No, I’m not being profane. GDF is not twitter-speek for an insult too nasty to spell out. If you a) are saving your pennies by skipping WEG and b) are a DQ or wannabe DQ, then you should head on over to the Netherlands in October for the tenth annual Global Dressage Forum. I was concerned last year that the event might not continue into this decade, because it pretty consistently loses money for its dedicated hosts at the Academy Bartels. But they rallied yet again, and have put together a truly outstanding program for 2010. I’m not given to plugging commerce in this space, but the GDF is so much more than that. This will be my fifth GDF and I think it will be the best ever. The lid has slowly been coming off people’s reluctance to speak out for and against controversial issues. I’ve seen some pretty juicy debates at past Forums, and I’m sure that this year will be at least as titillating as any in that regard. And if you can’t see Edward Gal live in Kentucky, you can get up close and personal with him and his training secrets at the GDF this year. Giddy Up!