Back to School Blast at Caber Farm

Today was our final derby for this year, with the Willowbrook Pony Club's Back to School Blast at Caber. Just like the last pony club show at Caber, this was well run and fun.
Willig was in 1st place after dressage (and he won an embroidered saddle pad!) with a score of 33.5. But then in show jumping, he got nervous about the poles piled next to the barn. Yes, seriously. It was windy, there were a zillion things moving, but heaven forbid should he go past poles stacked on the ground - just. like. at. home.
But backing up a bit. We were warming up with just one other rider in the warm up arena, and his horse was refusing the cross rail over and over again. His trainer came out and had him ride towards the vertical instead (on the far left; cross rail is in the center) and when the horse was approaching, she seemed to jump out at him to scare him over it? It did scare him, into bolting across the arena, with the saddle falling off, and therefore, also the rider. It also scared the bejesus out of Willig, who had been just fine up to that point, but his stupid rider (me) was riding him just a few strides behind but over the cross rail.
So his brain got frazzled, the way that it is wont to do, and rather than stay in the arena with what seemed to me to be fairly unpredictable riders (and all the jr. hopefuls about to swarm in), we went ahead to show jump.
I got two penalties for it, but I don't actually know how penalties work in show jumping, despite riding it my entire high school career - BECAUSE I never had a horse that refused before.
But we were doing excellent - cantering, even! And even with his head popping up to look and then back down and then UP to look and then back down and then UP just in case a new monster appeared, and back down, he was jumping gorgeous.
Until those poles. So he got jiggy, like crazy jiggy, so I just stopped and let him look, since we were still several strides away from the fence. Then I turned him away from the fence, rode it, and he shot out to the right (away from the poles), so we made a circle and went over it (still jiggy).
I'm assuming my decision to stop (not a refusal on his part) was the first penalty, and then his actual refusal was the second.
Going back in time - dressage felt so-so, but obviously was satisfying to the judge. He had a couple weird bobbles, like maybe he was thinking about bucking but decided against it - or he was just being clumsy? He got an 8 for his medium walk and an 8 for his gaits. The rest were 6s and 7s. For rider, it says "tactful" and I don't know what that means. Also, in a move of suave brilliance, I wore my dressage jacket misbuttoned by a hole the entire ride. When I looked down at the salute, I finally saw it. Which begs the question - if I can't button a jacket properly, what in the world am I doing on a horse? (Or driving a car?)
The other big difference from when I got Willig is he is now Mr. Smooth standing around. He was completely unflustered by all the activity. At least, outwardly. He did a series of his downward dog stretches which almost always indicates stress, but he wasn't acting up. He was also Mr. Tall, with at least 5 people asking me how tall he is (17.1, for those of you who have never seen him and aren't curious.)
Cross country was the same as last time (the same course), and he nailed it. We even cantered between some fences and cantered one! He was more focused this time though.
What I DON'T get is why we had four refusals at Lincoln Creek and none here either time (at x-country). I'm not riding that differently, but I also couldn't see what was different between the two. If I had to name one as scarier, it would be Caber, just because there's SO much activity back in the show jumping and tents, and warm up arenas with their colored flags.
So I think for next year we'll work hard all winter (and keep using J's fabulous help!) and try to get the size up and the scary factor up, and then start by entering him into hopeful again, but after three clear shows, move him up. The beginner novice fences are WAY scarier and bigger, and obviously, I still have things I need to improve if he's getting away with refusals, but the size of these fences was no longer even remotely intimidating.
Big pats for Willig. He's really coming along. I had fun on him again today. I was relaxed!