Chomping at John's

For the first time (?), Duke did his bit chomping thing at John's and stayed pretty tense all the way through his lesson.  It was good, because John got to see it, but I'm not sure what caused it.  There were other horses finishing their lesson when we started, but he stood calmly and didn't seem to care much that they were there (or that they left).  Maybe he was just crabby from finally getting a day of turn out and it only lasted an hour.
We worked on different sized circles, with John helping me again with each aid (each hand, each leg, and sitting up) timed to match what Duke needed.  There was a bit of a eureka moment, where I could feel the connection from outside leg to inside hand, and then could feel how to keep Duke between my legs, and that my legs really could direct his line of travel, and I didn't need my hands (as much).  That was pretty cool, but only lasted for a moment and was gone.  However, I felt it, so now I know what it feels like.
John had us do several short transitions - he'd say "trot", we'd trot just a few steps, and he'd have us go back up to canter.  Our transitions weren't that great, but John said Duke did better about not flinging his shoulders so far out, like he was doing last week.
It was a great lesson, but frustrating that I am so slow to pick up on these fast aids.  It is going to take me a while to be able to ride Duke every step like John can have me do in the lesson.  Hopefully it's not an impossible task.  It's great, because he's so nimble and reactive, but man, when I am riding at home, I am basically a dullard compared to what happens in the lesson.

Hooray for jumping - 7 pole start

It snowed Christmas Eve, so Duke has been inside for the last two days while we wait for it to melt (and the ice to go away).  Yesterday he was a little spooky, but full of energy, but tonight at John's he was perfectly well behaved, although a bit stiff going to the right despite John freeing him up on Saturday.

John said that it was good that he could tune him up so quickly, but that I should be prepared for needing to ride him with lots and lots of aids in his dressage tests like we did in the flat lesson Saturday, and also will need to try to do that subtly.  

We started with some trot work, going from a 20 meter circle to a 10 meter circle, but asking for the circle with my legs instead of with my hands.  Here's how frustrating it must be to teach me:

John:  Now make a 10 meter circle, but ...

Me:  Rips Duke's face around into a 10 meter circle

John:  ... using your legs and not your reins, it's ok to ...

Me:  Lets go of the reins and smashes Duke all around with my legs

John: ... use some rein, don't let go of them completely ...

Me:  Picks back up reins, makes a weird hexagon, looks satisfied and proud that I am using both legs and reins.

We also picked up the canter while on the 10 meter circle, but then immediately let the circle go a bit bigger.  Duke still seems really tuned up from John's ride on him, so we went from both sides to "trying" to go down a line of poles (7 of them, all 6' apart).  My ear immediately heard the word "try" and poor Duke went in, was all "holy shit look at all these poles!" started trotting, tried valiantly to canter, and so we basically hit most of the poles and then tried - tried - tried again.

Duke got more confident as we went through them, and my job was to not launch him to the first one or try to hold him back, so I would start counting on the far corner (1-2-3-4) and just try to keep that rhythm as we went in and let Duke do the rest.

Duke was switching leads around the middle pole, so then I tried keeping my left leg on (he was switching from right lead to left lead) but it made no difference.

So then John turned the middle rail into a tiny vertical, and the first time through we miraculously stayed on the correct lead, but it was a fluke.  So with that, it was 3 ground poles, vertical, 3 ground poles.

From there, John added the far pole into a vertical (3 poles, vertical, 1 pole, vertical, 1 pole), then the first fence (pole, vertical, pole, vertical, pole, vertical, pole).

Then he raised the center vertical up to what looked like a very decent height (gradually) but I measured afterwards and I think it was only 3'9".

I still couldn't get the lead, though, and then I started trying too hard, and ducking over Duke's right shoulder.

When John made the center jump big, in between the first and second (high) jump, I thought about opening my chest.  I also thought about getting my leg down, and giving him a half halt at the corner before the turn to the fence, but then getting out of his face and letting him do his job once we made the turn to the fence.

Then we turned around and did it the other direction, and I couldn't get Duke's lead on that direction either!  At first, we were going right, but we'd come out the far side on the left lead, so I thought for sure when we turned around we'd be on the correct lead, but instead, we'd come out on the right lead.  

It was a very satisfying lesson because it had great build up, but I didn't have as much to think about once we were in the final approach, and could just ride through it staying out of Duke's way.  He sure can get nice and round over the higher fence, and he's very easy to stay balanced on (at least, I feel balanced, I don't know if he'd agree that I am).

Riding Duke after John

Since Duke had his (second) stall rest, I've had a really hard time working him to the right (clockwise).  It is like his neck bends, but his left shoulder isn't moving on the proper track.  John rode him first today - we haven't had a lesson I think since mid-November - and the good news was that I was feeling that correctly, but the bad news was that I wasn't describing it correctly.  John described it as stiff on the left rein - Duke won't give or bend to the left, so he is just blowing off left rein aids.  They got in a little bit of a spat, which John said was when he asked Duke to work harder.  That was interesting too, because maybe that's what was going on with that incident in the indoor arena.
He got quite sweaty from his work with John, but when I got on, he was like a different horse.  He had spring in his step, was light and nimble to the aids, and it was easy to do each aid John told me to do.  The half empty side of this, though, was that while I could follow it (mostly - my reaction time is not as fast as John can talk) - I am not skilled enough yet to ride him step by step.  Which was also a good lesson because I am not even trying to ride step by step at home.  I thought I was, but compared to a lesson, I am just cruising around the arena in cruise control.
He was not off at all with John, though, and I trust John would feel it and let me know, vs the kind of crazy I have been making myself, worrying that I am riding him when he doesn't feel 100%.  Ashley said that thoroughbreds generally don't jump on the day they have their shoes done, that their hoof walls are thinner and more susceptible to a hot nail, and that some even need more than a day off after their shoes are done.
The big takeaways that I can work on at home are - using the outside leg to stop him from moving out (and vice versa, in) on a circle.  If I know that he is about to try to bulge out through his shoulder, I can put the outside leg on at the girth and minimize it.
The other easy takeaway was not pulling steady on the rein, but more of a squeeze/release to move it around.  It is not always a pull back - sometimes it is just jiggling it in Duke's mouth.
We did 20 meter circles, then 10 meter circles, at the trot and canter.  I could feel that he was better balanced - his shoulders felt more square and even.  John had me use my leg with the steps (now-now-now-now) and then, when Duke wanted to rush, slow my posting to slow him down.  He also reminded me at the canter to sit down, not to tilt forward like I am prone to do.
Both legs and the outside rein were a half halt, to balance him.
I kept contact with the outside rein so he had somewhere to reach to, and mostly used the inside rein.
If we were on a circle, and he was bulging his shoulder out, the first aid was a half halt with the outside rein.  If that didn't work, then counterbend to the outside.  As soon as he gave, bend (slowly) back to the inside.
I think John can see the shoulder about to pop, so he has me start giving aids just before it happens, to try to prevent it.  I don't always feel that it is about to happen though.
It was one of those lessons that was great, in that John figured out what my issue was, then told me how to fix it, and I could feel the difference after John's aids, how much better Duke could move.  But it was also a lesson where I realized just how much I still don't know and how much there is to learn. With a few weeks without riding or lessons, I feel like I regress years backwards, and it is frustrating - by 41 I'd like to be a little more confident that I know what I'm doing.

Coffin joint injection (left front) & adjustment

Duke stayed ever so slightly off after John took out the nail, so I took him down to see Dr. Revenaugh and was able to combine it with a visit from Dr. Salewski while we were in Oregon.
Dr. Revenaugh said his flexion was fine, and that he was off in the left front but it was "subtle" (making me feel less like a nut because I could hardly see it or feel it but it was there).  He stayed the same on the lunge line, but lunging on a small circle on the hard ground it was very obvious.
We did x-rays, and had his old (May) x-rays to compare (although it wasn't necessary).  His x-rays were very clean, great looking bones, nothing obvious going on.  Dr. R had a very awesome tool where he could zoom in on any part of the X-ray and make sure there was nothing there.
Dr R said that sometimes, particularly after a shoeing, the foot just gets "p-o'ed" but if you don't get it settled down and keep them working, it starts being a chronic problem, and six months from now, when competition season starts, we'll still be messing around with it.  He doesn't know what part of the soft tissue is irritated, and because it's so subtle, he thought that a nerve block or MRI wouldn't be helpful.  Nerve block because you won't be able to tell if it really blocked a sore spot or if it's just a moment when the subtleness isn't showing up.  MRI because there might not be enough damage to show up (yet).
He said what he tends to see is if I keep going and start doing my gallop sets, Duke is likely to bow a tendon in the other front leg.
So we did an injection in his coffin joint, to try to calm down the "p-o'ed" part of his hoof.  He has three days of stall rest with bute, then two weeks of very light work.  If he is still lame at the end of that two weeks, he'll go back down for an MRI to see if we can find any soft tissue damage.
Dr R also said that Duke's feet look good and balanced, he wouldn't recommend any changes to his shoeing.  While every thoroughbred would like to have feet a size or two bigger, there wasn't anything off in the shape of his feet or the type of shoes we're using.
Next up was Dr. Salewski, who said that Duke was locked up in his right sacroiliac joint, which would make him heavy on his front left and bulge out on his left shoulder, also making him stiff in his poll.  All of those are the things that John has noticed under saddle!  He gave Duke a very vigorous adjustment (Duke can lift his back in a "sit up" very, very high!) and said while he isn't a train wreck, he needed several pretty big adjustments.  He was able to do it, but he said that in ex-racehorses, it's common for them to get that right side locked up (presumably because they race on the left lead), and so this has probably been going on for several years.  He said Duke will probably forget how to canter when he goes back to work, because he's been compensating for years about not using that right hind, and he'll be all discombobulated at first.
So the hopeful part of all of this is that Duke is so young he hasn't done permanent damage to that left front, he'll be even and balanced now and the injection will let the irritation clear up, and this will have been an early warning that let us solve the problem before it was permanent.
Dr S said he comes up to Legacy Hunter Jumpers pretty regularly (next up is February), so I emailed them to try to get on his list.
The not hopeful part is that this will be a chronic problem he'll deal with his whole life, and he won't be a reliable competition horse and won't be able to compete at upper levels because I won't be able to keep him sound long enough to get fit, or getting him fit will make him not sound.  This last bit is my thoughts, not anything Dr R or Dr S said.  But there are those fancy stem cell/regenerative therapies and stuff, and we'll see if those are an option.
Both Dr R and Dr S said Duke had a great personality.  He was so sweet and quiet through all the treatments and loved Dr S's adjustment.  He yawned several times, looked at what Dr S was doing, then ate some hay.

Hot nails

Duke was a little off after his most recent farrier appointment, so we missed out on several lessons.  I thought he was finally feeling better, and eager for a lesson, but John could see that he was short in the front at the walk, and confirmed he was off after one circle to the left at the trot.
John pulled out what I hope was the offending nail, and used a needle and syringe to put iodine in the hole.  Unfortunately, Duke felt the same the next day, so yesterday and today I have him on bute and have been soaking his foot in warm water and Epsom salts.
John said that a nail which touches the quick needs to be removed because it is hot, and then the iodine needs to go in to prevent infection.  I'm wondering if waiting a week let it develop a bit of an abscess (whereas if I had called the farrier the next day, he could have come out and pulled it out immediately) and that's what's bothering him now.
John said his feet were a little short (he's commented on that before) and also noticed his feet were cool when he was working on the nail.  Duke's feet seem to be sometimes cool and sometimes warm (although the warm might be just compared to the cool feet), and he seems to have his hind legs stocked up before he is ridden (but cool).
I'm kicking myself for thinking he was ok to ride - even though they were easy rides - after the two days off, and for not knowing to call the farrier and have the nail removed without John having to tell me.  My calendar has him off for two days, then a day off, then no comments for two days, then a comment he felt off again to the left.  I don't know if I didn't feel it those two days or if I ignored it.

John hit reset on Duke for me

Yesterday I had a pretty rough ride on Duke.  We had a great warm up (in the draw reins), but when I put him to work (I decided to do transitions), he short circuited.  He froze, bent his neck, then bolted; or backed, including until he hit the wall; he spun on the forehand; and he generally was just in full on freak out mode.  The first time, I was surprised, and hit him with the whip.  No response, so I gave him a good kick and got no response.  But then I saw his eye was all big, and after that, his heart started going fast, so I just tried to keep him calm.  I could do anything on him but halt.  We could walk, make circles (and change their size), trot, canter, and make serpentines on the centerline, but as soon as I tried to halt him, he'd do one of the incredibly crazy behaviors and stop responding to me at all.  It didn't matter if I had loose reins or tight reins (I thought maybe the draw reins got too tight, but from what I could see, they were already loose, and I didn't want them to get baggy and catch him in the leg if he was leaping around).
Anyway.  It freaked me out a little because I don't know what I did to trigger such an extreme reaction.
Thankfully, John was able to fit us in for a lesson tonight.  It worked out miraculously, because - for the first time ever - I got out of my Commission meeting (in Westport!) 45 minutes early.
He was jigging sideways at John's (all we did was walk until John got out), but it wasn't anywhere near as extreme as yesterday, and John said that he probably felt "stuck" and panicked.  He said that he once couldn't get a horse to stop bolting out in the cross country field - he just panicked and then couldn't get calm enough that John could get his leg over the top and would bolt (again) every time John tried to get off.
John said that he's working much rounder, but that means he doesn't feel like he has an escape, if I'm holding him in place, and that he's still struggling with bending to the left.  He said he also could have spooked at something and then just got wound up and couldn't unwind, or that he could have a little tweak somewhere that needs to get worked out, like a pinched nerve.
He gave me two easy things to remember at home:
First, do a reset and back things up a bit, do a halt - walk - trot - canter - trot - walk - halt, not skip a gait.  John watched me ride, then he rode, and then I rode again, and we did just a confidence building easy transition between the gaits, like walk, halt for a few seconds, get praised, walk again.  Without the draw reins and even after John rode him, Duke was chewing on the bit way too much for what was going on.  John said we'll work on that later, but for now, just let him know it's ok to halt.  He didn't think it was a nasty, get-off-me, but a genuine fear response from Duke.  John said when they're nasty, it seems like they plot it, and it generally is only one side, where Duke did it both ways.
Second, if he starts to get tight and panicky, switch to something he knows and that is easy for him, like trotting to the left.  Just change what's going on and give him a chance to relax.
The more nuanced part was to try to get his right side to bend and soften and step underneath him.  My leg was too far back, and the aids worked much better when I put my leg back up next to the girth.  John said to make sure not to squeeze and hold, but squeeze and release with my hands.  This actually felt a bit more like squeeze and then give - just a tiny amount - when he halts.  John said not to worry about him flipping his head up at the halt and the walk for now, and I've almost certainly been squeezing and then trying to hold his head down for the transitions.
We did some of the rein out, up, and back to help him bend his neck.  He braces and tries to just move to the inside to make the circle smaller, but if I patiently stick with it, once he gives in that neck, he relaxes all the way over his topline (is how it feels).  But it is really hard to make him give to the right.
The other big thing was holding my core tight.  John had me try to get Duke to breathe with me - breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth, and it took three breaths for me to loosen my core, but as soon  as I did, Duke also did a big sigh and relaxed.  So I expect, especially as I couldn't fix it last night, even though I was talking to him and petting him, I was probably holding my core tight and stiff like a brick.
It was a good learning opportunity, but it took me by surprise - it was such an extreme reaction for something that I don't know what started it.  The only thing that was different was J and Will in there, and I think he just really doesn't like the sound echoing.
For the lesson, John had me put my outside leg on when he was stepping sideways, but a gentle touch, not a heavy squeeze and not leg completely off.  He also had me half halt with one hand, but gently.  Then we tried every so gently easing him into halt from walk and then going back again.  He moved nice and round with John, but it took him a while to relax when John halted him.  It was interesting to watch, because he was nervous and moving his head all around but then would start to flick his ears to listen for John, and eventually breathe, then John would pet his neck and walk him again and start over.  John pointed out he is still a really young guy.
We did bending to the inside work at both trot and canter, and after the work, did the halt -walk transitions a few more times.  By then, he wasn't stepping sideways anymore, but he was still pretty tense about it.
It'll be interesting to see how he is tomorrow, and I see John again on Saturday.  But it shook my confidence - well, it kept me humble just when I was starting to feel like I was getting the hang of things - and it made me afraid how easy it will be to ruin him by not knowing what I'm doing, and wishing I could be down there at Caber so I was always around John and not at home, ruining things and messing them up and making progress go so much slower.
The good news is that I stayed calm (after the first smack and kick) and that I tried a whole bunch of things.  I didn't just sit there like a bump on a log not knowing what to do.  I tried things for 20 minutes, then jumped off, hand walked him, and got back on and tried again.  I didn't fix it, like John did within a few minutes, but at least I thought of things to try.  And once again, thank god for John, and being able to ride with him the very next day.

Hoo-ya! First grid lesson of the winter

I got nervous about today's jump lesson, but couldn't figure out why.  It isn't like I haven't jumped Duke before or that he's ever been difficult.
We started the lesson with some flat work, which was super helpful, because Duke was wound pretty tight yesterday and spent most of the ride tense and holding his neck all rigid (I have now ordered some ear plugs to go with the ear nets because I am not interested in wasting all winter with him being tense instead of working on what we learned in our last lesson).  So John had us work on getting him to stretch through his neck and to give me some bend.  He said that when Duke's had a tense ride the day before, I need to get that movement in his neck, and I need to work on the stretch since Duke isn't a horse who is naturally inclined to drop his head down.  He said to be patient, that Duke is not going to give much, so I'm going to have to wait for it.
And I think that was the key - wait for it.  I try to get Duke to put his neck down by dropping the reins, which accomplishes nothing, other than giving him a loose rein that has no connection in it.  We will have to work on this more in a future lesson, but it was a bit of pushing forward and down, with inside leg to bend him and push him a bit out in the ribs.  And it went sooooooo slowly before he would take it and chew just a little bit.
John had me do a lot with my inside hand, like pushing it forward and then bending him again, and then softening a bit, then pushing forward again.  My outside hand didn't do too much, except for a half halt every once in a while.
With John's coaching, it still took probably 15 minutes before Duke started to give, so that will help me keep in mind just how patient I need to be, because it will undoubtedly go slower when it's just me, and when he's already tense (he's not tense at lessons with John).
From there, we started work over the grid, which started with a ground pole, cross rail, ground pole, ground pole, but the other poles on the sides.  Duke didn't hesitate, but flicked his ears around like radars, checking out all the poles.
We ended trotting in over the ground pole, cross rail, ground pole, vertical, oxer.  The vertical had a pole on the right on the far side and the oxer had a pole on the left on the far side, to create a tunnel for Duke to go through.
The spacing was ground pole - 6' - cross rail - 6' - ground pole - 6' - vertical - 15' - oxer, I think.  I stepped it out and it made sense.
And our final oxer was 3'11"!  It looked big, but I didn't really have time to think about it while we were riding, mostly because I was fuming about how my position wasn't that good, and how I was a special sort of stupid that after all these years I couldn't ride a freaking basic grid and keep my legs under me enough so that I could tell Duke which lead to land on, and so I immediately whined when we ended, and John pointed out the oxer was about the height we were doing with Charlie, where I couldn't keep my form at all, so it was actually much better than I had been doing.  And he pointed out that Duke, who doesn't appear to have done much grid work, looked at everything, tried to figure it out, and never once hesitated going through.
So, plenty to work on, but good news I think because John says grids will be good and help Duke a lot, and we've got lots of winter jumping to work on things.
One of the jumps was big enough that we were in the air for a while, and I had a second where I was so, so grateful for my life.  I get to come out and learn from John and fly.  I get to ride a horse and fly.    I miss Charlie so much, but I have only had Duke for five months and I already trust him enough to ride him over a big fence (for me, and probably for him too).  My life is pretty good.

Dressage in the dark

The time changed, and the weather changed, and it felt so much darker than it has ever been before on the way to John's.  It was odd.
The wind was blowing sideways and it was pouring rain when I left Olympia, so I left the trailer windows closed and poor Duke got too hot in there with his medium weight sheet on.  Lesson learned.  I cracked the windows open on the way home and he did much better.
John said it's ok not to clip him yet, to watch for the goat hairs and clip him then.  He got sweaty working during the lesson, but I don't think I've seen him sweat when I ride him for at least a couple weeks!  John reminded me that in the winter, it's not good to let them get sweaty, then cold, then heat up.
While John was at Galway, I rode Duke a couple times in the draw reins, but I couldn't get that same feel of Duke bending around my leg that I get in the lesson; it felt more like he just cocked his head sideways.  So although it was windy and chilly (and dark), Duke was a really good boy.  He thought about looking at what was making all the noise a few times, but if I gave him an inside aid, he'd flick his ear back to paying attention to me.  Like the snow and his two days in a row off, I was really impressed with his willingness to pay attention to me.
All that being said, we did work on 10 meter circles, to 20 meter circles to try to hold it, back to 10 meter, and then change direction.
It was one of those lessons where John told me each aid and when to give it, so he had to talk non-stop, and I had to stick my tongue out to focus to try to keep up.  I could feel when Duke got balanced, because the 10 meter circle didn't feel like we were a motorcycle cornering, but felt like we were a train on tracks - which isn't quite right - but his shoulders were up and even instead of leaning in, so even though the circle was the same size, it felt more square.
The good news is I can feel the difference.
The bad news is that it is so many aids, so quick and so different (right leg is different than left leg, and left hand is different than right hand, and the whole time I need to sit deeper), that while I can sort of - maybe - keep up with John, there isn't a snowball's chance I could figure them all out by myself.  And John said that's ok, that it's ok to just ride around and have fun on Duke some of the days when I ride him at home.  (Fun, what's that? Ha ha.)
What he did was sometimes inside leg, a lot of times half halt with the outside hand, sometimes (probably always) the half halt needs to go with inside leg just a fraction before it, sometimes both legs (when he got balanced), inside hand to help him bend - which varied from just a squeeze and release to a couple inches higher, a couple inches inside, and a couple inches back, sometimes a raised hand (to get rid of that head tilt), sometimes some leg yield out, sometimes haunches in, etc.
I had a moment where I gave an aid and Duke reacted (probably I put on inside leg and he tried to move out instead of bending around) and I thought of physics and there being an equal and oppose reaction, and then I had a tiny flash of insight into what it must be like for John to ride, in that he KNOWS if he puts on his inside leg, a horse like Duke is going to try to pop out of his outside shoulder, and so he can - before Duke evades, go ahead and stop that outside shoulder.  He doesn't have to wait for Duke to evade (and unlike me, he doesn't have to wait even longer while he tells me and then I give the aid, so the movement has already been going on for like 5 seconds), but can preemptively nip it in the bud.  That must be the next level up, anticipating the reaction.  That, plus also being able to give 15 different aids at once and thinking ahead.
I don't think two years ago I could have given two different aids with my legs (one aid for each leg) - if I squeezed with my right leg, my left leg squeezed too.  So there's that progress, but man, I am starting to appreciate (once again) how little I can do.  I am basically walking and chewing gum, which is better than just walking, but John is juggling, while riding a unicycle, on a tightrope, with a wolf chasing him.  Probably something is also on fire.
Duke is going to be a good teacher, I think.  I'm so grateful to be able to work with John.

Dressage in draw reins

John thought Duke might need to be worked in draw reins, so I brought them with me so that he would be there for the first use and remind me how to ride properly in them.  Duke didn't make a big deal out of it, and John suggested I ride him twice a week in them, but start with them a little loose and only tighter up if he ignores them.
We got some really nice effort out of Duke with them on.  I would describe it as him lifting his back up and balancing, but it made him really tired - he was clearly working much harder, and he could only sustain it for a few steps at a time.
We started with just some 20 meter trot circles, and John had me tighten the draw reins until we got a bit of bend in Duke.  From there, we went to 10 meter trot circles, and John made things a bit more nuanced, with a bit of inside bend, some loosening of my arms, leg on to keep him moving forward, inside leg to encourage him to bend around his ribs, and some inside leg on the "inside" of the circle (without the arena wall) to encourage him to use his inside hind leg to step under himself.  I had a hard time keeping the circle 10 meters, but John said it was ok because it was more important that Duke was bending and pushing himself off the inside, and the circles were still round.
Then we worked on canter, going straight to it on the 10 meter circle.  In the draw reins, it was harder for Duke to pick it up - he wanted to kind of shuffle into it - but man, when he stepped under and balanced, I could feel the difference in his back immediately.  He did decide, once, for no apparent reason, to spook at the same things that had been in the corner the whole ride, so it will be interesting to see if that is something he does once he's working hard to try to get out of work.
When he hesitated in the canter, John said I can either use more seat or more leg, and he, fortunately, makes the feel really obvious so I have plenty of advance warning and can ask him to keep going.
Here, especially to the right, we did a bit of inside hand to the inside, and John said especially if he was stiff all week (which he was, consistently to the right).
Then we did a bit of shoulder in.  John had us start on the circle, and, for shoulder in to the right, my left hand came over to but stopped at his neck.  We did it on the circle, and then down the long side, and Duke did that pretty well too.  It seemed a lot easier to do in the draw reins than without them, but maybe that was also partially because he was moving well by that point.
John suggested when he's having a stiff day, it's ok to work a little more on the stiff side, but do it about 60/40, not like all on the stiff side and ignore the soft side.

First jump lesson inside

Today was our first indoor jump lesson.  John doesn't have grids set up yet, and said that it will be interesting to see how Duke reacts to them - whether Jane worked with him on grids (and he still drifts left), so he'll have to come up with something different - or whether this will be his first grid work, and it will hopefully help with the drift.
I told John that Duke has been anxious most of the week, riding indoors.  He suggested using an ear net to muffle the noise a bit, and said that seeing what makes the noise can be a stress reducer.  So I'll try that (the ear net, and then I'll see if I can roll the doors back open).  He also said we'll probably need to ride him once a week in draw reins, so I'll make sure to bring those to my next lesson and make sure that I've got it right and John is there for the first try.
John had us do a bit of warm up, and Duke was reluctant to bend right and was kind of blowing me off when I asked him to, so John had us make a 10 meter circle instead.  After a few laps, Duke decided he'd rather do a bit of bend than keep going around on the 10 meter circle.
John said, especially with the anxiety in the indoor at home, to stay calm.  If I whip him (or kick him, or get stiff), he uses that as an excuse to stiffen up even more.  Instead, I have to just keep going on and ask him in a different way, like with haunches in.
We started with a little half jump, and I couldn't quite get it right.  Then John had me use my outside leg to make the turn to the fence (instead of my inside rein) and it was one of those eureka moments.  A eureka moment where I caught on to the concept, but then pretty much failed to get it right every other fence, but at least I could feel the difference.  That was a little bit of the theme of the night, trying to get the turn and angle correct on the way to the fence; when I did, the fence generally rode pretty well.
From there, we rode the vertical on the far end, then the vertical-vertical line which was either a 5 or 6 stride.  Most of the time we rode it on 5, but a couple times on 6.  That wasn't my doing.  I was focused on trying to get that first turn in the correct location.  If I got that right, then most of what I did was try to keep him from wiggling too much off of the straight line in between the two fences.
Then John had us switch directions, and it was very, very interesting how much easier it was to ride.  This was from the far side of the arena back towards the entrance, and even though the area between the wall and fence was smaller on the far side of the arena, it was an easier turn to make (and maybe it helped that it was left lead instead of right lead).  It also felt like it was easier to ride straight.  John noted that on the right lead, although I was mad that we were drifting left, it wasn't anywhere near as much as when Duke arrived here.
Finally, we made a figure 8 between two verticals (right turn, left lead over vertical; left turn, right lead over vertical).  It was easier to land on the right lead than the left lead, but this was also partially getting the correct line to the fence from the turn, but looking up and through the out - which was a challenge to keep my eye from looking at the next fence, and instead looking at the hole we were going to go through.
Duke did a great job.  He isn't as nervous at John's, and I really needed the lesson after the shit week at work last week.  I (almost) always feel like a weight is lifted off of my shoulders and I relax and breathe better after I ride with John.
John said he likes riding Duke more than Charlie.  Duke is a lot more reactive.  I agree, but I don't have all the tools in the tool belt to ride Duke yet, and I'm terrified I'm going to ruin him - get in a battle when he's being a nit wit and set us both back a couple years, or - the other way - be afraid of getting in a battle and let him get away with too much and spoil him.  Thank goodness I will have John working with us to nip anything going too far in the bud.  I think once John teaches me how to ride him, he's going to be a great partner.

Grand Canyon & jump lesson

John worked with Duke while I was in the Grand Canyon while Judith did Rim2Rim.  After John was on him a few days, Duke was much softer in my hands, had a ton more forward push from behind, and was more fine tuned to the aids.  I expect it made it a bit of a challenge for him to be ridden by me, with my crude aids, sometimes in the wrong places and wrong times.  I could feel the difference immediately, but it was most notable at the canter, where he had a big push up into his back and was more forward.  I will try to remember this feel, to remember the range of flexibility that Duke has in how he moves, and how I don't need to accept just a little bit of push.
John says we'll take that movement and then start to put him on the bit, and that will make a big difference for his movement next year.  John's style is to get the big movement, then put him on the bit, and my style is to put him on the bit, then add the movement.  He also said that we need to work on the right hind - that his right canter needs far more work than his left canter (and I agree, it feels so different, although both ways feel so much better than a few months ago when he arrived), but that right now, it takes lots and lots and lots of delicate aids, and then Duke gets tired after just a few steps.  So John said we'll work on this over the winter, and as he gets stronger, it won't require quite so many aids at once and he'll be able to hold it longer.
We jumped outside after warming up inside.  For the inside warm up, I bent Duke to the inside, using a big wide inside hand, but then moved his ribs with my inside leg.  I needed to push the left hand forward, to give him enough space to bend to the inside, and then we moved him in and out, between 10 meter and 20 meter circles, but asking him to lead with his rib cage.  John says to work on this at home, overbending until he gives, then softening, then having him keep moving.  He said that he looks stiffer from the ground than he is in your hand, so we'll also work on that.
Outside, we started over a cross rail, first to the left (at a trot, then canter), then to the right, then a vertical.  Duke was more forward, it felt like, but I think it was just that he had more canter from being ridden by John.
From there, we went to a long 4, which was a gate to gate, which was a bit of a challenge.  Duke wanted to "weave" - which isn't quite the right description - and if I used too much left leg, he used it as an excuse to charge off on the far end.  I had a hard time getting the long four, but John said that was because we would come in - for example - on the left side, then weave around in the middle and then launch.  He had a pole on the left on the second fence.  After a few tries, I got him lined up more in the middle for the first fence, and kept him on that line to the second fence, and then it went better.  John was happier because he squared up his shoulders to the fence, like I asked him to, instead of focusing quite so much on not touching a rail.  He said he'll be easy to tune up on being careful of the rails, but it's harder to get him to be square to the fence.  We turned around and did it the other direction, which was a lot easier since that was on his left lead.
From there, we turned and did an oxer which was just to the left of the first gate - to see how he'd do thinking he was going to do the gate and then realize it was the oxer.  He jumped it gorgeously.  Then we turned right and did an oxer to vertical two stride, which was ever so slightly downhill and was 4 1/2' short.  For both the first oxer and that vertical, Duke lifted himself up and over with his back, which felt great.
John said that we did a few things well as it went along - instead of launching him, I let him figure it out, and those last few fences were ridden very well.  I felt that they went well, but I think it was more luck and Duke; I just tried to wait for him regardless of the distance, instead of worrying about trying to get each one perfect.
However, I have finally - after five long years - mastered petting the neck after a good fence, and I do it with my left hand, which is holding a whip, which is a racehorse's signal to take off.  So in addition to being proud of himself, I'm basically telling Duke to bolt on the far side.  John said he doesn't want to discourage praising the horse, but to either put the reins in my left hand and stroke with my right, or scratch his neck with my fingers.
John wanted to do the long line since the footing is probably going to be too wet by next weekend, and to help gauge which gymnastics we'll need to work on this winter.
Although Duke has gained a lot of weight and some muscle, John said not to cut back on his food yet, that he'll start losing weight and we want him to go into the beginning of winter just a little fat.

Dressage with a scalpel rather than an axe

John is still trying to get some of Duke's nuances through to me, and I can ride it while he says it, but I am still struggling to put it into words and repeat it on my own.
The two "easy" takeaways from today's lesson are that my right leg is sitting too far behind the girth (giving Duke an excuse to use it as a haunches aid, and evade the extra work that goes along with putting that right hind leg up and underneath himself) and my left hand has a death grip on the reins when I am giving aids with my right hand, which kind of defeats what the right hand is doing.  So I have to consciously think about pushing my right leg a little more forward and giving, just a bit, with the left rein.  Duke responded very quickly and easily to the left hand, which helped a lot in rewarding my behavior and seeing how he CAN bend to the right when I'm not holding him locked in place so that he can't.
John added a new exercise today, a 3 loop serpentine but from quarter line to quarter line, and sometimes with 10 meter circles thrown in.  He said at home to do it left/right/left loops first, and once Duke starts to bend and give, then add right/left/right.
We worked on Duke's bend, mostly, with the same need to "break up" his reluctance to bend by putting his haunches in, then bending his neck in, then asking him to go forward once he accomplished both.  Sometimes, this also needed just a bit of leg yield out on the circle.
We also worked a little bit on leg yields down the long side, and making sure to use the outside rein.  Duke is easy to feel when he crosses underneath, vs just bending his neck and moving sideways (not that I can always get him to cross, just that I can feel the difference between the two). We also worked on rhythm, and using the half halt to steady him a bit, at both the trot and canter.
At the canter, I need to sit down more, I am letting myself tip forward, and when I use my core to stay planted in the saddle, Duke responds by kind of lifting up into his back.  But it takes a lot of core to stay there, instead of going into a half seat.
This doesn't do the lesson justice describing it, but it was like we'd be riding around, and then I'd feel Duke balance or step under himself, and then there was that "lift", that makes him smoother and easier to ride.  We'd usually only keep it for a few steps, but it was definitely there, and we can definitely do it, but I still need John helping me with the different steps.
We also worked on crossing the diagonal, and keeping Duke steady.  All of this work, was, by the way, far better than anything we did at shows, so that's good too, because after I work with John all winter, I'll hopefully be at this level at a show by next year, which will be a big improvement.
After the lesson, there were some geese walking in the show jumping arena.  Duke's eyes got huge and I could feel his little heart beating under my leg.  They were just walking around and quacking, but Duke was blown away.  I guess they do sound a little like dinosaurs.
John said that whether he gives a horse a vacation depends on the horse, and so far, Duke seems like the type who probably doesn't need or want one.  I don't want to wear out his legs, but he seems to get crabby when he's not ridden.  He's been a little crabbier in the stall too - I'm guessing all the switching of staff at the barn might be affecting him.  Although of course, it's probably me, oblivious to something I'm doing.

Jump lesson on the last hot day of the year

It was beautiful out - 83 with clear skies, and we got to jump outside.
First, John said that Duke was stiff in the base of his neck and had me work to get him to bend by doing a leg yield out (off the inside leg) and bending his neck to the inside with the open inside hand. He said that the first day of work after a show should be long and slow, to help him stretch over his back.  (I did transitions yesterday, Tuesday off, and Monday was a hack.). We did this for both trot and canter both directions.
We started jumping over a little yellow vertical, doing it a few times, then changing direction.  This seemed pretty a-ok, and Duke was very good about responding to the leg aid so we'd land on the correct lead, regardless of whether we were going the same direction again or switching.  From there, without pausing, John had us go over a decent sized oxer, which he gradually moved up to be a very respectable oxer (for me and Duke).  Then he added a ground pole in front of it, and then had us switch from the "easy" left turn to the incredibly hard right turn - the turn that feels like we're going to crash into the fence and that I panic about doing and somehow get Duke to consistently land on the left lead.  It was much harder to make both right turns (off of the fence and then back to the fence), keep the momentum, but half halt him before the turn to balance him to go back to the oxer.  But I think it was better than last week (?) when we did it the first time.
Then we took a walk break, and I was oddly, so out of breath I was getting faint.  John had to let me have a few extra minutes.  (Foreshadowing, it happened again after our next round, and on the way home, I started getting very clammy, so maybe I wasn't just holding my breath over the fences but have a legitimate excuse.  We will see.)
After the break, John put some fences together - we did an oxer - four stride to a vertical - turn left to a vertical that had a gate - turn left to the yellow vertical - turn right back to the oxer/4/vertical.  The combination was ok (although I undershot the turn the first time), but only twice out of all the attempts did I get the gate vertical correctly.  All the times I missed it, we'd have to spin around to make it to the yellow vertical, but the times I got the spot, it was easy to turn on the line to the yellow.  So there was a good lesson in there about the importance of making your lines.  John said we kept missing it because I was overshooting the turn, then pushing him back over, which I took to mean I was zig-zagging all the way down to the fence, so Duke couldn't tell quite where we were going to jump it until we got right up on it.  He had to put some effort in a couple times, but that sweet boy would try.
John gradually added a couple of ground poles on the left in between the two combinations.  The first time through I thought Duke was going to just land on them and clamber around, but he stayed just to the inside.  John thinks it's probably the way Duke was ridden (and not entirely me riding him drifting to the left), but he said we will be doing a lot of those placer poles over the winter.
I talked to John beforehand a bit about the show.  He said he could see my show jumping round, and that's how he would have ridden it too - forward but cautious (my words).  I asked if he thought it was the hills that made horses tired that got so many rails, and he thought it was the standing around waiting to go in.  He said standing there three horses before is too many, that it can be just one horse goes in, and when they start, you walk over.
I asked him about dressage, and said the transitions needed work but the long rein walk wasn't good, and he said we haven't even worked on it in our lessons yet, and with a horse like Duke, we need to be careful so he doesn't get jiggy.
He said trotting into the water is ok - that Duke is just being cautious when he isn't sure what's going on, and not to worry about it.
And at the end of the lesson, he said - in John words - that Duke was doing really well so far, but that he was glad we didn't push it and go training level this year.  That we needed to work together first, and I totally agree.  I think we both would have gotten scared instead of getting more confident with each other.  But thank god I've had John to help me getting to know Duke these last few months.
I wish I hadn't been feeling so bad (and so quickly) but it was a great lesson, and I made mom go past the oxer at the end because when we were finished, I was impressed how big it was.  For us.  That sweet Duke likes to give it his all.  He got pretty sweaty too.

EI wrap up

Mom might want to stay here in the future:  http://asterinn.com

Duke didn't want to do a free walk in dressage, and I entered before the whistle (for the first time ever), but he was great in the stable and traveling and being on the road.
For cross country, he was a little strong (there were two long stretches of road to run on), and then trotted through the water.  He trotted into the water at Aspen and towards the water at Lincoln Creek, but I think he cantered into it fine at the Caber derby and show.  There were two big hills on cross country, and I was a little nervous but he balanced himself fine down and charged back up (I had to slow him down).
John warmed us up for xc and he said not to worry about the distance, but just to ride what he gives me, and that helps Duke relax.
For show jumping, it was early and chilly and we were the fourth to go, and he was a bit tense in the warm up, and he looked quite a bit in the arena (even though the fences were pretty bland compared to the rest this year), but he went double clear, even though I took all the available space to line him up to the fences.  It wasn't perfect, but it was pretty good, and I feel like we're really coming along as a team.
He was a good boy, easy for mom to handle, and good in his stall, even with a horse across the aisle screaming his fool head off every time his friend left.

2nd cross country lesson with amazing cloud backdrop

John had a rush of evening students, so we got to ride cross country instead of show jumping.  It started raining two days ago, but we lucked out and didn't get rained on during loading, grooming, the lesson, or unloading at home, and even better, the sky had super interesting clouds and great evening light across the cross country field.
Duke warmed up great; pretty calm and not so looky at the big boxy jumps.  He stayed soft and pleasant, so I gave him a quick warm up and then just let him walk around.  Last night, at home, he got tenser and tenser riding in the indoor arena - I don't know if it was because Luca was in there, because of something I was doing, or what - but eventually I gave up trying to get him to relax in there (when Jazz came in) and rode him outside in what was almost dark and a drizzle, and he calmed down a lot.  He's around other horses in the warm up, so I'm not sure what it was.
John had us start with a little log, jumping it toward the water and the other fences.  He said to ride it like a show jump, that Duke is perfectly good at cross country, so work more on thinking show jump to the fence.  We rode it turning left, then right, then left, and at first, although Duke was jumping just fine, I kept trying to cut the corners and instead of going straight a stride or two (there was plenty of space), I would haul him around the corner immediately.
From there, we jumped a little A frame, then a little wide table, then a table with a rolled log on top, then the roll top headed back towards the barn.
The A frame I had a bit of a hard time lining it up the first few times, but sweet Duke kept trying.  We had to ride just past a whopper upper level fence, but Duke hardly even gave it a glance.
We did a bit of drifting, and Duke is very good about landing on the lead when I use my leg aid in the air, but when I use my left leg to scoot him over, it means we're going to land on the right lead.
He got a wee bit strong, but stayed obedient, halted when John told us to, and was easy to bring back, so I thought it was a great lesson in how far we've come in just a few months and what a great horse he is.  We walked around the fields with mom a bit, and he stayed all Cool Hand Duke, even when other horses came and went nearby and in the distance.  He's a good boy.  I'm glad I got to work him a bit before fall and winter, so we have a good idea of stuff to work on over the winter to get ready for spring.  I'm excited about how much better we'll know each other by the time show season starts next year.

Beth at Northwind

I rode with Beth for the first time in probably a year, and the first time with Duke.  She liked him.
We started with my position, and she said that although the shimmy is gone (and my core is stronger), I am rounding my shoulders much worse than I was before, and that tendency, combined with Duke's build which makes me tilt forward, is a bad combination, particularly because when I tilt a certain amount forward, I start swinging my lower leg back to counter balance.  So she had me start with the "two plates" idea, one on the front of the pelvis, one between your shoulder blades.  It is pulling the shoulder blades down and together, but NOT arching my back, and then matching the angle with the lower pelvis, which feels kind of like tucking my tail bone up and under.  Putting my shoulder blades together is really, really hard to do, and she suggested that I focus on it at the gym.
From there, the next big jarring movement was my hands going up and down (and losing the contact, the same thing John said yesterday).  For this, she suggested pulling back a bit with my shoulders (and elbows) rather than thinking steadying my hands.  By improving the connection, I moved my hands less, which made Duke feel less like I was dropping him, which made him steadier, etc. etc. good upward cycle until I'd forget.
We started with walk, and instead of the rushed, hurried walk with a lot of swinging hips on my end, she had me think of him stepping underneath and up, and then slowing his walk to the speed I wanted by using those two plates.  This worked very, very well (again, until I forgot).  I could also slow him to a halt this way without using my hands, and it allowed him to be more balanced so he could improve his transitions up and down.
From here, we worked on transitions where he didn't jut his head out and go downhill on the forehand.  This was again, the thinking up and under with his hind legs, and not dropping the contact.  For the down transition from trot to walk, I just slowed the trot but kept posting until he was walking.  Beth says that is a really great exercise to do for him - slow trot to walk, walk a step or two, then trot again.
At the canter we did a bit of bending to the outside to balance him, and trying to keep the feeling of the connected seat bones with the tilted plate pelvis.  His canter wasn't his best today, but he stayed focused and tried to figure out what we were asking, and that made me happy with him.
Like most Beth lessons, she focuses on smaller minutiae, but it is interesting because she sees the same thing as John.  Her approach is much more focused on "tiny" core movements, but I can get the same lifted feeling in the withers and the same feeling of spring and bounce like I can after John has walked us through the steps.
I also really liked the reminder about my core and shoulder position, and the idea of keeping the connection by holding more steady with my shoulders (she called it holding hands with him - having that feeling of connection instead of loosey goosey), and she also suggested thinking my fingers were linked through the bit and I was telling him which way to go by moving my fingers directly in the bit.  Duke did a really nice job responding so I could get immediate feedback on changes in my position and aids, and she said that thoroughbreds were nice and sensitive that way.
She said that I'm riding with my leg almost too far forward, and during the trot, my leg is still curling up a bit (lifting up and behind).  My right leg needs to be a little more off of him - it is still sitting tight and tucked up, and it is a feeling of being held slightly away.

Dressage; working on some lengthening and geometry

Today we kept working on how to communicate with each other about basic dressage movements.  John started us with some trot, and we went from 20 meter circles to 10 meter circles, moving around the arena.  In the second half of the lesson, I missed the geometry of the circle, and when I got it back (John had to say "turn further in" - I tried like 3 times and missed each time), the circle suddenly fixed itself.  John said it as it was easier for Duke to bend around my leg if we had the shape right, but I think I would describe it more as the circle flowed better.  My first circle, John said he wasn't sure what shape I was making, and it was something like an ice cream cone - it started as a half circle, but became some weird pointy thing on the other side.
In the circles, we worked on the same instructions from a few lessons ago, where John would tell me the appropriate aids (outside leg, inside leg at girth, bend to the inside, both legs, etc.) and then after a few corrections like that, I could feel Duke shift.  John called it - I think - that he had some bounce; I felt it like his shoulders balanced and he kind of lifted up into the shoulders instead of plowing down into them.
Those are good exercises because I feel it when it is correct, and I can compare the feeling of being correct to the "normal" feeling, but the hard part of this exercise is the sequence of aids to get to that correct feeling is pretty far beyond my grasp, and I need John's help so that I can just focus on giving the aids, instead of thinking about what aids he needs, and then feel how the correctness comes.
From there we did some canter work, on 10 meter circles, 12 meter circles, and 20 meter circles.  Duke felt fast, but decently balanced.
Then we did some lengthening, at both the trot and canter.  To set these up, John would have us work haunches in, then bend to the inside, then soften and let him straighten, then use both legs to ask him to go forward.
There were a few good lessons in here.  One is that I ask him to come back with upper thigh only - John said that is a dressage thing, but not so good for jumping, so to think about using my whole leg (and whole leg first) and THEN use my half halt if he doesn't listen to the leg.  (This was a bit of a theme, also especially with the 10 meter circles which was to ride with the outside hand, not the inside hand, but even more important, off my leg, not my hand.  This is SO hard and I'm pretty sure the same thing as the right turn from the jump lesson Thursday that was so hard to do (mentally).)
Also, in this exercise, John asked me where he felt, and I said "he's riding around with his haunches pointed towards you" (on the right lead canter) so John said "point him more towards me" so I did - which felt wild and crazy, like we were half passing around John on the circle, and then John had me bend Duke to the inside then look back, and at that point, he was basically in the correct arc around the circle.  What felt like wild and crazy in the middle of the circle like a clock hand wasn't even on the correct bend yet.  So John said to test that at home - don't just ride and feel that it's right, but move him a little to the inside or a little to the outside with his haunches, and then see how that feels, so I can learn to adjust my feel for what the proper bend is.
The other really good lesson in this was the geometry of the line across the diagonal.  I asked John to show me on the ground afterwards - the corner of the arena makes a triangle - you have to cut the triangle in half, so you angle from the long edge to half way on the first short edge, bend around the corner, touch again at half way on the second short edge, then leave the triangle just before the letter so that you are moving straight by the first quarter line.  John said the movement should be at its best from quarter line to quarter line.  Then, you do the same thing in reverse when you're touching on the other side, but this way is a little easier because you leg yield just a bit to the outside (to hit the rail before the letter), bend around the inside, and use the far wall to line up the next turn.  It is a few steps that are straighter than I would have described it, both before and after the turn onto the diagonal.  This was one of those John explanations that was a bit of a eureka moment (kind of like not riding with only my thighs) which I wouldn't necessarily think to ask about, but he has such a great explanation of the why and how that I feel like I can apply it when I get home.
Our final exercise was working on the stretchy trot circle.  I was throwing away the reins, and John said instead to keep the contact.  We had to try this several times because I would revert to throwing them away as soon as Duke made any movement towards stretching his neck down.
Similarly, he said that a horse with a good topline creates less wear and tear on his own legs, and that a horse can run a few shows on adrenalin, but then he needs his own muscle to keep from breaking down.  He said that's why it's important to work them regularly - not just 2-3 days a week - and why to avoid getting in a rut and thinking things are going ok, but to keep striving to make him work better.
Duke was soft, sweet, and willing, and it was a fun lesson.  Mom was here watching.  I think it is our last day of "summer" without rain.

Some more nuanced feel in a jump lesson with some "big" jumps

On an absolutely perfect fall day.  (Incidentally, the first night I thought I should probably start putting Duke's sheet on at night.)
We started with a little cross rail, and despite Duke's exuberance yesterday after his hack and day off, he was sweet and steady.  John gradually raised it, and had us change direction a couple of times (multiple fences each way before changing direction).  After the fence, his instructions were to make sure we went straight for a few strides, and then the approach to the next fence was either to half halt, bend a little to the outside, or a little of both, depending on how Duke was moving.  Which is what makes the lessons so hard to summarize, and I guess makes me so slow to learn.  It is a particular feel - which sometimes I don't even have right - and then John tells me the correction - and then, if I do it right, and if Duke responds (he is better at responding than I am at giving a correct aid) - THEN, sometimes, maybe, on a good day, I can feel the correction.  Given that sequence of miraculous steps, it is amazing that John can teach me at all.
From the cross rail which was now a towering vertical (probably in reality like 2'9" - har har), John switched us to the white oxer.  He told me to ride it downhill and turn right, and I said "right?" like I couldn't possibly have heard him correctly (the fence was to the right) and he said yes, and so I dutifully went to ride it, we landed on the right lead, and then I just kept riding Duke straight while John yelled "right! right!" and then I turned left.  The fence was just - right there - like 20 feet away from me on the right, and I just couldn't make us turn to the right.  The first time.
So then, after risking John's wrath, I tried again, and we turned right, but it felt like I was wheeling Duke around like - I don't know what - flinging him off one of those little kid merry go rounds?  That time John pointed out I probably should have changed leads before I started the hard right turn instead of kind of half ass doing it in the middle of the turn, when I already had plenty on my plate.
We tried it a third time, and it was still a wild turn (and then each time we'd turn right again, just as hard, and go back to it, but it felt better turning into the open arena than turning with the fence right there), and then John let us turn left.
From there we did the one stride black and white vertical to oxer without the four stride away oxer, then the gate with a right hand turn to the oxer with a left hand turn.  Then we did the full four stride, one stride combination, with a right turn at the end to the gate back to the oxer.
We had one very bad black and white oxer (the first time), where I misjudged the turn, and then Duke went to add a stride and at that moment, I threw my hands forward and so he hit the fence and knocked down the standard.  But bless his little heart, he was a little upset but instead of charging at it or refusing the next time, he just backed off a bit and gave it some respect the next time through.
We did much better with this four stride - 1 stride than last week, it wasn't that barreling down the line towards them, but a much more controlled and rhythmic approach, although I had a hell of a time making that turn so we'd end up in the middle of the fence.  So that's an easy exercise to work on at home, is set poles on the ground and cones and then practice turning from different places to make the line correct.
Our final line, from the gate to the oxer, we hit the oxer with a rail down, but John said he liked it because Duke was finally soft and listening to me in between the two, and all I had to do was keep my leg on - NOT ride him with my hands, but just close my legs just a little at the end, to basically say yes, just keep this soft ride going, you don't need to do anything more than that.
I noticed riding last night that it has been probably at least a couple weeks (or 1/6 of my ownership of Duke) since I have noticed him very stiff either direction, and while we were a bit zippy in our lesson last week, he's been quite good in our jump lessons and at the shows for maybe a month now?  John said that I was getting to know him, but I also think that Duke is just a pretty sweet horse who has tried very hard to understand me too, and has calmed down now that he has me figured out a little and knows I'm not going to ask him to do anything too crazy.
During the combinations, we also had to do a bit of half halting, a little bending to the outside, but it seemed to set Duke back pretty easily to make him uphill.  I think that maybe because he is so short, if I get out of balance or if I jump ahead, it affects him a lot more than it did Charlie, which will hopefully have the result of training me to be a quieter, more balanced rider who stays out of his way.
Some of the fences looked really big (the black and white oxer did the first time we came to it, which I think is part of why we clobbered it - I was thinking "omg" and looking down at it, instead of down the line).  Oh yeah, and we jumped the center white oxer at a left to right angle.  Duke really likes jumping fences at angles; I swear he has hit every angled fence perfectly.
Anyway, the nuance is the feel of getting him uphill and soft, but riding that off my leg, not my hand. It is almost there, and I can fix it pretty well when John is telling me what to do, but he is still having to tell me most of the time.  I haven't jumped alone in a long time (a month?) - only during lessons or at shows - so it will be interesting to see how much of this I can do on my own too.
The other thing I noticed this week - well really at Aspen - was how much I've learned with John over the last few years.  I don't think I could have gotten this comfortable on Duke this quickly if he hadn't taught me so much with Charlie.  Duke is sweet and all, but he's a really different feel than Charlie.

Aspen wrap up; career vs. riding

Duke continued to improve for our third (recognized) show.  He got a 31 in dressage, with some very nice scores.  There were a couple movements that the judge didn't like (I probably wouldn't have considered them that different from the others), but Duke was calm, quiet, and obedient.  The night before he was full of spitfire and vinegar, and I had to ride him 40 minutes without a break before he softened at all, so I was glad he was just obedient.  I walked him probably 20 minutes, then did 20 minutes of warm up.  The test two before mine I let Duke take a walk break while I watched the test, then I put him back to work for the test before and worked him all the way into the ring.
For show jumping, they had it set up differently, with only 8 riders in at a time with the warm up fences.  Duke was a little jumpy, so we did a lot of walking, then some trot and canter in the "outer" arena.  When we got to the inner arena, we walked again so he could look around and see the show fences.  John helped us warm up, and he was great over the cross rail, vertical, and oxer.  We took a break because we still had several riders to go, but then a young (?) horse started acting up which got other horses wound up, which got Duke wound up.  And that was right around when we needed to jump again, so we did the oxer once badly, then once terribly (knocking it down) and then it was time to go in.  John said that when I changed the direction I was looking, I also dropped my hip, and that was what caused Duke to hit the fence.
I rode him around the fences so he could see as many of them as possible, and we got lucky that the judge was looking into something with the prior rider, so he got to see a bunch.  He jumped really well, once we got going, he focused on the fences instead of looking around.  We got a rail down, and it was great that John was watching because he said I just got a bit tense in between and if I had stayed relaxed and trusted the ride, it would have worked out ok.  We got the hard line (a vertical that was a half stride to an oxer, two stride, vertical), by riding the line that I thought (and confirmed with John) and it was relatively smooth, especially compared to his first month.
Cross country was a piece of cake.  He wanted to be a bit strong, and we were a little faster than I wanted to, and he conked a couple fences.  The first water he was surprised by the dye (I think) and hesitated, trotted in, trotted through, and then we went on our merry way.  He was great on the roller coaster, and once again, great at the trailer and with his ice boots.
He ended up in 8th out of 25, which is good, but I'm kind of annoyed about the rail because it would have been 2nd!

Duke doing well, F's situation with her horse, and the clusterfuck that has been my job has me thinking a lot about the next few years.  I think that Duke has preliminary potential, especially if I can keep regular lessons with John, but starting to get ready last year with Charlie really was an eye opener for how much time it would take for us both to be in shape.  I feel like I have to factor that in for any job change decisions.  I'm going to have to give up some career opportunities, and I don't want to bite off more than I can chew, so I think I probably want to stay in a division and with cases that are relatively easy compared to the meaty stuff I used to do.
To get ready for Prelim, I think I'd need two lessons a week (12 hours), a conditioning ride (4 hours?), plus three rides (6 hours).  So that's 22 hours.  Then I need to work out at least 6 (if I can run) or 9 (if biking) plus the weights and stretching (4 hours).  That's 42 hours.
With a 45 hour work week, that leaves me 3 hours a week, not counting show weeks, after sleeping and eating.
So yes, I can't be in a position where I have a lot of litigation, at least for the next 10-15 years, and that probably knocks out going back to private.

Duke says, "hold my beer" during our jump lesson

It is really smoky from all the fires, and yesterday Duke was a little bit of a spitfire when I rode him - he was rideable - and like Charlie in some ways easier to ride - but he was looking for something to be upset about, like a car door shutting or motion somewhere that my mere human eyes couldn't see.  He did his job, but he did it with essentially a clenched jaw.
So I wondered how he would do today jumping, and it was sort of a couple steps back - he took the bit and charged at the fences and I meekly went along for the ride, but also kind of a step forward - because I knew he would do ok if I screwed up and meekly went along for the ride.
Meekly isn't quite the right word, timid maybe is?  I didn't want to overdo it on the half halts, especially in the combinations, so I did them half-hearted.  And Duke was like "look, if you're not going to be the boss, then I am" and did it his way which is flashy but not elegant, I think.
This is not the most flattering description of my riding (nor should it be), but the eureka was that I was ok with it.  Duke's been with me three months now, and I feel like I'm starting to speak the same language as him most of the time.  He's listening to me, he's just a six year old frat boy who sometimes wants to show off a bit.  And he's athletic enough he can do that.  Now, I wouldn't want him to get it in his head he should do this all the time, but every once in a while, it's ok.  I think that's part of what I liked so much about today, he was saucy, but sweet and manageable, and I always did have a soft spot for hot horses.
We shared our lesson with a very polite teenager - I am always surprised when I meet a polite young teenager - whose horse reminded me of Charlie in his approach to fences, so of course I spent part of the drive home bawling.
John started us over a cross rail, and then he turned it into a vertical and then raised it.  We started going right, and then changed directions and rode it "downhill" and to the left.  Starting, I had to work pretty hard on keeping my left leg on, but as the lesson went on, I didn't feel like I needed to use it quite so dramatically.
From there, John gave us a course.  We rode a yellow vertical with a right hand turn (360 degrees) to the red oxer from last week, with the "hard" (17 meter) left turn to the three black and white fences - an oxer, 4 strides, a vertical, 1 stride, an oxer - then a right turn to a gate and then a "hard" right (not really, so long as you looked at it in the air over the gate) to the final oxer.
Duke was not quite as calm as last week, but it was more fences, and it was a good lesson for me to get that I need to really sit up and give him half halts to rebalance him uphill, not just wish he would do them on his own.  He listens, it sometimes takes me a few strides, but that means I need to feel it coming and hop on them right after the fence.
Also, he had to take over when I overshot the line to the fence - he didn't just do it willy nilly.
I was very happy with the lesson because I felt like it kind of gelled the last few lessons and I just felt like I clicked with Duke and got him and he got me.  We weren't doing our prettiest riding, but I felt like I understood him, and that mattered more than riding perfectly.
John said for show prep, ride him dressage the day before (not a day off) and then reiterated it is a hack the day after (Monday) and his day off is the next day (Tuesday).
We walked around the cross country field (to the water and back) to cool off, and then it was (sigh) dark driving home.  At only 8:30.

Dressage lesson; Duke "encourages" me to lean forward

Today was pretty warm, and we had a dressage lesson indoors, followed by a nice walk up the low trail and then back on the high trail.  I had a bit of a mental fit about F's news about her horse and his multiple injuries, which was interesting because it's really none of my business, but I got quite worked up about it.
John had us start with 20 meter circles at the trot, with a bit of inside bend, and - throughout the lesson - he had to tell me to shorten my reins several times.  He'd have us go down the long side and then come up the quarter line to leg yield over, then go back on the circle to try to get the feel of the leg yield as the bend around my leg on the circle.  The feeling was, more specifically, the feeling of Duke stepping underneath himself by crossing his hind leg under.
Duke was working quite nicely at the trot, and it felt like fine tuning the bend and making those micro movements that we did the last dressage lesson, where Duke is a speed boat who needs lots of small corrections to stay on the line I want.
We did a couple of the moves from Novice Test B, turning at B and then turning the opposite way at E.  It was helpful to practice it in John's arena, because getting the turn timed properly and at the right angle took me a few tries.
Then we cantered, and it was nowhere near as nice as the trot.  Duke was heavy on my hands, and wanted to see saw his jaw back and forth.  John had to remind me to sit tall, and when I did, I could "push" Duke's butt underneath him, but then I'd start to tilt forward again.  This canter, and the transitions, felt a lot more like when Duke first arrived compared to his canter for the last few weeks. It took me about half of the lesson to realize that's because I had the leftover effect of Duke being at John for the last few weeks, and I've probably finally squashed it all out of him.
John had him moving much better by the end of our work, but it took a lot of effort - doing transitions, going down the long side, and one right lead with a massive counterbend to the left all the way around the 20 meter circle.  We also did haunches in, then bend his neck in, and let his haunches go slightly back out, which resulted in a nice bend around me in three steps.
His instructions were similar to the last few lessons, having me bend Duke to the inside, then half halt on the outside, then sit up, then push him forward.
At the end, I asked about the feeling of tilting forward, and he said that it's the shape of Duke's croup; it's just not the easiest canter to sit down and deep, but I shouldn't be thinking I'm sitting down and pushing him forward, more that I'm sitting upright and tall instead of leaning forward.
It was a good lesson; I was most impressed by how soft and fluid Duke was moving, especially at the trot, and how much the transitions improved from the beginning to the end of the lesson, but I'm not quite at the place where I can totally get that feeling on my own at home.
I said that Duke had been kind of stiff to ride all week and John said that it's part of the show schedule, you spend the week after the show getting them quiet and soft (because he wants to go race around cross country) and then the week before the show getting him ready again.  That's why we work on so many diverse things in the winter; in the summer we're just tapering down, tapering up every other week.

Most excellent jump lesson

Although Duke was a little bit short from his recent shoeing, he wasn't off, and we had a great jump lesson.  John started us over a little cross rail, and had us focus on not rushing towards the fence.  After doing it a couple times, he turned it into a vertical and gradually started to raise it.  What I had to focus on was looking past it and not, just before the fence, suddenly rushing at it just because it was bigger.  John used a ground pole to help (which he rolled out as the fence got higher), and Duke did an excellent job staying cool and calm, despite the height increase.  Sometimes after we landed, we'd have to circle once to get him back to being soft in his jaw, but he did not do the land on the forehand and shoot off like we did our first few weeks together.  There was still a hard drift left, and John says we'll work on that all winter.
We did this fence at the beginning both directions, but as John raised the height, he had us go just to the left.  He said that was because if he had us switch directions, I spend most of the time thinking about landing on the correct lead or fixing it, instead of just focusing on the fence.
Next we did a white oxer, landing to the right.  For this one, I did the same thing at the start - it looked so much bigger so I'd try to barrel towards it, but Duke did a nice job teaching me by responding if I rode it properly, for instant reward.  If I didn't get all clambery right before the fence, he jumped it smooth and easy.  If I pulled on his face or kicked him, it was a bit more scrambley.  He had no problem jumping it, and after our jump lesson last week, when I couldn't get the angle right, but Duke showed me he could go over it anyway, it helped me relax (just like John said) to know we could get over it even if I came in badly.  For this one, John put a ground pole on the far side on the left, rolled in just a bit, to help with Duke's drift.
From there, we went over to a slightly bending line, which was a black and white oxer, 4 strides, black and white vertical, one stride, black and white oxer.  I think the first time (and last time) through were the best, but as it turns out it was just luck the first time.
After riding it nice and smooth, the second time through I didn't half halt on the way in, so we barreled down the four strides, Duke had to leap in over the vertical, and then I'm pretty sure he did one of those superman leaps with his front legs straight out in front of him to get over the oxer.  John said for this, it was a lesson in how important it is to set up ahead of time, not wait until we're part way through.
But instead of letting me ride that line over and over (like I would have done), he added in a red and white oxer with what I called a roll back (he says a roll back is 10 meter circle, and this was more like 17 meters) left turn to the start of the black and white oxer.
The first time, we came in weak to the red and white; Duke started to drift left, and instead of putting my left leg on, I just sat and waited for disaster.  But Duke got over it, and to my surprise, instead of having us start over, John had us make a circle and keep going.  I think that was maybe the best time through the line.  We were both so surprised we rode it spot on.
Then we struggled with it a bit the next two times; John said that I was trying to turn too quickly, and showed me where the straight line after the oxer ended and the turn began.  I got to that point, but then reeled Duke around on the wrong lead, so that kind of flubbed the next one.  But we sort of launched in, and then half halted on the four strides, and Duke once again got out ok.
The last time through, when I had a better feel for how much space we had (the 17 meter circle really was much bigger than it looked), we were still on the wrong lead, but I was more comfortable with the time and space I had to fix it, and then we were off on the first oxer, but we waited for it instead of launching, which meant I didn't have to do as much half halt on the line.
Duke worked his little heart out, even with what I think was sore feet (and yet another cut on his leg that the boot rubbed and it bled), and just to think back even just a month, as John pointed out, we couldn't have adjusted just a couple strides before the fence.  John also said the fences are bigger than Novice height.
He asked how the show went and if we had any trouble (other than me running over his stock water tank in the haul-in), and I told him for dressage I thought I just did too much warm up, too long a break, and then not enough time to re-warm up.  He said 30 minutes wasn't so long, but Duke might not be a horse who wants to cool down/warm back up again.  And then I said for the rail down in show jumping, I just didn't get him uphill enough between the two fences.  Overall, I was very happy with how he did.
John said for recovery, do the light work the day after the show, then give him the day off the next day (so Monday light work, Tuesday day off).  That way, you can feel if there's anything off the day after.
And - happy day - Ashley said they are going to three shows in California this fall and for one (Galway?) trying to have a novice team.  I think it would be a great trial run (like Charlie and I did with Rebecca) to go ahead down there for Novice and then next year go for Training level.

Caber wrap up

Overall, Duke and I rode better in all three phases than we have so far, but we didn't do very well, coming in 10/18 on a score of 39.9 (1st was 27.4).
For dressage, we once again had a great warm up, but I started it too early, so he got kind of bored and sour when I tried to warm him up the second time.  Lesson learned is that I don't need half an hour, more like 20 minutes, and he'd prefer to get to work, work, go in and do the test, and be done with it; not take a break in the middle.
His canter was a little stiff both directions, but it was a steady, even test, which I was satisfied with.
And his manners at the trailer were to die for.  He's an absolute gem to hang around with all day.
For cross country, he was very good.  We didn't do much warm up; a bunch of walking, then several laps of trot and canter.  I jumped the cross rail, vertical (badly), and vertical again; then took a long walk break, and the rider before me did a lap of canter, the natural, and the oxer, which were absolutely perfect (Brooke confirmed!) and then just headed over.  He got a little tense on the walk over, so we just made circles and then walked in to canter out, didn't stand in the start box.
Our first jump was off a bit, and he looked at all the big fences I thought he would look at, and gave me a pretty good jig at the tricky tree/log combo (so did Caruso, Jessica said), but jumped the hill like a dreamboat and just shot through the water (in between the two big logs) like he was part seahorse.  I took the long route and tried to keep him slow, so we were only about 30 seconds faster than optimum time.  I was very, very happy with this course.  I didn't have to pull him up like I did at the derby, and we were much smoother and even.
For show jumping, it was our best jumping yet, but we still got a rail (fence 4; the second fence in the long "combo").  This time, despite the fact that I'm always early, our class had started early, so I did a very hurried warm up, with only 1/2 of the walking, trot, and canter I'd like to do, and then a few rushed bends because he was a little stiff and downhill.  Then we jumped the cross rail and vertical, tried to figure out how much time we had, walked a few minutes, jumped the vertical and oxer.  He was jumping pretty well, so I decided not to push it since I wouldn't have time to fix it, but then had a weird amount of time left, especially because the rider ahead of me didn't show up.
The round went very well; we just went out and cruised it; the turns were easier than I thought, but I went long at the final turn instead of inside.  I'm not quite sure why he got the rail on the fence, but I was very happy with him; he just went out and did his job.  I didn't have to reef on his face like I did at the derby a month ago.
While I'm disappointed in our placing overall (and, like an asshole, after I got the rail I left because I was so far below everyone else; as it turns out, we were in 10th place and they gave ribbons to 10th so I missed Duke's first show ribbon), I'm very happy with how much Duke has improved in the two months we've been working together.  If I think back to the first week and our first jump lesson, when we cantered around all askew and shot off on the far side of each fence, he's like a different horse.
We do have plenty to work on; he's got a hard drift left, like John said, which we're going to have to fix before training level, and he needs a topline and then some serious dressage work this winter, especially for our canter/trot transitions.
I guess I'm just disappointed because a) I really, really, really miss Charlie and feel guilty for riding Duke; and b) I feel like Duke is easier to ride (although I don't communicate with him as well yet), and yet our scores are worse.  He's a good little athlete, with a huge heart.  I feel really lucky I got him, and then guilty for being pissy that he's not sweeping the ribbons.
There was a huge accident (well, four accidents) on northbound I-5 and it was closed.  We went back roads home, which didn't take that much longer than normal (oddly), but was a lot of twisting and turning for him in a very hot trailer.
And yesterday I fell backwards out of the truck (stationary truck) trying to feed the dogs pretzels, and today I hit John's stock water tank and cracked it even though I've probably driven into and out of his haul-in 20 times.
I think I'm a sore loser asshole, and I'm kind of disgusted with myself for expecting so much from Duke, even though I have been telling myself out loud I'm not.
Oh, and Charlie and I our first year going novice (2013):
1st, 2nd, 12th, 17th, 5th
Get real, Martha.

Crunching some numbers

I got upset today because although our dressage was most improved from Lincoln Creek (no bolting in), it was a pretty solid B-.  Despite that, I was distraught that we didn't place better (currently 13/18).  It was only a 35.9.
So first, I've only been riding Duke 8 weeks and have only owned him 10, and haven't had nearly enough lessons on him.
Second, in the 8 mere weeks I've been riding him, he's gone from randomly bolting and tearing off on the far side of the fences to working on his bend, connection, and taking the bit.  That's good progress, especially given how slow I can be!  And for most of that, I used him in the wrong tack.
Third, I need to figure out warm up.  At both Lincoln Creek and here, I had some very lovely work, but it went on too long and then he got a little stiff and sour before we went in.  So I think I need to count on making the most of a smaller window of time.
Fourth, it took me something like three years with Charlie to master Novice.  I'm out of line to think that Duke should be able to figure me out (at 6 years old!) after just 8 weeks, and being ridden by other people, and not showing this year, etc.
Fifth, I didn't get Duke to be a warmblood who could kick ass at Novice but could barely get around Training.  I got him to go Prelim and hopefully a *, and I think he's got the athleticism to do it.  But I sacrificed that warmblood movement for the speed and endurance at the upper levels, and we're not ready to go there yet.
Sixth, even though we did better at the derby in dressage, we got rails in show jumping, which we didn't do at Lincoln Creek.
Regardless, here's the numbers:

Five year old (with a pro):
5/16 - Training with Ashley - 9/18 (34.3 d, xc time, 8 sj); 1st was 24.8
7/16 - Training with Ashley - 4/11 (36.1); 1st was 30.5
7/16 - Training with Ashley - 6/13 (35.2, 4 sj); 1st was 25
8/16 - Training with Ashley - 9/19 (36.6, 4 sj); 1st was 21.4
8/16 - Training with Ashley - 7/11 (33.4, 4 sj); 1st was 26.4
10/16 - Training with Ashley - 9/15 (40.5, 4 sj); 1st was 23

Six year old:
7/17 - BN Derby at Caber - Day 1 - 3/12 - 33.2 + 4 sj; 1st was 28.2
  Day 2 - 5/10 - 32.1 (tie for 2nd) + 4 sj; 1st was 27.1
8/17 - Novice with me at Lincoln Creek - 10/22 (37.2); 1st was 31.2
8/17 - Novice at Caber - dressage only was 35.9 (13/18); 1st is 27.4

So we need to get 1 point better on each movement, and that's doable as we get to know each other and he develops a topline.  He's got fat pads on his shoulders now.

Approach the jumps uphill

Tonight, after idiotically driving through the fire that had crossed I-5 (despite Meg's attempt to warn me!), we had a jump lesson that included a repeat of Sunday's lesson on the flat.  Because despite all the time John put into it Sunday, and me trying to ride it again Monday, and having warm up time, I still couldn't repeat it until John got there and walked me through it step by step.
So he had us start cantering and go over a vertical over a little box.  This proved beyond my grasp, although I can't say why.  Duke gallantly tried, over and over again, and I just flailed.
So John backed us up, had us work on the flat, which was a repeat of Sunday - inside leg - outside leg - bend him to the inside - both legs ... I could feel it as we got it right, and occasionally as he was saying it, but I couldn't do it all on my own.
Then we switched to jumping the gate.  Here, John had us work on getting Duke uphill, instead of getting onto his forehand and barreling towards the gate.  This was sitting up, giving him a half halt, and, when needed (argh! feel!) also some bend to the outside.
After that, we did the gate at an angle, which Duke did like a dream boat.  Apparently he likes angling fences, because we did it three (?) times, each of which was a perfect take off.
From there, we did an oxer-oxer line.  The first time, I completely flubbed it.  Maybe the first two times.  Then Duke jumped it perfectly.  And I think what was different was setting him up WAY out (as soon as we started the first of two turns towards it), thinking half halt, keeping the rhythm, and not letting him step to the side and mess up the distance.
John had us do a bit more flat work, with some trot, getting connection, haunches in, then neck bent in (which is super hard to combine those two), then letting him get straight and go forward.  We also did a trot - 10 steps of walk - trot again.
I was actually super proud of Duke.  Not only was I, inexplicably, a flailing mess, and he stayed cool, calm, and collected, but he did not rush off the way he has our other jumps so far.  He was a little "lazy" when we started, and it was hot and hard work, but he was basically pretty ho-hum about it.
Afterwards, I walked him down the road and back, and we had to stop and look at Katy setting up the big training level brush/ditch about 100 times, but he didn't spook or bolt, he just wanted to look, then he'd keep going.
I also asked John about not carrying a whip.  He asked why not, and I said I hadn't needed to use it and was clumsy with it.  He made the elegant and simple point that I won't get any less clumsy by not using it, and said he's already talked to me about this, which is the third (?) time since I got Duke that I've had a moment where I think I'm making John repeat himself.  I need to set aside time this winter to go back through and read my old lessons (in addition to the riding theory books).

Amazing dressage lesson

This morning Duke and I had the most amazing dressage lesson.  John did a couple of unusual things; he videoed and showed it to me to show me what he was seeing, and then he also walked alongside Duke and showed me the aid.  Then he did a normal thing, which was tell me each change, but this time I had a bit of a eureka and got it better than the last few attempts he's made.
First we rode our Novice test, which was a bit lousy.  So then he had us work on a 20 meter circle.  The first thing we did was work on the proper shape and size of the circle.  He stood on one corner, made a mark in the footing on the other corner, and then I had the two letters of the arena to use.  My circles went from weird elipses to round circles, which helped Duke maintain the bend in his body.
But then we worked on the bend.  Hard.
So first - John said to pinch the rein between my first finger and thumb, but then I can use the rest of my hand to squeeze/release; instead of using my whole hand to pinch.  That's something that no one has ever told me, and was definitely a light bulb moment.
Then he showed me how easy it is to move Duke over by using his finger, but he said I need to give sharp, quick aids, not cling on.  He hasn't had to tell me that in a long time, but I remember months and months of trying to catch onto it with Charlie, and with Duke, he reacted immediately.
We did 20 meters, got Duke round, then did 10 meters, then did 20 meters again keeping the same bend as in the 10 meter.
To get Duke to bend around his body, there is a bit of art.  He is so "narrow" (short backed is what I would call it), that he can dart all around.  And if I get one part of him bent, he just moves another part.  So it is aid-aid-aid-aid-aid-breathe-aid-aid-aid all the way around the circle.  For now.  For example, if I use my outside leg to put his haunches into the circle, then he tries to bend his neck to the outside.  If I bend him back to the inside through his neck, he'll either pop his outside shoulder out of the circle, or move the haunches back out.
What I had to do was feel where his shoulders were, and then think of how I wanted his body aligned.  Maybe 5-10 times, I could feel it and started the aid just before John said it, but approximately 2000 times John had to say it.  (I was inordinately proud of the 5-10 times, then we switched directions and my success rate of .05% went back down to .00%).
In the trot, I use my outside leg (up closer to the girth than I "like" for it to hang, but not jammed in front of me either.  John had to show me, and to wrap it down and around Duke, I kind of open my knee.  It is a little further forward than feels right, but not as far forward as I try to put it when left to my own devices) to keep his outside shoulder from popping out.
But in the canter, I use a half halt.
Basically, to get around a circle, I have to use inside leg to keep him from falling in, then outside leg to keep him from falling out, then both legs to push him forward, then some inside rein to bend him again, then outside leg to keep him from falling out, etc.  But when all the pieces fall into place, angels sing and all is well in the world.  We could do it; we just needed John's help to get there.
John said that because Duke is so narrow (short front to back), if I put my leg back where it likes to hang, it is several ribs further back than it was on Charlie.  And it pushes his haunches in and he has to compensate.  I have to think of him like a little speed boat who needs lots of little corrections to stay on track; Charlie was a big cruise liner who you had to start bending way ahead of time and wait for it, and who you had plenty of time to feel the drift coming and correct it; Duke I have to be right on top of each moment and ready to ride it.
What is nice about Duke is that he is responsive and sweet, so when I give the aid, he immediately responds (or at least I think he does), and it rewards me for doing it right.
It was an amazing ride.  It made me feel really hopeful about the team that Duke and I will be, and hopeful that I'm not the world's biggest fuck up of a rider, and am capable of learning.  And it makes me suspect that John is the world's best trainer, and that he did this sort of building confidence ride before his show on purpose.  He's always been excellent at progressing the lesson so that you end up doing something you never would have imagined doing at the beginning.  Once again, I wish I could ride with him every day and had been riding with him the last 25 years.