XC at Lincoln Creek; winter projects

Cross country was fun.  Charlie was a bit of a dud in warm up again, but once we got galloping on the course, he perked up.  Like last time though, he seemed to be looking at the sidelines a bit more than the fences.  I'm wondering if his right hip is bothering him and that's why he seems to be missing his usual zest.
The course was fun.  It was a good course for Charlie because it had long stretches of gallop, so we could do those and make up some time, and then slow down for the trickier combinations.
There were several wide tables, which were fun because we had that "hang time" in the air.
Charlie did great on the trickier elements.  There was a log with a left turn up the hill to a log on top and down the hill.  We lost some momentum on the way up and trotted the first few steps down, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would feel.
He did great on the skinny with a hard C to another skinny and a mound under the hard C.
The roll top to a down bank into the water with a left hand turn out over another skinny, we had the same problem as at Inavale - going into the water I flopped up and over his left shoulder, but we recovered and he didn't go all crazy so we got out ok.  I know the water was really deep, but now that it has happened twice, it is probably one we should work on.
The up bank was no problem, and he rode the rail, two tight downhill strides to a ditch, several strides bending left to a shark tooth like it was a cakewalk.
We were a little fast, so we did a gentle canter to the last fence and across the finish line, and were still about 20 seconds fast.
In my class, we ended up 10th (from 15th).  All nine riders ahead of me were professionals.  The seven or so riders who weren't all ended up below me.  So I guess that is good, but I need to get better at dressage so I can start holding my own if from now on I have to compete against the professionals.

I started thinking about what we need to work on during the drive home:
1.  Flying changes
2.  Faster response to the leg aid  (which means I also have to keep my aids OFF except when I want to give one)
3.  More "oomph" coming from the hind legs (for lengthenings and for the "jump" in the canter)

I thought of a lot more than that, but I got up at 4 am yesterday and 4:30 today, so am not on my A game.
I also want to talk to John about how to school the technical stuff that shows up at Prelim.  I don't even know what it looks like, let alone how to ride it, and how much we need to school before we're ready to compete.
This year was an "off" year - training level for experience, with next year the training level to win.  But for the shows we did, we did pretty well.  I think next year is definitely starting at Training, maybe doing some derbies at Prelim, doing the Rebecca 3 day at Training, and then maybe finishing the season at Prelim.

I am so lucky to have Charlie.  He is just such a great horse.