I just wanted to share my experience here so hopefully someone else does not have to go through this. I had a CWD rep come in July to " fit " a new saddle for my horse I got over a year ago. The saddle arrived around Thanskgiving. After riding in it for a little over a month I had my veterinarian come out to check him. She is certified in chiropractic as well. She said the saddle was a poor fit, too narrow at the pommel, and the horse was now sore in his withers/shoulder areas. He had never had any back soreness. My vet said do not ride in the saddle anymore.Contacted the rep who came out put some small shims in for mild bridging and said it was fine. I had my vet come again and her opinion did not change. She sent a letter to the CWD rep with her findings.I had an independent saddle fitter come and look at the saddle. She also commented it was a poor fit, the pommel was way too high and saddle was unbalanced. She literally pulled random saddles out of the tack room belonging to other boarders and out of the eight saddles we tried my brand new CWD was the worst fit of all of them. Again asked the representative for a full refund- they continue to say that saddle fits when obviously it does not. I had ridden in the saddle for less than 60 days and they want a 33.3 % restocking fee. I paid thousands of dollars for a "custom fit " saddle that does not fit my horse and he is now back sore from it. I can not even use it.The representative offered to shave off the front panels but told me it may not help and could make it too wide in the front down the road. They have done absolutely nothing to rectify the situation. I have called and emailed the rep multiple times and she does not respond. She only seems to respond once I reach out to the CWD national office with my grievances. The customer service and professionalism is terrible. Do not buy a saddle from CWD.
Make sure you post what rep you used. Your experience is going to be very rep specific. Some will bend over backwards to get a good fit, some dump a saddle on you. And on top of that, the bad reps will switch brands frequently in hopes of loosing their bad reviews.
Same thing happened to a friend of mine. Ordered a brand new custom saddle, and when it arrived, it was not at all custom to her horse, nor was it the correct seat size for her. They insisted it was the saddle that was ordered, but the serial number didn’t match the serial number of the original saddle. She rode in the saddle for a few months to try to make it work, as it had pro panels, but it didn’t fit her and was too deep—the wrong seat—so she never rode in it again. She sold it recently for 1/3 of what she paid for it.
Contact your state’s Attorney General’s office. If you paid by credit card, put it in dispute. You will have to organize your communications, etc to provide documentation for the bank and the AG’s office. I had the same problem… this worked for me. You may need to contact the AG’s office where the rep lives. My problem was about 10 years ago, so I don’t remember where I filed. Good luck! Edited to add - lucky you to have addition documentation from your vet! I’m sure some saddle company reps can fit, but I’ve only met ones that are sales people.
Seems there are so many bad CWD reps. Our rep in Virginia is wonderful, helpful, knowledgeable, and goes above and beyond. Granted, the rep before her was not as good, and when she came on she spent a lot of time fixed that reps mistakes. We are lucky to have her. Maybe she could help with your situation? You could likely find her contact information on the CWD website.
I think the sheer number of bad CWD reps says something about the process CWD uses to select and train them. Any company can hire a dumb employee or two by accident but with CWD it seems like you’re more likely to get a bad rep than a good rep and I have to think that all flows back to the company in some way.
I am so sorry! I know of a great used saddle site and maybe you can get something back on it that way. I hope you don’t lose too much money and can start anew.
I had a lease horse with a lead swap issue. I tried a different saddle (Antares) and it was a night and day difference. No more swap.
That experience led me to rethink my own knowledge (or lack thereof) of saddle fit, and to seek out my area’s most recommended saddle fitter (independent). When she visited my farm, I had my two saddles, a borrowed saddle, and two saddles on trial for her to evaluate on three of my horses. I also had a nice collection of Thinline half pads (trifecta and full sheepskin) for her to work with. She first chose the saddle she liked best on each horse on a bare back. The trial Spooner Antares was a winner on two horses and the borrowed Antares Classique was a winner on one. She then evaluated them with half pads, and was satisfied with the fit on each horse. She came with flocking wool and shimmed one of the half pads to her liking for one of the horses.
Now that show season’s here, I’ll have her back out to evaluate fit with show pads.
I will never buy a saddle any other way now. My advice: hire an independent fitter. Have on hand a bunch of trial saddles that are good candidates (there is a great saddle fitting FB page where you can educate yourself) and shimmable half pads. I personally can’t see buying new from a saddle rep, for a risky fit of a new saddle when there are so many used saddle sellers that will send on trial.
I am in Virginia as well. We have obviously had a very, very different experience with the same rep. This is the second time a similar instance has happened with her at my barn alone.
I am in the same barn as the original poster, and will say I had almost the identical experience. Sadly, it took me far too long to realize that the CWD saddle was causing the mysterious problems my horse was having. I had for the past year, had that little niggling doubt about the saddle, based on some of his behaviors. I had her check it on 4 different occasions, and each time was told it fit perfectly. After spending close to $5K out of pocket on chasing various unexplainable issues, it came to a head. My horse was being fairly stoic about the problem, which was why we are not able to pinpoint it sooner. I was told by my very reputable Vet that the “custom” saddle did not fit my horse, it was making him extremely back sore, and I was not to put it on his back again. He and an independent saddle fitter told, and showed me, that the saddle was bridging horribly (as in you could get your whole hand between his back and the tree for the whole length of it other than where it makes contact at the pommel and the seat). Remember, this is a “custom” saddle, made for my horse…who was 8 at the time, so no growth or body fitness changes. At this point I contacted the rep, who initially was very responsive. After checking it for the 5th time, she admitted it bridged “but not too badly”. Excuse me? The saddle you fitted my horse for, is bridging? After some discussion, she was going to try and find a different (non CWD) saddle, that would fit both of us. As I had owned the saddle for more than a year, at this point, I was happy with that solution. Fast forward to me having to chase her down via text, messenger and phone. At one point =, almost a month went by, with no word from her. If she was having trouble finding something, then answer my queries and tell me so, or offer another solution. Communication is key. This dragged on for three months, and I had no saddle to ride in, and had not seen one possible replacement. I finally contacted CWD directly with my story and problems. Funny enough, I heard from her the next day, for the first time in weeks. Long story short, they offered to take the saddle in return, minus the 33% restocking fee. I just wanted to be done, and move on, so I accepted the offer. Let this be a cautionary tale to everyone, on many levels. Glad I got rid of the saddle, and now my horse is going happily and feeling great, in his new one.
As suggested above, filing with your AG’s office is a good thing to do. A BBB complaint is also wise.
I’m so sorry you spent so much money (and waited!) only to get a saddle that hurt your horse.
I’m sorry your horse is in pain. Just out of curiosity, have you tried having all three out at the same time to try to troubleshoot the issues (vet, CWD, independent fitter)? It may also be worth trying to see if there is a saddle with the proposed modified paneling available so you can see what that looks like on your horse, perhaps, before throwing in the towel. I think the CWD contract gives you three months after the delivery to make any panel adjustments free of charge, so if there are panel adjustments that you’d like to explore, you still have time.
As a thought: is there any chance that your horse has changed shape between July (when you ordered the saddle) and December, when you first had your vet out? Do you have any pictures or videos of how the demo fit (when you tried the saddles) vs. your current saddle, to compare and help facilitate the conversation with your vet, etc.? My mare has changed shapes wildly within a few months before, so I figured I’d at least pose the question.
For what it’s worth, I’ve had the opposite experience with our CWD rep in Virginia recently and I know of several other barns who are also very happy with her. I’m currently shopping for used saddles (TBD on if that ends up being a CWD), and she has been responsive, professional, and incredibly helpful in bringing different models/seat sizes/flaps on three occasions in the last month alone. In all of my interactions I have never felt pressured to buy any saddle (CWD or otherwise), and I’ve found her assessments accurate and objective, having done a fair bit of research into saddle fit during my last few searches (dressage saddle, previous monoflap saddle, etc.) and through working with a few independent fitters.
Having said all of that, my interactions with the VA CWD rep give me hope that you’ll be able to get the saddle sorted.
All I will say is, just wait until you have a problem. All was great in the beginning, when I was spending my money.
That’s like having your doctor, dentist, and MLM essential oil salesperson out to try jointly troubleshoot why you have a gaping abscess in your tooth because you’ve been dosing yourself with scented oil rather than brushing your teeth. The odds that the two people with actual training/expertise will be able to convince the one with none who is sales-motivated to “see the light” is pretty slim.
And what is the CWD rep supposed to do when the two experts say the entire shape is wrong? She loses her commission if she takes the saddle back. And it’s not like they’re wool flocked or mildly adjustable. There’s not a lot she can do even if she decides she cares what people with actual training have to say. If she’s unable to take the saddle back without gouging the customer, what will this joint meeting do to change that CWD policy?
Guarantee you if CWD does agree to redo the saddle they will disclaim all liability for fit and then OP will again be stuck with something made by people who either don’t know how to fit horses or don’t care. And in the meantime she waits and waits.
CWD sold her something made to their measure and it doesn’t fit. They should take it back and give her a refund. Full stop. No special meeting or begging required. This was a custom item built on CWD’s advice. They should not penalize the customer for their inability to built it to fit. Period.
And I think the story with bad reps is usually that they’re great on the sales end— responsive, your best friend, happy to take your money. It’s in the customer service end when the buyer is unhappy and they money is paid that things tend to fall apart.
To me the 33% restocking fee says a lot. If you stand behind your product then stand behind it. All the way. And hire or train your reps to do a quality job all of the time, not 2/3 of the time.
My horse has not changed at all since she came out for the original fitting. She really has left me no options- the saddle does not fit the horse period. She offered to shave off the panels but may make saddle too wide and tip forward so not a good option. She offered to send it to another professional to ride in it for 60 days to break it in. Of course CWD would not be liable if something happened to the saddle. She then offered for my trainer to ride in in for 30 days and we meet with the veterinarian then. When I asked for the agreement in writing she subsequently changed to 30-40 hours. When I contacted her about it she never responded. Unfortunately I think its all about the sale and once that is completed she ghosts you when there is a problem. She has never offered to take saddle back and offer me a different saddle to try or really any other concrete solution. I was happy for my veterinarian to come in 30 days but asked that they pay for it since I have had her out twice. Of course they won’t do that either. Once I had a problem I started to hear of others that had a similar situation. One person was someone that I knew so I reached out. She told me she could never get in touch with her after the saddle didn’t fit her horse. Buyer beware.
How is other people riding in a saddle going to make it fit your horse? That’s craze balls.
The restocking fee is pretty common among many of the French brands, unfortunately 
that’s part of the reason I won’t do custom again.
Part of the reason for the suggestion re: having all three out (or even the independent fitter and the rep) is so your independent fitter could potentially provide guidance as to what on the paneling should be changed, if OP were to go that route. Changing panels is obviously another ordeal in and of itself, and if it were to be done, I think in that instance it’s important to see how the proposed new paneling fits the horse with an already existing saddle before making any changes. I’m not sure what the CWD policy is if panel changes are made and how the fit guarantee works.
OP, I feel your pain in having a custom saddle that isn’t working. I’ve been there myself (back in 2019, was told that a saddle I had put me into a chair seat (…it didn’t, really) and that X configuration on a custom saddle would work instead). Lo and behold, after I got the custom saddle, I came to the realization that the flap configuration and tree were totally and completely wrong. Ended up selling the saddle eight months later at a loss.
The suggestion regarding maybe exploring the paneling is to try to avoid selling at a loss or the restock fee on your end, in case you can find an amenable solution. Again, my experiences with our CWD rep have been positive, so I hope that you’re able to work something out!
I really feel strongly that if you pay for a custom saddle to fit you and your horse and it doesn’t fit, you should fight to get your money back via your bank, the AG’s office, BBB (as suggested above) or anything else you can think of. I’m probably wrong about this, but maybe if that happened often enough, companies like CWD would train their sales people better. I have a friend who has been working w another custom saddle company for 18 months to try to get it right. Communication happens about every six months, regardless of how often she calls, and she still doesn’t have a saddle. When I ask her about it, she says “the rep loves my horse. I know she’s trying”.
I mean, let’s say the actual saddle fitter can somehow explain to AND convince the CWD to take the saddle back and have the panels redone. And let’s say a panel change would be sufficient (as compared to, say, an entirely wrong shape tree or something). Why should the OP have any confidence that the rep will communicate what needs to change properly to the people back at the plant, that those people will refit the panel properly, that the CWD will know the difference if they do, that the CWD rep will be able to asses fit properly when the saddle returns, or that CWD and/or its rep will stand behind it if they flub this as much as they flubbed the original fit? I mean, yeah, maybe some wisdom will sink through the head of am MLM hun if you make her sit in a room with a scientist long enough, but you do trust her from that point forward to be able to evaluate science? I wouldn’t. These reps are salespeople. That’s it. They’re interested in sales. Sometimes it all works out because they can sell you what you need and want. But when they don’t or can’t… good luck. They’re still going to be salespeople. And they’re going to act like it.
A near-usurious restocking fee is definitely not unique to CWD. Having such a significant number of reps who don’t seem to know or care how to fit saddles does seem to be less common. Certainly CWD is not alone in this. But they do seem to have more than average bad reps. AND there have been people who have posted about atrociously unprofessional behavior by corporate. So… buyer beware for sure…
I’ve encountered more than one person with a version of something like Stockholm syndrome about a saddle-purchase-gone wrong. It’s some combination of the sunk cost fallacy and being really sucked into the marketing gimmicks, I would guess.
I think I’m guilty of this. 
I have a 2016 custom CWD that fits a number of horses “good enough,” but has never fit an individual horse really well. Including the one it was supposedly custom made for. I can’t bring myself to sell it at the prices I’ve been quoted. I own a lot of shims, and three other saddles…
