Group dressage lesson

Today's lesson was with Ashley, Peaches, and two of John's boarders (kids on ponies).  Charlie got to be the leader, which was a surprise to everyone involved, including him.  He got a little spring in his step from the honor.
The biggest insight was for the bend to the inside, instead of pulling my hand down, pull it back, like from my elbow.
We went over the aids for a flying change, because yesterday at home, Charlie made his neck all stuck out and stiff instead of bending to the inside, and John confirmed that yes, I bend him to the inside, reverse my leg aids (so they're for the correct lead), and then do a half halt with the outside rein.  He said that if Charlie has a stiff neck or tries to swing his haunches out to avoid it, bring his haunches in, and then if I have to, make the circle so small he does a trot step to change.
The group lesson had a lot of changes of direction, some leg yield (trot and canter), some lengthening (trot and canter), and 20 meter circles.  We'd also turn down the center line (trot and canter) and then change direction, as well as some shoulder in, then haunches in (just a tiny bit), and a bit of counter bend.  Because Charlie was so much faster (?!) than the other horses, a couple times we had to do some shortening of his trot.
It was really fun to work in a group, and good practice for show season coming up, since I spend so much time alone.  Charlie seemed to really like being leader of the pack, and I rode most of the lesson in the sitting trot.  It kept me busy enough, though, all the changes, and leading, so that I couldn't really watch the other riders very much.
Next week I'll go back to lessons twice a week, although things start picking up with work, John's shows, and weekend shows so those won't get to be as consistent as January was with my 2 on Saturday.