Figure 8 verticals and a corner

We started with some flat work with Brooke.  Mom videoed yesterday, and I noticed Charlie's left lead canter was a bit stilted, with his haunches in down the long side.  Before I even told John, he fixed it by having me bend Charlie to the right both directions.  For the left lead, it was a counter bend, and it shifted his weight so he couldn't keep his haunches in.  But for the right lead, it was to the right to soften his stiff side.  It was interesting how well it worked, but was counterintuitive to what I would have tried to do (a counterbend both directions).
John also had me keep Charlie a bit more active, and that meant a lot more adjustment than I normally do.  For example, he'd have me push him to the outside with the inside leg, then do a half halt with the outside rein with a tap with the whip at the same time, and follow that by closing both legs and asking him to step forward.  We got some really nice trot out of it, but I'm not sure I'm quite ready yet to put all those steps together (or know when to use each one) on my own.
We started with a figure 8, which John gradually raised to be not very big fences.  We had a much harder time with the fence that was a change to the left off of the right lead, even though there was a lot more space to make the turn.  We spent a while making circles each time trying to get the lead, although it wasn't anywhere near as bad as last year.
I had one very pukey jump, and John said that at the last minute, I tried to fix it, but was too close.  He said that at the beginning of the ride, I'm not going to have the flexibility that I do after I've got him going, so I can't make changes at the last second.
We jumped the corner three times.  The first was ok, the second was perfect but we totally knocked it down, and the third was good.  John said not to worry about the knocked down one, it just happens sometimes and there was nothing about the jump he would have changed.
Charlie got quite forward to the fences, and John said the thing he liked the most today was Charlie's willingness to be responsive and to try.  I said it was him being forward, but I think it was the same thing.  I didn't really have to battle him all the way around to just go.
I did need my right heel down more, but in the videos mom and dad took, my form actually looks pretty decent.  My hands and lower leg seem to be pretty still, but there does look like a lot of motion in my upper back, like a vertical see saw going back and forth.
John also had us do some trot lengthening, right in the middle of the fences, which Charlie did absolutely brilliantly.
I asked him why my form last lesson was so bad over the big fence.  He said that Charlie rounds up really high, and I am having to kick him, tighten him, through the combination, so it doesn't really set me up to ride right.  He said because Charlie doesn't knock rails, we don't have to work much on his form, and his bascule is a big pop.  Well, that's the best way I can summarize it.
He also told me not to "curl" my left hand, which when I looked down, I was totally doing.  I think what I need instead are shorter reins.
We also did some haunches in, but I have (surprise) been doing them wrong.  His neck stays bent to the INSIDE, and then haunches come in.  So it is not just sideways, but with a bent neck. For example, if we're going right, his neck is bent right, and then the haunches come in to the right, so his body makes a C shape.  It is not an "I" or lowercase "l" stuck out from the wall, but a curve of his nose towards his tail.