Jumper Daze at Freedom Run

Duke and I did Training level and two Prelim rounds, with John coaching.  He was a little strong at Training, and then we had to wait a while to ride Prelim, where he was super strong.  When I said "whoa" (after John yelled at me to say it), Duke would slow almost to a trot.
The first round, my reins slipped around fence 5, but the turns were so tight I couldn't get them back, so I had to ride with my hands pulled back to my waist.  John had us canter/trot/canter/trot and bend him for a while, until he got soft, and then we rode it again.  The second time was better, but he was still strong.
The "nice" thing about it was we still made it (although with some rails and it was kind of sketchy) but we finished, and I had to RIDE him and not think but just react (although it helps when John is yelling).
The other interesting part was that the two girls from my clinic yesterday and some new folks also rode Training before they rode Prelim, so it wasn't me sucking that led to John's recommendation.  (Although we did kind of suck, but we did finish, so I'm still going to be proud.)
Also, when I loaded Duke, the trailer window hit my lip and busted it.  It's gross.  I went to the show instead of getting stitches.