heard of not being able to use the owner’s tack. They trust you with the horse but not saddle? Weird. But my saddle isn’t 4K so whatever…
If it were me, I would do a middle of the road option and put the money into nice tack for my future horse.
Fads change, trends change, horses shape change, color may be wrong for the new horse… I don’t like spending so much on tack.
To me it sounds like you want to fit in to the new barn. that’s fine, but it comes with a price tag.
I haven’t heard great things, ridden in one a couple times. I’ve heard the horror stories about the tree breaking too. If you don’t own or lease a horse, I would not make the investment in an Antares. I have a custom Hermes, and love it!!
[QUOTE=SendenHorse;7195350]
wow, lucky that you have that much to spend on a lease horse saddle. I’ve never heard of not being able to use the owner’s tack. They trust you with the horse but not saddle? Weird. But my saddle isn’t 4K so whatever…
If it were me, I would do a middle of the road option and put the money into nice tack for my future horse.
Fads change, trends change, horses shape change, color may be wrong for the new horse… I don’t like spending so much on tack.
To me it sounds like you want to fit in to the new barn. that’s fine, but it comes with a price tag.[/QUOTE]
Whenever I’ve part leased my horse one of the conditions has been that he was ridden in my saddle because I knew it fit. I also can’t imagine asking someone to ride my horse in a school saddle. In fact, if someone wanted to use their own saddle I had my saddle fitter check the fit before they could.
Really weird, you’d think they’d want you to use their saddle considering it’s likely custom fitted to the horse…
[QUOTE=hj0519;7196688]
Really weird, you’d think they’d want you to use their saddle considering it’s likely custom fitted to the horse…[/QUOTE]
yes, exactly. I was a leasee many times and used my own saddle but only after working it out with a trainer and getting the ok.
Knowing what I do now ( as a horse owner since 2005) and being a bit more experienced I’m not sure I would risk a different saddle on someone elses’ horse. Just my opinion. I don’t even like to ride other people’s horses now. Its a lot of responsibility. Course I’m probably overly neurotic now having been through so much with my horses! LOL
[QUOTE=vxf111;7191517]
If it was me, I’d spend less money and get something with some flexibility (like a Bates or Collegiate with the interchangeable gullets) and wait to spend $4000+ until I had a specific horse to get the saddle fitted to. But that’s me.[/QUOTE]
Second this. I bought a Bates Caprilli about 10 years ago, still have it and love it. My trainer rode in it while she was putting 30 days on my horse and subsequently had her custom saddle (forgot the brand) modified to be more like my Bates in terms of knee rolls and such.
I also splurged for an Antares two years ago after falling in love with them a long time ago. Love the saddle, hated the service. That whole experience was a nightmare and I would think long and hard before going through it again.
