5 or 6 stride grid with John

Today we worked on two things, changing lead over a ground pole and then the same grid but in a different set up.
The lead change was encouraging, in the sense that it isn't me (for once), but Charlie genuinely appears to have no idea what I'm asking him to do, so when I was working on it at home, I wasn't totally out to lunch.
John set up a ground pole, and had me canter on a right lead circle, go over the pole and change direction and ask for the left lead.  Charlie pretty much did it twice in 15 minutes.  The two pieces I have a hard time with are having him enough forward, so that he has enough impulsion to change in the air, and then with enough aids enough ahead of time - this includes whip and leg a few strides out.  If he doesn't change, instead of changing through the trot, make him counter canter (with his neck bent to the left lead) so that it is harder work for him not to change the lead than to change it.  John tried throwing his hat at Charlie and also putting out a second pole, but it seemed to be more dumb luck - with Charlie leaping huge through the air for a change - than him catching on.  Sometimes he'd change just the front or just the back, but then he'd flip back to the right lead next chance he got.
So we can continue to work on that on our own - I was not on the wrong track, and the tips were super helpful.  John noted that Shannon found that Charlie did just fine going around on the wrong lead, so I think he never learned, and he's got 12 years of it not mattering under his belt that I'll need to get through.  He's really good on the flat with the simple changes, so I think it's just a question of helping him have the light bulb go off.
Then we did the grid, with a trot to a small cross rail, two ground poles (one canter stride - I stepped it but it was a weird distance, like 9' to the first one, but then 4 1/2' to the second?) and then, depending on what John yelled, either 5 or 6 strides to a vertical, which ended at about 3'6".  Charlie jumped it like a freaking champ, regardless of whether we were doing 5 or 6 strides, and because he was rocking back and lifting up, it was easier for me to keep my legs down and centered.  It was great.
John gave me a course to work on at home - he says that when I'm alone I really need to work on "flow", so having three fences that I can turn easily into a 7 jump course (vertical at E, angle to a vertical on center line, then vertical at M, then go down longside back to E and change direction over center line, then do M to center line to E, etc.).  He said also that I don't need to jump more than 3' at home.
Love the lessons with John!!