Lesson on 10/1 - working on the bit

This lesson started with a discussion of my goals (posted a few posts ago), and Bob had a few comments. He said that some of the dressage goals, like the transitions, bend, and impulsion, are more Mercury than me; that he needs to improve his balance before he can do those. He said that Mercury probably physically can't score in the 7's & 8's all the way through a test. In the video of the test (aside from me being on the wrong diagnol which is humiliating), he says while he started looking great, Bob could even see some of the gimp by the time he was near the end.
He also added that I need to have as goals "Be happy." and "Have fun." that it is supposed to be fun for me and relaxing, not work.
I'm making a new goal for October:
Work on maintaining three things: 1) head position (feel the bubble); 2) impulsion; and 3) bend - in two laps around the arena and in circles, and hopefully in serpentines. (I have a much harder time with serpentines because too much happens too fast.)
So then I started the lesson, and Bob first said that I post too forward and back, like I'm launching out of the saddle, and I should post small up and down. So as soon as I tried to do that, my legs started swinging and he said to keep them still.
Then we started working on Mercury's head position, but we weren't sure how much we could do because he appears to have broken his nose in the one day I didn't go check on him. There's a big hard lump on one side, with a smaller lump down where the caveson goes. So he was working in a loose caveson and flash during the lesson which makes him fight more (he opens his mouth, so instead of 1", I have to move 3").
Anyway, Bob had to ride him. He rode for about 10 minutes and made Mercury look fabulous, even though he fought Bob a lot. Then when it was my turn again, I couldn't get him to do it. It is a steady inside hand with some bend, and then half halts on the outside hand. And I wasn't making them strong enough or frequent enough.
As the lesson went on, I got it, and every once in a while we'd have one step where he lifted his back and pushed from behind, and it was really easy to feel the difference. It felt like we were floating and going slower. It was soft. That's the "bubble" I said above.
So we worked on going around for two laps, making circles, and serpentines and that was about it. Bob said not to canter this week because it'll mess up the head set, and that from now on, unless he is being relaxed on a loose rein, he always has the head-set - for walk or trot.
It's hard because it is constant work from me. If my fingers slip or I don't pay attention, his head shoots right back up and it takes several steps to get it back down. He just tests and tests and tests. And I'm not very fast at taking up the reins, so I have to pull my hand back to make the bend, and then adjust my fingers after the bend is finished.
Mercury also hangs on my hands really bad, and Bob said to get him off my hands by strong half halts. The test is (aside from feeling the weight), if I let the inside rein go loose, does his head shoot up or go down? If it goes up, that means he was hanging it on me. If it goes down, it means he is carrying himself.
Also Bob said to yell at him if he ignores me, but I'm not good at that. He also says to talk to him, to keep him calm and relaxed because he feels like he's going to fall when he's got his head down (I think the prior owners rode him heavily in draw reins), and to tell him to put his head down. Mercury is pretty smart about words, and so when I said "down" he figured out to drop his head.
Also, he wasn't doing this in the lesson, but if he goes behind the bit to escape, just push him forward.
Bob said to do one ride a week where we do nothing but walk on the head set for an hour. Do 15 minutes, take a break, 15 minutes, take a break ...
At the very end of the lesson, Bob gave me three goods. A "good job today, kiddo" and a couple other goods. He and Alice must have talked about praising me. It worked.
What's amazing is how much there is going on. Not only controlling my own body, but the constant corrections and then we have to go around a corner.
Oh right, and extra half halts coming into the corners WITH leg to keep him moving forward.
Another side effect of this was that his back legs didn't do the wobbly thing the entire lesson! Bob says not only was he using them more, but he had to focus instead of being lazy.
Bob is a GREAT trainer.