Jump lesson with Christa

Today we shared our jump lesson with Christa and Freebie, which was awesome.
John had us work on trot and canter both directions to start, and my main instructions were to get Duke more round (and bless his little heart, as soon as I asked him to, he stepped it up), and then to work on my position - elbow in, heels down, don't lean forward.
We started over a little cross rail, with a ground pole about 6' (maybe 7') in front and on the far side, which Duke just stepped over; he didn't even pretend like he was jumping it.
John eventually raised this to what seemed like about 3'6", with us trotting in.  Katy sent me a slow mo video of us jumping it, which was interesting to watch.
Then we did the grid, which started with a ground pole, cross rail, ground pole, vertical, and then ground pole.  He ended with an oxer that was about 4' tall and wide by the end.  I couldn't look down at it, I had to look up and over the top so I wasn't staring it down.
Duke was great every time.  The only thing we really had to work on was to steer him with my legs when he started to drift a little, not to use my hands.  And a couple times, just to give him a bit of a nudge with my legs to keep him going.
I also had to sit up and help turn him balanced after we landed (same old same old, but I think it's getting better), and at the end, when it was huge, John said that I needed to sit up, but not put my hips down.  So instead of using my hips to leverage my upper body up - I need to break them apart, and keep my hips still and lift my chest.  This is apparently the next level of body parts working independently.  It was hard enough to get my hands different than each other, but to separate my shoulders from my hips - yowza.
I also had to work on keeping my heels down.  I thought we felt pretty smooth, and like I had a lot more time on the far side of the fence to get Duke balanced and round around the corners, so I think we're progressing.  And good lord, Duke jumps like a dream boat.  I love the 4' (ish) fences because we're in the air for So. Long.  It's awesome.

Jumping with the poles removed

John said I had a good eye for distances tonight; I only missed a few times, and not at all once he took the ground poles away.  We were only jumping like 3'3" though, so ...
He said I needed to make sure to use the outside rein to turn after the fences (on the tight turn) especially when riding in an indoor arena.
We started on the flat, and Duke was a little tense, so John had me bend him to the inside (I had to put my inside hand behind my thigh once, and give forward with the outside hand, and once open the inside hand), and then use a little bit of outside leg before using the inside leg to leg yield him over.
He stayed tense, so John had us just canter around the outside on a looser rein, and he calmed down really well.
It was really satisfying - I feel like we have more time after we land before we turn, and that I'm doing a better job staying balanced in the turn, when landing, and with my lower leg over the fence.
John said to try bending the base of his neck at the walk when we start, like we did with the open rein, just for a step or two.
We started with a little vertical, then John raised it, then he rolled in the ground poles from each side, then we cantered into what was normally the grid, but John had moved the trot poles, and then he kept taking poles out until it was just an oxer.  Making the "10 meter" half circle on the way into the grid was the hardest part, but so long as I planned ahead, it worked pretty ok (except the one time Duke stumbled).

2 hour chase, dressage, then jumping superstar

On Saturday, Duke made me chase him for TWO hours before he agreed to be caught.  He was quite tired for his lesson.
John had us work on 10 meter circles and 20 meter circles, getting Duke connected from the inside leg to the outside hand, using a bit of outside rein to keep him from tilting his head.  I'm writing this a day late, so it's shallow on the details.
Today, we had an early morning very chilly lesson that was spectacular.  John had us start over a cross rail with ground poles on each side.  We were, eventually, trotting over a vertical that was maybe 4'2"!
Then we did the grid - two ground poles, cross rail, ground pole, vertical, and oxer.  We ended up with a maybe 4'2" oxer with a maybe 4' spread - with another pole diagonal across it to make a top.  Duke jumped like a champ, and I had a much easier time either doing a down transition to a trot or riding him around the end of the arena, instead of careening.  When the jump got huge for the last couple times, it also seemed a little easier to push my heels down and forward in front of me, and there was so much time, I could give him a giant crest release.
He stumbled a couple of times near the cross rail, and John said not to even think about it or worry about it - it's so tiny, don't let it disrupt me from looking up and over.
I had to do some half halts on the way in and then a bit of a squeeze about a stride out, but Duke really just enjoyed himself, and so did I.  Ashley took a video, so we have this one documented.
John said we should go to the indoor schooling show in Oregon next Saturday, so I am going to sign up for Training and Prelim.
It was totally worth the cold feet for the lessons.  They were both spectacular.

Jumping (4'!)

We had our first jump lesson in 6 (?) weeks or so, and it was great.  Duke was a little strong at first, but it was a good opportunity to work on half halting him with my legs and hands, to try to get him to sit back instead of just slow down.  John said that I was trying hard to find the right spot, instead of just going over the fence.
Then we did the grid (trot in, ground pole, cross rail, ground pole, vertical, then oxer).  For this one, I worked on my position (shoulder blades back and down; back flat; not going into superman (hands forward, legs back)), and then, on the far side (and on the approach), I could tell a huge difference in how much time and space we had to make the turn back around.  It was easier when the oxer fences were lower (we ended at about 4', which Duke jumped like a dream boat, but was kind of huge), but it was about sitting up, and then pushing him into the outside rein with my inside leg and curving him around the turn, instead of wheeling him around with my inside hand.
John said that he is fine with his own legs if he messes something up, so just keep riding forward over the fence.  I had to also work hard on keeping my head up - looking up and out over the last fence, not at each fence all the way through.
I thought Duke did great.  It was really fun.