My job is to help Duke out

My main takeaway from Young Riders is that I'm not helping Duke enough; this has something to do with half halts; but I'm not quite sure what I'm not doing.  And I think I need to figure it out to be able to ride prelim.
He was ok in dressage; some of our scores were quite good and a few were quite low (but different than the other low scores).  He got tense when it started raining, and I didn't have quite enough time to get him to relax again.  I thought his lengthenings didn't show enough difference, but the judge was ok with the up, just not with the back down.  His trot lengthening was almost nonexistent because I was so afraid of what happened at Whidbey, which of course didn't happen again at all.
For show jumping, he was a little crabby about being ridden again, and then again about the rain.  John said the heat is his delicate skin, I think the rain is the same thing.  When it was raining he stood in the trailer with his nose only just barely aligned with the side, so the rain drops wouldn't get on him.  It was funny and pathetic.
So for show jumping, the course was set funny (John said 9' strides) so the distances were either long or short, but all just a bit off.  John - god bless him - told me just before I went in to get him round and on the bit and to shorten him.  And it made perfect sense, but hadn't occurred to me.  All that I thought of was go long or short.  So that helped tremendously.  We got two rails, but that was still better than at Rebecca, and the ride felt pretty good, AND watching prelim it was just a massacre of rails, so I was pretty happy with that.
For cross country today, Duke was a bit of a pistol in the warm up, just kind of crabby.  I think - maybe - his hind legs are feeling just a wee bit tight.  John worked us a bit, and had us do a gallop so we could come back from it.  Duke LIKED galloping.  For the course, we rubbed several of the fences pretty hard, but he jumped everything on the angle I put him on, and it rode pretty much like I wanted it to.  The sticky fence was #14 (out of the water) and it was just a funny angle in deep footing, and although Brooke told me how to ride it, I didn't get him turned quite as much as I planned, but bless his heart he jumped on out of it.  So this makes every show except Spokane I've felt ok about the fences, felt like I was seeing the lines and tricks and knew what to do, and not getting too nervous.
John said that we were a little too fast and flat at the start, and that I need to work on getting him back on his haunches (not slowed down, just rocked back), especially in the combinations.  He also said that Duke is going to get aggressive and racehorsey after he starts going faster, and so when I'm going back to the barn, take my time and lollygag around so he doesn't get quite so worked up about it.
I'm happy with Duke.  He tried his little heart out, and although we're still figuring each other out, and the being [this close] is kind of frustrating, I think he and I are going to be a good team.
It did not help that I only got four hours of sleep Friday night and had to work Fri, Sat, and Sun instead of being able to focus or do the other 1 million things that need doing.  So that was pretty irritating and frustrating.
Thank god for John.  He just reads me and knows Duke and knows the fences and the course and tells us what we need to hear at the time we need to hear it.  He's awesome.

Jumping in an oven

It was hot today.  Hot and still, so the air was heavy and thick.  Duke doesn't care much for heavy, hot, still, thick air.  He suggested, as we warmed up, that we should take one of the exits out of the jump arena, each time we went past.  I told him it would be worth it to wait and jump in the lesson and it was.
John had us start with just a bit of trot and canter, and he said to work more on getting the inside leg to outside hand connection, and then work on the inside bend.  When I used the diagonal aids, Duke got much more round than when I just used one.
We jumped a cross rail, then went right away to a vertical that had two ground poles and two guiding rails, making a chute.  Duke kind of clobbered his way through it the first few times, but when I didn't help him out, he decided to figure it out himself, and then we rode through it like it was a breeze.  Afterwards, John said that was a good decision to make, but it really felt like the only decision I could make - I'm not good enough to help him with each foot step, and I'm willing to go down with him if he doesn't figure it out on his own.  I'm glad he does though, because it felt great once he got it.
My job was just to count and try to keep the rhythm - 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4 - although I did do a little bit of counterbend before the first turn and some teeny tiny half halts on the way in to balance him and keep him uphill and light, instead of letting him dive down and long and flat.
From there, we did a little oxer off the left lead, which rode pretty well.  But when we got a funny distance, John said keep the rhythm but make the canter bigger, and then you can add or you can go long.  So first we went long and then we added.  As much as I prefer to go long, adding felt a bit more comfortable.
From there we did a course - left lead over red oxer, right hand turn to black vertical, decide 7 or 8 to oxer (John made this because of the issues with the 5/6 line at Rebecca), left hand turn around the cross rail to plank vertical, three tight strides to an oxer (the best line we rode), right hand turn back to the ground poles and the chute (Duke scrambled through it again), right hand turn to a roll top with a vertical on it.
John said not to chase him.  That I can use leg and make his strides longer, but don't chase him into a long flat jump, because he likes to dive down and its unpleasant to ride compared to when he's uphill. It's ok to adjust strides when I see the distance is wrong, but keep the rhythm.  It was so easy to tell that John had been riding him because it felt the nicest I've ever ridden him over fences.
He said when Duke was there last week, and what I've experienced this week - he just really doesn't like the heat and gets uncomfortable.  John thinks it's his thin skin, like when you're a kid with the sweat and salt dried on you but you're wearing a shirt so you think the shirt is itchy. Duke kept stomping his left front foot, which I've never seen him do before.
Man, that was some nice jumping.  It made my whole week.

Week with John

Duke spent almost a week at Caber while I was in Florida with the family (and the rain).  I had a lesson before bringing him home, and he felt like he was moving with his back lifted and more quietly on the bit - more forward, I think, because my legs felt like they just had to hang there, not nagging him.
He was good at the trot, but a little bit tense, chewing on the bit and not quite going round and deep (as round and deep as I know John can ride him).  His canter surprised me (and him) - we both went shooting off, and I was grateful John was there to explain his aids, which are not as much leg slamming on as I do.  So Duke is now a delicate Maserati, who can spring forward (or back) without me having to lug on him.  It was pretty cool, and a nice reminder that I should not be as casual and sloppy with my aids.
I asked John what he could feel about the way I ride when he rode him, and he said that it feels like I give up just before Duke gives what I ask him to - as in, I ask him to get round, and he starts to go round, and then I think "good enough" and quit asking, although Duke is ready to give the last little bit.  Super useful.
He also said that as soon as Duke gives with his jaw, I need to immediately soften my hands - reward him immediately.  He said that Saturday they worked on a lot of walk/trot/walk/halt, and Duke got crabby about it (I am betting John's version of crabby is pretty different than mine), and that he also was a bit - I forget the word he used - snarky (?) in the heat.
I thought Duke felt great, and it was amazing to be able to send him forward and back so easy.  I'll ride again on Thursday, after I get my "sea legs" back.
The important difference in the canter aid was a) the sequence (inside bend, outside hand, inside leg, go) and b) the intensity (I slam both legs on casually and ignore his head).  To bring the canter back, all I had to do was a tiny bit of light outside rein.