Superstar Jumping Willig!

We had the only jump lesson I could work with my schedule this month today, and of course, it had been raining all day, I was racing around like a madwoman (had to go to work, got to barn late, rush-rush-rush), and it was the tail end of Pony Club, which was inside because of the rain. Fortunately, Shannon's indoor arena is huge, and so even though the group lesson was at one end, and three other people were riding, we managed to squeeze in five minutes of lunging (Willig also got most of the week off - only ridden by J while I worked crazy hours) where he wanted to buck (he did his pre-buck-head-toss but couldn't get his bucks out because the circle was too small).
So all that being said, I thought, grimly, "Well, at least it will be a day where Shannon can teach me how to react when he acts up." Maybe because it was SO overwhelming, or maybe because Shannon immediately made us do 200 things at once, so neither of us had time to think about anything but following directions - he was just fine. In fact, he was better than fine.
He did one little kick when I smacked him with the whip inside (and we did some work on my hands being off - more to come on this towards the end), but he leapt forward, and so Shannon said to praise him anyway. Plus, I kind of deserved the attitude - I was frazzled with expectation about him being bad and so much going on that I wasn't doing a good job giving him clear aids.
The heavy drizzle turned into a light drizzle, so we went outside and jumped a little jump a few times, when, of course with the way the day was going, the Pony Club group lesson ended so people, horses, and trucks and trailers were going every which way, and it was me (ME!) who had trouble paying attention to the jumps and what Shannon wanted us to do - not Willig, who, while flicking his ear mildly in that direction, had (!!) kind of a "ho hum" attitude about it all.
Someone had set up a really cute jump course (earlier in the week I was looking at it enviously) with some ivy and flowers on and below most of the fences, so then Shannon took it up a notch and made us jump a course. At the canter. Over very tiny fences. And I had a big gulp and she told me (colorfully) to ride it aggressively. So with her yelling the necessary instructions (heels forward! sit back! breathe! kick him forward! stop pulling back on him!) we aced it.
She raised the fences, added a couple more, yelled pretty much exactly the same instructions, and we aced it again. He hesitated a bit at the blue barrels, and then he eyeballed her jacket hanging on the fence, but man oh man - J's riding him is REALLY showing.
So it was a huge confidence booster - I was just beaming and patting him and he continued with his "ho hum" attitude, but then I casually asked "What do you mean by steer him with the outside rein?"
Oh lord. Apparently this is one of those huge gaping holes that is so obvious that no one would think that I didn't know anything about it. But I don't. And I didn't understand the mechanics of it and so Shannon had to, very very slowly and patiently and repetitively, explain it. This is something huge that we are going to have to work on. I am still not totally getting it, but Shannon described it as being like a wheelbarrow - you don't turn just one of the handles. Or on your bike. Or, apparently for everyone else in the world, on your horse.
So all this time when she has been telling me and Mike has been telling me to give with my inside hand - they mean something entirely different than what I have been trying to do. And this plays into why my hands are so uneven (another thing I really need to start correcting).
So this is a huge lesson that I'll be working on.
But oh my goodness. What a great ride with Willig. And I've gained a tiny bit of confidence back, J riding him is a great thing for both of us, and I need to stop being such a chicken and just ride him. Today was just hugely full of great lessons, but T is waiting for me to watch a movie (my tiny bit of relaxation for this weekend - next week is another mad rush through the week with too much to do at work for the hours there are, let alone ride and run and clean the house and walk the dog), and then my mom, sister, and nephew are visiting. Then we start getting into lots of summer horsey weekends - yay!