Major Beale the miracle worker

Charlie and I had the most amazing lesson with Major Beale today.  The essence of it was how to get Charlie using his hind legs more.  There were three things that brought it all together.  First, my expectations for Charlie need to be immediate response.  Not a few seconds after I ask, not after a few steps of walk, but when I say "trot", he says "how fast?".  So the first thing we worked on was transitions with prompt responses.  It helps to have another person saying it, instead of me, because then I don't get to pick the time and spot (although when I'm alone, I pick a spot - like passing a particular rail so that I make it prompt).
The second part was thinking about the first step of the next gait before I finished the transition.  So if I was doing a canter to trot, I started thinking about the trot, and how I wanted the trot to feel, just before I asked for the downward transition.  What this really was thinking through each part of the movement and not "blurring" it.  Instead of skidding down, I thought about a half halt and how the first step should feel.
The third was lateral work.  But - good lateral work.  I am prone to overdoing (overangling, more precisely) the lateral work, which defeats the purpose of it.  So lateral work needed to be prompt and responsive - Charlie's legs needed to move the same speed as they would if we weren't doing lateral work - but not too angled so that he hit himself with his own legs.  Major Beale had to draw the lines on the ground with his foot, but once he did, I could picture where Charlie's legs needed to go.  Head to the wall leg yield is only a 35 degree angle, which is much, much less than what I've been doing.
All of these, plus thinking about my outside rein and sitting back a bit more in the canter with my legs a bit more in front of me, allowed Charlie to lift up his back, get even through his shoulders, and then it was like riding on a cloud.  It was divine.  I was grinning from ear to ear.
Once we got there, it was magic, but it was hard for me to get there - I'm really uncomfortable with feeling it on my own.  For the walk, I had to think about holding him with my core while I tickled him with the whip and the spurs until he really lifted up and got moving.  As soon as he lifted, I could feel it, but it will be hard on my own to trust that I've got it right and am not just pushing him onto his forehand. 
I also needed to do a bit of shoulder fore in the canter to keep him from getting crooked.
For rein back, you ask with one side, then the other.  It isn't pulling back with both hands, which makes his head pop up.
And as a special bonus, with one halt, we were absolutely, perfectly square!
So transitions are prompt and quick and with impulsion - I want that feeling of his back lifted being the first step of the next transition.
It was a really amazing lesson, and I got what felt like a year's worth of information out of it, but in a way that was really easy for me to feel and digest and understand.  What a great way to start the solstice.