Charlie jumps like a rock star, in case I haven't mentioned that recently

We had a jump lesson this morning before the heat wave starts, and Mr. Charlie was once again an absolute delight. Shannon's focus was on getting a responsive Charlie ahead of my leg, keeping my leg in the "defensive" position (really just so I didn't nag him, I think), and then keeping my chest open. We did a few courses, with some bendy lines, a 3 stride combination (that I unbelievably, twice rode in 2 strides before fixing it the third time - which is a miracle if you look back 6 months ago where I consistently puttered around like I was running on fumes and almost out of gas), and a line to an angled vertical. The work we did on adding strides a month or so ago made a huge impact on how I see the spot, and I'm now far more comfortable riding up close to the base of the jump (at least, it feels close to me, but now it's a doable close instead of my previous tendency to launch at everything from 10' away). The other thing that feels a lot better is bending from the outside rein and leg. I've started to think of that much sooner on the bend, and if I start asking for it at a reasonable time (not when we're towards the end of the bend because I can be really, really painfully slow in sending the message from my brain to my hand and leg), it really helps us make tighter corners much more smoothly. Next week, Shannon wants to measure out the distance with the meter wheel and set up fences along the outside so that we can work on speed and try to get a better feel for BN speed with the last two shows coming up. Like always, Charlie was a blast to ride, and we felt really smooth and connected today, without some of my weird disconnection.