So I fell in love with the Voltaire Blue Infinite at a horse show last week. My previous saddle is a Stuttgart and I was looking for something different. I rode in a demo (2023) from the Voltaire rep and loved it. After doing some more research and before spending almost $10k on a new one I found a 2020 with all of the specs I needed. I got it in and tried it and it feels great. I let the rep know I found a 2020 that works better in my budget right now and she mentioned that there is a difference between the older models (2019-2022) and the new ones. Does anyone know what the difference is? I would like another perspective on it other then the rep.
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Off the top of my head, I know the models look slightly different but that’s not really helpful.
From the website, it says that the panels and tree were redesigned. In what way, I’m not sure.
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Thank you! That is super helpful! I couldn’t find anything….
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What I’ve heard is that the older ones were built on the leftover Blue Wing/Tad Coffin SmartRide trees and the new ones are now their own design.
I rode in a 2024 last month and liked it but my horse loved it. Unfortunately $9k was just so absurdly far out of the budget.
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I have one of the new ones- it is a different tree, as wanderlust says. My Stuttgart fits my older guy (aka The Tube) beautifully, but it wasn’t the right saddle for his new little brother (Tube Jr.).
I LOVE the Blue Infinite and felt an immediate difference between that one and everything else I tried on him. It has very short, flexible tree points and the tree is also flexible. My younger horse is a short-backed, round, very flexible little guy himself, and the saddle is really comfortable for both of us.
I was getting jumped out of the tack constantly when I had him in my Stuttgart, even with a half pad that made it fit fairly well, and that just doesn’t happen with the new saddle. It’s funny because I got the Stuttgart several years ago when I was getting jumped out of the tack on my other guy, and as soon as I sat in THAT one it was perfect for us both. It’s amazing what a saddle that fits you and the horse can do!
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That makes sense, I wonder if the newer version really makes that much difference? I have a 2020 I think I’m going to take a chance on, so far I like it. I will spend the money on a new one, but I’m just not that convinced I would feel that much difference 
Is this just for one horse or do you need to use it on multiple horses? My understanding after shopping Voltaires extensively this spring is that the benefit of the new-model tree is its flexibility that helps it fit more horses. So if you only ride one horse and like the 2020 you are trying, it probably wouldn’t make that much difference. But my friend who was looking at them needed it for multiple horses and found that the new tree really did have a more versatile fit (and she was skeptical til she took one on trial). And it also makes sense that you had a Stuttgart before, because apparently people who like the Stuttgarts like the feel of the Blue Infinite better than the Palm Beach riders do.
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