Good season for Dime and Magda

Aurora Midnight Diamond (Pilot x Silver Crescent)

Written by Dime’s rider, Magda Dunowska.

“The 2022/23 CTR/endurance season finished with WATRC champs on Sunday. Dime felt great and finished 4th on a score of 91, behind some very impressive scores of the first three (including 73 for Anna and Kat!) so a great finish to yet another successful season. Dime has matured into a pretty reliable horse. I love his confidence and independence – he is never spooky and usually gives out steady, relaxed vibes, making him great company for greener horses (there are still some exceptions to that rule lol). The downside of his relaxed attitude to life is that it is still a challenge to convince him to go at speed over the distance, and he strolls rather leisurely at the walk. He is definitely getting better on both fronts, but still room for improvement

“My goal for this season was to give him more experience at a 40-km distance at the intermediate speed and introduce him to an open speed. Between ESNZ-affiliated and non-affiliated clubs, we have done 520 competitive km including 4 x 40 km (he is an intermediate horse now) and 6 x 30 km rides (3 of those at the open speed). He also did two double-ride weekends (30+20 and 40+20). So, ticks for both aims."

“He placed 1st in CTR five times (one of those with no competition though), and came with a score of less than 90 twice (85 and 88) – funny enough only the 85 was a win! He had no vet-outs and only one non-qualifier due to a course error, so not his fault. The plan for the next year is to go higher in distance and introduce him (and myself) to multi-loop rides, probably just 60 km to start with and see where it’ll take us.”

(pics from Magda)