Super satisfying lesson!

I told Shannon I was ready to take it up a notch from our last lesson (ground poles) and suggested some of the raised poles (i.e. 2" off the ground).
We started out on warm up, and Shannon, after patiently repeating herself about a hundred times, finally got through to me on a very, very important point: HANDS STAY STILL.
So one of the life habits that needs to be corrected is that I steer with the reins, and with the inside one when I'm turning to the inside. We touched on this many, many lessons ago, but I've had so many other things to work on that we haven't gotten back to it.
So Willig was being a bit of a goof (raising his head in the air, moving his shoulder to the inside) going past the scary end, so Shannon said "keep your contact steady, your hands still, and move him with your inside leg into your outside rein to keep him from running in". Sound simple enough, but when he'd raise his head, I'd squeeze (and cross over!) with the inside hand, and then my hands would go uneven and then his head would raise higher.
So finally, she told me to think that my hands were side reins, and they DON'T MOVE, and to ride him with my leg, and I thought "Shannon is full of it, but just to prove she's wrong, and because the way I've been doing it for the past 3 years isn't working, I'll just show her that if I do it her way, he bolts".
And you can see this coming ... I did it her way, and lo and behold, his head stayed in frame, he didn't bulge, and we just went smooth as could be past the scary end.
And it wasn't a one time freak coincidence. When I'm not wiggling all around with my hands, he doesn't have to squirm all around with his head.
Now, that would have been enough for me to call the whole month a roaring success, but noooo ... Shannon had to push us a bit.
So she set up a little cross rail with two ground poles, and we jumped it from the trot - with the door open! eek! - and then at a canter and then trotting from the other side, and then cantering from the other side. And Shannon had to remind me to keep my heels down and to come in defensively (butt in the saddle, not perched forward on the saddle) and to let him jump, not stand up in the stirrups, and the first couple times I had to cluck and ride him my teeny tiny wimpy way forward, but then he was like "ho-hum". He hasn't jumped in probably a month, and that's his response: "ho-hum".
So she turned it to a vertical: "ho-hum".
Then she set up a regular standard that had a long straight away back towards the barn (you came off a circle, but then he had lots of room to bolt or buck), and then raised it and raised it and raised it. He came towards that a little more forward than the "short-side" fence, but not a moment of hesitation - he jumped a bit long, a bit short, and a bit just right (not in that order) and each time after the fence, while I got myself back together, Shannon moved it up another hole.
She said that it's me who's getting nervous, as I come around the circle and see it's higher, I'm the one who's tensing up and holding him back, and that I have to forget that he used to bolt and buck, and ride him like he's going to be good, but prepared for if he's not.
It was great. I was just all smiles afterwards.
So everything is coming together. I'll see how the next lesson goes, but maybe we can put a couple derbies back on the calendar. And - note to self - ask Shannon for jumping homework after that lesson.
And it is - all this stuff ties together - I don't want to overthink it, but maybe he's nervous because I rode him poorly for the couple years before I got to Mike and Shannon, and so maybe now we can correct that (and I'll become a better rider!).