I currently own a CWD 2Gs, and both I and my horses love it. The carbon fiber tree seems to do wonders for my hard-to-fit guy when no other saddle would fit quite right. To give you an idea of how hard he was to fit, I tried a Tad Coffin, a Pessoa, an Ovation, two M. Toulouse saddles, an Antares, a Voltaire, a CWD SE01, and then finally the 2G. I’m telling you, finding a saddle that would fit him was a pain in the butt. Surprisingly, the 2Gs that I had custom made for my hard to fit guy also fits my younger gelding almost like a glove according to my non-CWD affiliated saddle fitter. I personally think that the carbon fiber tree does a great job of flexing with the horse’s movement and allowing it to fit a wider range of horses. Both of my guys perform amazingly better when ridden in the 2G than any other saddle I have put on them. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that it is incredibly comfortable to ride in. My trainer who has a Voltaire even agreed that my saddle is the most comfortable saddle she has ever sat in. The squishy seat and knee rolls are what dreams are made of. It was definitely worth the money in my opinion, and I would not choose another saddle for me or my guys.
That being said, I will say that despite how much I love my 2G, their customer service is iffy at best and your experience will depend greatly on your state’s rep. For example, the first rep I dealt with sold me a SE01 that he guaranteed would fit my hard-to-fit guy. It finally came in after 12 weeks only for me to find that it did NOT fit my guy in the least. After thirteen unanswered emails, another rep came out to my farm to evaluate the fit. We ended up sending it off one more time to get adjustments, but it came back fitting even worse. The rep was incredibly apologetic and did her best to try and fix the situation that the previous rep had created. She did an excellent job of helping me find the perfect saddle. Finally, after months and months of arguing that it just wouldn’t fit, CWD gave me a full refund on my SE01 and put it towards the purchase of a brand new custom hunter 2G. I haven’t had any problems since as it is a perfect fit for my two guys and rides like a dream. Really, the rep you work with makes all the difference.
Also, I have never personally seen any CWD saddles end up with a broken tree unless that were abused by the owner. There are lots of barns in my area that ride in CWD saddles without a problem. I wouldn’t rule them out completely until you get a chance to ride in one! If you treat it right, it will hold up.
