Cross country lesson at Caber

Today we worked on cross country.  Duke was amazing.
John had us start over a log, a little more forward, and then turning left instead of right.
Then he had us jump a decent table with cut-outs to a roll top in six strides.  The first time, Duke drifted hard to the left just before the table, so I held that line so I wouldn't mess up the six strides.  Next time I tried to get through in the middle.  Third time, John had me open my right hand, and that kept Duke much straighter.
From there, we went out and jumped his huge trakehener, right hand turn to a table, up the hill to the log on top, and down the hill through the two stride angled cabins.  I was afraid of every single one of those fences, and Duke just cruised them like they were a cake walk.  John asked why I don't ride him like that at the shows.
From there, we worked on the water.  First, I rode the log that had a stride of gravel before the water.  Duke didn't blink an eye.  Then the prelim drop into the water.  No blink.  Then the freaking intermediate drop into the water.  No hesitation.
John had us do the two drops a few more times, sending Duke forward, and then collecting him about six strides before the drop.  He said that I need to be more forward, but that if Duke is going to perch, do it three strides before he would, so that I can put my leg on and send him forward again - before the jump.  He said he thinks Duke is probably saying "I got this mom" and I'm just letting him get long and flat and that I need to control him - just a tiny amount - until he has more experience at Prelim.  He said he thinks Duke will get smarter and smarter as we go, but that I need to give him a chance to see the fence we're jumping, especially when it's busy (slow down, give him a long line to it), and to let him figure out what the question is (oh, this is a coffin, I know how to ride through this).
We talked about how horses see, especially how the water jumps at Rebecca have a lot going on, and it's hard for him to tell which is his fence until the last minute.
It was a good confidence builder, and it surprised me how eager and forward Duke was, yet how responsive he is to coming back.  He's a good boy.