Skinnies with Meg

Tonight I shared Meg's jump lesson, which was great because we did some crazy things.
First, John set up ground poles to make a chute, but on both sides of the fence, and in a "three stride" line.  So you turned right, went through the chute, over the fence, through the chute, rode three strides, through the chute, over the fence, through the chute.
Then we did it to the left.
At first I thought, "this is going to be a freaking disaster" but it actually went ok.  The hardest part was getting the three strides in between the two fences.  I had a much harder time getting the distance off the left lead, and John said I was staring down the second fence instead of looking up after I got over the first fence.
Then he went totally crazy and changed the second fence (still left lead) to a barrel standing upright.  Just a barrel.  You rode chute, vertical, chute, 3 strides, chute, barrel.
The first time, Charlie jumped it a bit to the left, but after that he pretty much figured out he was supposed to jump over the top of this barrel, and did it like a champ.
Then John added a skinny rail over the barrel and put the standards in, and then it was a cake walk to jump.
John said it was an exercise to show us how we tend to get sloppy and not ride very precisely.  The narrowest training level fence will still be another foot wider than the jump with the skinny rail, which was luxuriously huge compared to the barrel.  He said it is a good reminder to choose the spot and ride it precisely, and how important it is not to deviate in the chute.
Other than how hard it was for me to get three strides (something John said he wouldn't have even asked me to do last year), what was really illuminating was that Charlie landed on his left lead most of the time; at least the front.  So John said that was really good to know, and that he thinks that Charlie is probably drifting, I'm trying to correct it, and that's what's making him land on the right lead.  So he said we'll be working on these types of exercises more.
Great lesson.
Also, John said ok to use the ammonia about once a week, but that it really dries out the leather.
He also said he feeds timothy because it is more consistent than orchard; that thoroughbreds go off orchard a lot because it seems to vary considerably depending on the fertilizer - like some bales are good and some aren't.  He said if Charlie doesn't eat a flake in a day, take it out and replace it; don't leave it sitting in there all week.