Jump lesson and some graphs

We had a great jump lesson today, mostly because John jumped Duke last week, so he was like riding a Ferrari instead of a beetle bug.  I did the same fancy aid as on the flat, lower leg squeeze to balance him back and "half halt" him, instead of pulling back with my hands, and that let me set him back on his haunches so we could take off long, short, or hit it correctly, but any of the three ways felt smooth and powerful.
We started with a little vertical, going long and then coming in shorter, then turned left instead to an oxer (same thing), then we did a three jump combination (two strides to oxer, one tight stride to vertical), then John made it crazy and had us jump the first of the combination over to the oxer, and then the middle oxer of the combination over to the first fence vertical.
Duke was very adjustable and obedient.

Then we talked about skill and talent vs effort and time using graphs.  I showed John what I thought my learning style was with Charlie (steps up) vs. Duke (steady upward progress) but that what I was afraid was happening was we were capping out at my skill level (a solid horizontal line) and so John got me there, but I was sine waving up and down over it now.
He said no, there is rider skill level, rider and horse together, horse skill level, and then time and effort.  He also did one that was feel and rider.  Each one had a slightly different shape.
He said my skill level, especially with feel, was at 0 for a long time, then started to grow once I could feel what he was doing, then shot straight up mid-way through last season at training level, then kept growing but at a slower pace, and then - part way through this season, started going down again.
In contrast, Duke's line is a steady upward climb, and so he said he actually had to dial back how he was riding because Duke's responsiveness to the aids was getting too confusing for me, and we had to go back to the basics and focus on things I hadn't had to think about for over a year, like just riding straight to the fence.
He said that unlike the rest of the time he's been teaching me, as the season went on, I got tired, and wasn't listening, wasn't trying, ran out of emotional and physical effort.  (I agree.  EI was the final straw on a long slow decline.). He said if I want to compete next year, I have to be more dedicated, more focused, work harder, and have fewer distractions.  He said fine, my job can be hard, but that means I work 1000% when John has Duke so that when I go out for my lesson, I can focus entirely on John and be fully present.
He said that my competition line is a vertical up and down line, and that normally he can nudge me there during a lesson, that he can normally push me, but not this year.
It was pretty interesting.  And it made me think of the Dunning-Krueger curve.