Countdown to D Day

No, it's not a new invasion of the Normandy beaches (although sand will be involved).  

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It's February 15, and it's Dallas' first dressage show of the year. 

It will also be his first time cantering in a dressage test. 

I know that it sounds silly, given that we have been partners for 4 years.  But the first 2 years I spent simply undoing 15 years of poor/sporadic training.   The third year he spent doing walk trot lessons while I trained my OTTB. It has only been in the last year or so that we have even begun to unravel the disaster that is his canter.  

It's still a crapshoot most days as to the quality of the canter, but at least now he will pick up both leads fairly reliably, with a proper transition (minimal flailing).  He's even thrown in a flying change now and again, just to keep me on my toes.  

So, for the next month, we work, we practice, we finesse.  Working on trot/canter transitions isn't the most glamorous thing, but the potential is there. I firmly believe that 95%of all horses are capable of a decent Training Level dressage test.  

I can't let my own horse prove me wrong!