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   You are asking for input or individual opinion on the Dixie Midnight 
pad. As with EVERYTHING from bits, to hoof protection and ESPECIALLY 
saddles, it really doesn't matter at all how much something costs or if 
it's the exact model that a top winning team of horse and rider uses. It 
only comes down to what works for your HORSE and YOU and we all know 
that each and every horse is built different. You will NEVER have a 
"perfect"  and worthwhile answer to your question until YOU use the 
product and see for yourself and assess how it works for the comfort and 
response of your horse.
  
    I had bought a cheap Abetta saddle for $275.00 a few years back and 
there wasn't a thing wrong with it. But the more I got into this sport 
and followed the perpetual repartee' among riders about their search for 
the perfect saddle, I just KNEW that a cheapo deepo $275 dollar Abetta 
MUST be an inferior saddle for my horse so I proceeded to buy a bunch of 
different high end saddles and spent thousands of dollars. Well, it was 
an expensive lesson and I have a tack shed FULL of wonderful saddles, 
but alas.....NONE of them fit my horse or me like that cheap Abetta and 
we went on to complete the Tevis twice in that same saddle. So the gist 
is, gather all the info you get in order to HELP you to assess the pros 
& cons to look for, but give the product that you already purchased a 
try and see what YOU think because only YOU will know or see the 
differences, either pro or con, in your horse. But seeing as how you 
were looking for opinions....

   I live at an altitude that's close to 10,000 feet and it doesn't get 
very hot or humid here. All of the rides that I do are usually much 
warmer and the Tevis is known for the heat in the canyons reaching into 
the low hundreds! The horse that I ride is a Paso Fino named "Cabo" and 
he is heavier muscled and doesn't have the surface capillaries to 
disperse the heat like an Arab. If he gets TOO hot his pulse takes 
longer to come down at vet checks so I am always ready to pull the 
saddle immediately even if it's not required. I am aware of his need to 
have a pad that HELPS with that issue and doesn't make it worse. I had 
heard about the Dixie Midnight pad, read what I could and asked about 
them from other riders. About 3 years ago I bought one, cut it to fit 
the Abetta and under the Skito saddle pad that I use and gave it a try. 
Yes he is still usually wet UNDER the pad when it's hot, but there is 
definitely air flow and cooling happening. I was able to take this Dixie 
Midnight experiment  further because I also own "Colorado", the 
metabolic and physical "clone" brother to Cabo and I could ABSOLUTELY 
see the difference when I'd have a friend riding his brother at the same 
speeds and distances together with me side by side. Before the Dixie 
Midnight, both Cabo & Colorado would have the same degree of wetness 
when we'd pull the saddles & pads. I started using the Dixie ONLY on 
Cabo and found that he was consistently LESS sweaty than Colorado, and 
the Skito just wasn't getting hardly damp at all. There were times that 
the temps are mild and Cabo would be barely damp and Colorado would be 
just dripping when before the Dixie, they had ALWAYS  been equally  the 
same degree of  sweatiness.
  
   Just like I had done with the saddle experiment before, I had 
decided to give a $300 Equipedic 100% wool pad a try, even though we had 
nothing that was "broke" in the first place. Hell, it's pretty expensive 
so it just HAD to be better than the Skito right? (Actually I bought it 
because I liked the color. Ha!) I used it for one of the three 50 mile 
days of the Strawberry Fields ride this spring. I had used my Skito & 
Dixie on day one and Cabo pulsed down in his expected and usually 
predictable time for the terrain & speed. On day 2, I DIDN'T use the 
Dixie and only went with the new Equipedic wool pad. All morning he was 
taking longer to pulse down & I didn't understand why. So I decided to 
pull the saddle at the vet checks and gate & go's"  & he was always 
soaked. I had been riding with Christoph, Garret, Tennessee & Dian 
Woodward all morning. Dian was riding Salty who would go on to Top Ten 
at Tevis this year. Salty wasn't coming down for Dian as he usually did 
and she commented, "Damn I shouldn't have used that wool pad today, he's 
holding in too much heat". BINGO! On the next loop back into camp, I ran 
and got the Dixie and threw it under the pricey soaked wool pad. Viola! 
He pulsed down the entire rest of the day faster, despite the hotter 
wool pad, and he wasn't anywhere NEAR as wet & drippy though it was now 
the afternoon & temps were higher. So the Dixie Midnight is now a 
permanent part of his tack. Never have had any rubs or soreness either 
and the bonus is that my Skito hardly ever needs to be washed as it 
NEVER gets dirty OR wet. Hey, but that's just how it has worked for ME & 
MY horse.

   This is ONLY a suggestion but you COULD fold your Dixie in half so 
it is doubled up but sits under only ONE side of the saddle. (They grip 
pretty well so it shouldn't slip out if folded right.) Go out on a good 
work-out but not long enough to make him sore from the difference in 
thicknesses on one side more than the other. Just ride him long enough 
to get him just a LITTLE sweaty. Then remove the saddle & pad & see for 
yourself if one side looks wetter than the other and that might answer 
your "air flow" question. JMHO & suggestion.
Melissa Margetts

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