Snow day

Despite the snow, I had a lesson (thank goodness!).  It was a light lesson, so Charlie wouldn't get sweaty, which was nice because it was so cold out I could feel the "breeze" on my cheeks.  We mostly worked on having Charlie both forward and round.  John said that when Charlie was there last week, it would take him 18 minutes to get Charlie going, then suddenly he'd just be going fine (on the first day of riding).  The next day he'd start out fine.  Then he got a couple days of just hand walking because of the frozen arena, and then he was a slug again.  John said it's better than a horse who rears after two days in the stall, but that he does better and better the more his work is regular, and to keep that in mind in show season.
He also said that the little spot on Charlie's back can be the saddle pad needing a second rinse when I wash it, a wet spot that doesn't dry before his blanket goes on, or the pressure from the saddle pad rubbing on his hair, and just to lift the saddle pad up into the gullet before I sit down.
The extra-crooked head I've been feeling he thinks is the cold bit and the stiff poll (he said it's not worth the battle to get them soft in the poll when it's cold out) and it seems to accentuate him grabbing the bit and jutting his head out.  Which would explain why I've only noticed it when it's cold out.
I asked him what he was doing with Charlie, because his shoulders got much easier to turn, and I can make the circle radius smaller and he said just shoulder in.
I feel like a million times less stressed now that I've had a lesson.