My first show with Duke

We did two Beginner Novice derbies at the CVPC at Caber Farm.
Day 1 Duke did great in dressage, show jumping was a bit ugly, and cross country was pretty great.  We had a hard time making the turns in show jumping (even though they were pretty spacious and he is pretty lean and quick), and I had to really reef on his face a few times.  But then for cross country, where I had a lot more space in between the fences, he came back nicely, except for the ditch/table/run towards home; that one took a little longer than I would like, although we still had plenty of time.  Just like John said, we had one skid out making a hard right hand turn, but he recovered and was just a little pissed that he skidded out, I think.
Today, for day 2, his back was sore and tense and tight.  There wasn't a delay in dressage like yesterday, so I tried to do a lot of bendy and low long slow work in warm up, but he probably could have used a little more time.  I thought he was stiffer and above the bit (especially the first canter, on the left lead) - when we warmed up, he picked up the right lead instead of the left the first two times, which is the first time I've noticed him doing that, but then he did fine.
But our dressage score was better today, so go figure.  I actually thought it would be significantly worse, but it was 32.1 instead of 33.2 (so not that different), and put us in a tie for 2nd instead of in 8th (?).
But the other folks rode better today, so instead of ending up in 3rd, we ended upon 5th - both days we had one rail down show jumping.  Saturday's rail was the very last rail on the very last fence, despite the horribleness of the round.  Today's rail was the second fence, despite a much nicer start and much smoother round.  Again, go figure.
But today's cross country was a cake walk.  That same stretch he wanted to go fast, and he was a little spookier at the two big trakeheners you have to go between, but we were even able to wave at Meg who was jump judging.
I was very, very pleased with how much he improved from Saturday to Sunday, how good he was on Saturday, and how excellent he is with the trailer and ground manners, although today he rolled when we were finished, which was a surprise.  He ate, grazed, hung out in the trailer, ate his meals, wore fly sheets, and the only thing was putting in the bridle the third time today, he braced his teeth.  I was also pleased even though his back was sore, he worked anyway, and didn't throw any fits (but he did swish his tail when being groomed and tacked up).
I wasn't sure what to expect, and I'm very happy with how he did and how much better the second day felt, even though it was far from perfect, it felt like manageable things to deal with.
AND - bonus - John saw today's show jumping and I asked if he saw yesterday's, and he said no but he saw cross country and then he grinned.  That's pretty much how I felt about it too - although even better after today.  He said they were talking about how Duke is a bit of a better fit for me, and he thinks it's because he automatically goes forward.  I agree with that too, although I think it's also how short he is front to back makes him easier to balance on, especially over fences.
I feel very lucky with those excellent ground manners and bit of a goofy personality at the trailer.  He's a delight to hang out with all day.  And a grin from John - well, hot damn.