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.

Independent aids

We had an amazing lesson today (on Christmas, which was nice for me because it was so quiet at Caber).  John had me start by getting Duke round in the walk, then we went up to trot, then we worked on crossing his front legs over and making the circle smaller.  This was outside leg up next to his shoulder (to push it in), inside leg a little bit back (to keep him from collapsing in), outside hand in kind of a half halt, and inside hand a bit of an open rein.  The bend was to the outside, until we got his legs consistently crossing over, then we slowly bent him back to the inside, and then did a leg yield back out to the full size circle.  This was really delicate maneuvering - I had to keep a feel for where the shoulders were in space, and then use my outside leg as soon as he tried to stop crossing over.  We did this both ways, and then we did it in the canter too, but in the canter, he needed more half halts for balance and control (he kind of wanted to zing around the circle really fast instead of bunching up), and then the feeling was of his front leg crossing under the center of himself, not over.
We had a couple of good trot to canter transitions, although not great, and moderate canter to trot transitions.  John said that we make it right to the end and then Duke pauses in the contact a bit, I let go, and he collapses.  He said it is just one more tiny aid, and then we'll have it.
For the canter, there is a lot of keeping my seat down and my hips moving.  I do ok until I am thinking about each hand and each leg, and then I forget to ride with my seat, and things kind of stall. But especially with the trot to canter transition, if I have him properly bent, round, and with enough impulsion, and I do both legs, my seat bone, and then hips hips hips, we tend to get a pretty nice transition.
After that, we worked just a bit on the stretchy trot, and here, John wanted me to stretch him off of my legs (holding my hands up and pushing him down, not pulling his head down with my hands), which I thought went really well.  For this one, John said his nose needs to tilt just a bit to the inside, but he said not to work on this one too much at home by myself because I'll get frustrated.
My theory is that John taught me the aids, but I couldn't really apply them properly until I got my hands (and legs) more independent.  They're not there yet, but they have improved this month, and I feel like that was a big hurdle in a lot of this.  When I use my left hand, my right hand mimics it (and vice versa) and a lot of these movements are so delicate that it gets lost if I am sloppy and using both hands.  He needs a half halt on the outside and a squeeze (or a give) on the inside, and that is a very different aid than both hands half halting.
I thought Duke did really well.  Although when I got home, I turned him out, and for the third time, the little shit ran away from me when it was time to come in.  Even though it was dinner time.  He didn't carry on like a maniac, but I left him out there while I fed the back horses, and then he let me catch him right away.

Next year's goal is working on "feel"

John told me my goal for next year, regardless of competition schedule, is to work on "feel".  And by feel, he means recognizing, responding, and reacting to Duke's change in movements.  So he might be going around a circle, and then bulge his shoulder out, and so my job is to work on feeling that his shoulder is bulging and then using the appropriate aid to react.
For today, we worked on getting Duke more round and connected in all three gaits and the transitions between canter and trot.  This was, like our prior lessons, an opportunity for John to tell me the aids at the appropriate moment, so I could feel the response, which is - still frustratingly - pretty impossible for me to articulate.  I don't know if I'm not going to "get" it until I can explain it, or if it is because it is about feel, and so can't really be written down.
We worked on the 20 meter circle, then on 10 meter circles with changes in direction.  For transitions, my goal was not to move my hands or let Duke go above or below the bit.  Then John had me lengthen his canter with my hips, and then bring him back without pulling back on the reins.  Duke did all of this really well.
Even with not being ridden much this week, he was really a trooper and tried hard to figure out what I was asking and then do it.  He is a fun horse to ride.

Forward progress on our connection work

John broke his arm last week, so we skipped our jumping lesson (and will skip it again next week while he's getting his cast on).  Because I couldn't ride the Friday before my lesson, I rode flat instead of jumping.  This works out well, I think, so that Duke will get at least two weeks off without jumping, but maybe not get the month off in January.
We worked on 20 meter circles, with John standing in one place on the outside, instead of in the center of the circle. Possibly, John didn't have to give me quite as many moment-by-moment instructions (although that might have been because he wasn't feeling great and not my amazing riding skills improving).
I managed to do better at connecting inside leg to outside hand, timing the counter bend when he was stiff, and making our transitions a bit more connected and less above the bit.
It was, like all of these posts, much, much harder than that, but I'm really struggling with how to put it into words instead of feelings.  I felt like this week riding him, we did a little better than we had been, but less good than the first few days after John rode him.

World's best left trot (starry eyes)

John said that MAYBE next year we can do 1/2:1/2 at the shows, where he rides Duke then I ride him.  He said we'll see, but that the downside is he'd turn Duke into the type of horse he'd like to ride, and then have to ride him all season.  That actually probably wouldn't be too bad with the new job.
He said that to ride prelim, I have to join USEF. Which means I have to watch their videos.
He said that if I'm buying Duke a new girth, get him one with a belly guard, just to avoid injuries.
And then for the lesson.  Duke moved great, and he felt amazing.  I could feel when he softened and bent and started using his topline.  He seems to want me to use the upper part of my calf to squeeze and then keep him from moving away from my leg by using the outside hand in a little bit of a reciprocal squeeze.
We worked on 10 meter circles, where John had me counterbend, then cross his front legs (so he was moving towards John) and then allow the correct bend, and then, without changing anything, to leg yield back out to a 15 meter circle.  He picked up the canter on the 10 meter circles, and we had some decent (not amazing) canter/trot transitions.
But it was the lifting up and using his back that was just so amazing, like the left trot was just so amazing to feel that I had trouble listening to John for a little while and just wanted to ride around and around doing it.
For the canter, I didn't think cross his legs, but have his outside leg come under the center of his body (front leg).
Duke was sweet and obedient during the lesson, but when I went to get him in his pasture this morning, he ran away from me and acted like it was because he's so attached to Ellie.  That annoyed me.
I felt like I rode this better and more consistently than some of our prior lessons, but I still need John's help with each specific aid (outside leg back and on now-now-now) to get Duke to respond correctly, and I can feel it when he does, but I'm still struggling to put it into words in this summary.
Christa told me that John is harder on his upper level students and expects more, and I think that's what's going on.  He's taken it up a notch and it's all new to me so I'm struggling to keep up.  But if this goes like his other lessons, eventually I'll make it rote and then we'll work on the next thing.

Duke spent a week with John

And now he's a fine-tuned machine instead of a dull blade.  It was really impressive.
Duke is a good communicator, so I could feel how he wanted me to ride him, with my upper calf instead of squeezing my whole leg, slightly tilted forward on my seat bones, and hands out of his mouth.  Duke carried his own head (and didn't wiggle it around), balanced himself, stepped more underneath himself at the walk, and was well balanced and forward at both the trot and canter.  When I got everything just right, he would also lift up his back, so I could wrap around him.
He was, however, also sensitive, so if I jerked around, or lurched, or pulled on his face with my hand, he'd brace himself and stiffen his neck to protect himself.
We did some work on the flat, and then went over the middle fence (without the three cavalleti).  It was nice to watch a couple of his other students first, to see that I'm not the only one who is having a hard time making the bending line.
John said that Duke tries hard, and that he gave one lesson sitting on him, to teach him about standing still.  He said he thinks Jane might have done that too, cocked a hip and put the reins in one hand, but that Duke was really good about it.
He said that Duke has a good personality, and sometimes powers up, and that twice John missed the jump, and so Duke was like "look, dude, I got this".
He also said that he thinks Duke knows when he's got it right, and expects to end.  He said they were working on shoulder-in, and when Duke finally got it, he was all like "ok, let's get out of here."
He said that Duke can't be manhandled or overpowered into doing something - that he has to be convinced he wants to do it, although he does want to please.
And he also said I've gotten good at - well, better at - riding him balanced.
I was thinking about it, and compared to last year, I think we've both improved, which is good.  I don't think John has ridden him in about a year, so it was good for John to feel what I've done with him on my own (although he can also see it from the ground).  Since I always think I'm going to ruin a horse, this was good news as well.
But what was most amazing was how good and sensitive and forward Duke felt.  It was just amazing that John could make him so fine-tuned, and that I can squish it out of him.  It's a good standard to have felt, so that I can expect more and ask more of him, and be aware of how well he can move, but I need to be more precise with my aids and balanced.
We both agreed that a light bulb went off for Duke maybe three weeks ago about balancing on those 10 meter circles, and that it helped quite a bit.

Flat work and attempt 3 at the cavaletti

John started us today with some great flat work.  He had us work on 10 meter and 15 meter circles, and the instruction was to connect Duke.  As with the prior lessons, sometimes I had to use the outside leg, and sometimes bend him a bit to the outside.  John said that when I feel his shoulder start to pop out, that is when I use my outside rein and outside leg.
What was different about today's ride was that, for a brief moment, I used my inside leg to my outside hand - on purpose - and Duke responded - on purpose.  I felt it!  I did it!  I can do it!  I'm not going to be stuck at this level forever.
John said that some of our crappy circles would score a 3, and then we rode them better (after he gave me all the aids and Duke worked his sweet little heart out to get there), and then I could feel his back lifting and his hind legs engaged.  It felt great.
But - sadly - despite the glimmer of hope, it is still hard for me to do and hard for me to grasp.  It takes all my concentration to do like two things, let alone the six that John has mentioned (and I'm guessing there's an infinity more underneath those six).
From there we jumped, but John noticed that my spurs hang low, and so he got an extra spur strap, and used it to lift my spur up and then fastened it around my ankle.  With the spur up, I HAD to keep my heel down, but then I could use either my calf OR the spur, and so I got a much stronger response from Duke.  John said that especially in the new boots, with the two little spur holders, instead of the back one, the spurs get droopy, and then you have to lift your heel to use the spur.
So we did the cavaletti to a little vertical both ways, and another miracle occurred.  This time (our third time), I could finally see the line going to the right (the longer direction).  John described it as I could see where I wanted to ride, instead of seeing where we were going.
What HE was doing, however, was making it harder (which I didn't notice, because I was so excited about seeing where I wanted to go and making it more precise), which was to counter bend, bend, use outside leg to keep him on the circle, get him over the center, and not at an angle.
He said right now I'm mad because I go over the fence about where I want, but I land like a foot left of where I want.  He said in the future I'll be mad because I'll get within an inch of where I want for take off, and an inch where I want to land.  That will be a cool thing to be mad about.
Duke, bless his sweet heart, worked himself into a lather trying to figure out what I wanted and do it.
Oh yeah, on the 10 meter and 15 meter circles, John said that for the trot, I had to cross his front legs over each other (when he was stiff) and for the canter, to think about pushing his outside front leg into the center of his body (since it can't cross under).  These helped him - I would describe it as - square up his shoulders and then balance and then lift his back.
It was a good lesson.  Duke is staying for a week while I go to Cincy.  John said to go to the Kentucky Horse Park and then drive up and down the road in front of it and look at the horse barns, which are amazing.

* Levels

10 meter circles and leg yields

Today's lesson was a mental challenge to keep all the aids going independently.  John had me ride 10 meter circles, get Duke properly bent, then keep the bend off of the circle, leg yield over to the wall, and then do it again.
The easiest part:  to leg yield to the wall, if his hindquarters are drifting, use the outside rein to square him back up.
The rest of it:  inside hand even with outside hand, not pulling down and back; use my outside elbow behind my hip if I need to; while outside hand is half halting, use inside hand to bend, but not too much; use hips evenly to keep him moving forward (especially at canter or sitting trot); use inside leg to push him into outside hand so he doesn't fall in but stays bent; and etc. etc. etc. beyond my ability to keep up.
If I counted out loud, I could keep my hips going, but then I couldn't also keep in my mind not letting the inside hand slip down.
Every once in a while I would get everything lined up and then I could feel Duke's back up, and it was amazing.  But it was hard to keep all those aids in mind.  John said getting the hips and legs to be  rote is the key, and then I'll still have to think about my hands.

Cavaletti to vertical - take 2

Today we worked on the same three cavaletti to a vertical (3'3" at its highest).  Once again, going right it was easier to go over the cavaletti, but harder to line up over the center of the fence, and jump it on the 20 meter circle (instead of kind of angled); and going left it was harder to go over the cavaletti, then easier to go over the center of the fence.
To go right, I had to counterbend Duke for a few strides, then bend him back as we did the final quarter of the circle (if fence is at 12, after 9), but I went and walked it after the lesson was over, and tried to move my shoulders to see what it was.  John said that Duke bulges his shoulder out to the left (why we're counterbending) when we go to the right, but he doesn't bulge his shoulder out to the right when we go left, so that's part of it.
But going to the left, John had to stand so I would ride around him, and then he put out ground poles to make the shape of the circle, and then it was easier.  So going left, I was cutting WAY in to make the circle.
I think - maybe - these two differences have to do with the way the exercise is set up.  Going left, you go over the third cavaletti then there are 7 strides to the fence, and then 20 to the cavaletti.  So there's an obvious "line" from the last cavaletti to the fence, but then I lose the shape in the empty space that is 20 strides.  So it's hard to get back lined up for that first cavaletti.
And going to the right, the fence to the first cavaletti is only 7 strides, so again, an obvious line, but the third cavaletti back to the fence is 20 strides, so I lose the shape of the circle.
Huh.
So I think at home, the way to work on the shape of the circle would be to put out ground poles and then try to ride over them on a circle in the correct arc.
Eventually, going left, John took the cavaletti and moved them all about 6" "closer" to the first one, which changed the angle ever so slightly (instead of the middle cavaletti lined up with the corner of the arena, it was slightly off set), and then it got way, way easier to ride.  John said that the line just looks different - it looks more like a straight line instead of the arc of the circle, so I don't mess around with Duke trying to get the correct bend, I just ride through it.  Even though the distance is exactly the same.
John said that when Duke does the funny hopping skippity jump instead of just cantering over the cavaletti, I have to just deal with it (I was starting to get really frustrated, and I'd pull him off the circle and then walk and then fuck around with the trot for a while then fuck around with the canter for a while before I'd try again), I have to just confidently go to the jump anyway.  He said at prelim, especially corners to skinnies, the distance is usually just a little off, and that Duke is very good about going anyway, but I am going to have to put my leg on and ride it, even at the odd distance.
Duke got super sweaty, and was tired about half way through, but I think he liked the challenge.
John also said that it's different to ride that vertical at 3'3" and 3'7" - that the height starts making the turn and angle more significant.  I think maximum height today was 3'3", but since I struggled with the cavaletti and the right turn to the fence, we definitely weren't ready for the next hard step.

Sitting trot and transitions

We did a lot of sitting trot work today which, to my utter amazement, I did sort of kind of ok.  As in, I wasn't as absurdly stiff as I expected, and I could increase Duke's trot and still sit it.  It wasn't a work of art, but neither am I.
John had us work on forward and back in the canter and trot, and then transitions in the proper frame.  Inside leg to outside hand, and then bend from the inside hand is the short version.  But for god's sake, I don't know why I'm struggling so much with this.  John just gives me the necessary words, and then the very next lap I need all of them again.
He said that his goal in the lesson is to have me feel it, so I can remember the feel.  The feel is very distinct, but I can't put into words what makes it happen.  When I can connect those two, I think things will progress.
We also talked about bending aids, and why sometimes the aid is an inside leg (he's usually falling in over his shoulder; i.e. making the circle smaller) and sometimes an outside leg (I am usually bending his haunches into the circle with this aid) and sometimes the rein (John tries to tell me when he wants me to only bend his neck; he said we used to only bend with the neck, but now I bend his body and then use the neck).
We also talked about the inside seat bone for the canter aid, after I experimented with it in between my last lesson and this one.  It is not a forward and down, but a forward and up - John had to show me twice - it is like the motion of a sitting trot, but then a swoop up.  John said you can use it either to start the canter (when his hind leg is coming under?) or to finish the canter, if he is almost picking it up but then stalling.
I am also having a lot of trouble with my hands.  My outside hand wants to go forward (instead of elbow to hip) and my inside hand wants to drop down and back, which is weird that they're going two different ways, since I can't use them independently.
Riding Duke felt great, but I'm frustrated because I feel like I can only connect the dots when John is there, and I just freakishly get one step or so when I'm on my own.

Cavaletti to a fence

Tonight we did a new exercise.  John had three cavaletti set on a circle (so the insides were closer together than the outsides), and we rode them first at the trot, then at the canter.  My job was to bend Duke around my inside leg, get him lined up properly, keep my leg on, but then let him figure it out.
After we did that both directions, then we rode the cavaletti to a ground pole, over a vertical, over another ground pole.  First we went to the right, and I had a hard time with making the correct line to make the center of the fence be a circle with the cavaletti (even though I could totally see it).  When we changed directions, it was very easy.  Afterwards, John said that's because from the left, it was a seven stride line to the fence, but from the right, it was a 20 stride line.  That was pretty fascinating.  So my eye can see 7 strides, but not 20.
This was a straightforward looking, but not simple, exercise.  It highlighted how important it is to be precise.
From the right, John had me counterbend Duke, but if the jump was at 12, I did this at 9, so by the time I got to 10, I was bending him back and using that to bend us through the turn.  When I lined up the bend ahead of time, the cavaletti and the jump were smooth sailing.  If I messed up the angle of the circle or the bend, I could tell instantly.  It was a good exercise.

Draw reins & trailer

Well, I got my trailer bent funny in the driveway, and John had to drive it in and then help me back out.  That was ... well, inevitable.  I guess I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner.  He said because Ford have a huge turning radius, and it takes a while for the trailer to move, that I'm overcorrecting, and instead, I should do little movements and trust that it's going to turn.  I tried parking it like that when I got home and it worked like a charm.

For our lesson, we worked with draw reins, because John said to ride with them every once in a while, but I'm too chicken shit to do it on my own.  Duke was great, and worked hard, as always.  We worked on bending him through his body (not just in his neck) to break up the stiffness.  This is sometimes with my inside hand (and leg), and sometimes with a half halt on the outside hand (and both legs), and sometimes, when he doesn't give, bend to the outside.
We did 10 meter trot circles, started 10 meter canter circles, then let him do 15 meter canter circles.  He got tired after the first set of canter both directions, but John had him keep going, and he didn't act up.
The transitions were hard - John made us redo them if he stiffened and put his head up in the air, so we had to do each one several times before we got it right.  He seems to pick up the canter better if I push the inside hip down and forward when I'm asking for the canter (with inside leg forward, outside leg back).  Transitions down, however, just feel like a crap shoot.  I am asking him to bend with my inside hand, but sometimes he throws his head up (mostly) and sometimes (rarely) he doesn't.
When he lifts his back up and is going round, I can squeeze him with my whole leg, it feels like I can wrap around him.  But when he's hollow in his back, if I squeeze with my upper leg, it just makes my lower leg swing.  John said yes.  I also have a hard time making my hands be independent; if my left hand gives, my right hand wants to also.

During my lesson, it's amazing, but like I've said the last few blog posts, afterwards, I just cannot repeat it (and can barely describe it) by myself.  John said to give when he bends (but I can't always feel it), and he kept having to tell me to take up the reins (especially with my left hand).
I think the last couple times though, I have done a little better the next couple rides by myself, so maybe it is slowly sinking in.  I hope this is another one of the learning stages where we're stuck on a big step up, but once we make it, we'll have a new view.  (And not the limits of how well I can ride.)

Two different types of bending aids

In our last lesson, we worked on bending Duke with the reins.  Tonight we worked on bending him with my leg.  John said that with a horse like him who thinks, it is best to mix it up.
I was trotting around on a floppy rein to warm up, like John and Ashley said (or so I thought), but John got on and rode him and showed me (which was awesome).  Instead of letting him do whatever he wants, it was pushing him forward, even letting him run just a little bit, then using outside aids to firm him up, then using inside rein and leg to bend him, and then pushing forward again, and then the second pushing forward pushes him up and round into the reins, and he naturally goes up and over his back.  It was kind of amazing.  So John rode him and described it to me a few laps, then I got on, and it was cool.
And then we did canter, and I don't know why, but I am just struggling with any roundness in the canter.  As in, I can't even describe what John told me, even though he said it just as simply (and even more recently) than the trot aids.
It is sitting down, keeping seat moving, legs on and off, breaking up his neck, but the aids from my legs to my hands just defeat me.
From there, we did some jumping through a grid, which was a ground pole, cross rail, ground pole, vertical, ground pole, and eventually the cross rail and vertical became oxers that were cross rail/verticals, and then John put placer poles in the middle to make us go straight down the chute and not drift.  Duke was great - he just powered through although he likes to land on the left lead.  My big instruction was to look ahead through the turn, then put enough leg on to get us through, which was usually leg over the first fence and in between the first and second fence.
John said he likes Duke, that he's got a good head and tries hard.

Sweaty butt (for Duke)

Our dressage lesson today was similar to the start of our jump lesson from Thursday, but was much harder.  And equally difficult to translate.
When I rode Friday, after the lesson, I remembered that one of the things John told me to do was to send Duke forward and back within the gait.  So if he was trotting, to slow him down to almost a walk, then go back to regular trot.  We did this at both trot and canter.  We did it again today.
We started with five minutes of trotting (I had been sitting around laughing) that John said was just throw away work - not to worry about getting him round, but just let him trot and loosen up.
Then we started working on a 20 meter circle, with a few changes of direction.  John did minor corrections here, a little more bend, a little outside leg.
From there we moved onto a smaller circle and John focused more on the precise aids - outside leg now - now - now, outside leg back, leg yield him out of the small circle onto the larger circle without changing my hands, taking up my reins (they slide out long and loose) - not looping the rein when I give, but just giving a little - but giving a little whenever he softened.
A few times we had to counterbend and then come back onto the correct bend, and then he had us switch sides of the arena and work on the right side.  Here, he had us working on a 10 meter circle, and then he had me canter on the 10 meter circle (as Duke's first right lead canter for the day!).  To my amazement, Duke did it.
John tightened Duke's noseband, which I have been leaving one hole looser, and he said that leave at least a hole for the show.
Duke had sweat under his chin and foamy sweat in his butt, but he seemed relaxed and happy.  He's a good worker and tries hard.
I could - sometimes - tell what John was about to say, and I tried to use my "cross" aids (inside leg to outside hand) without John having to say it, but it took a lot of concentration just to keep up, and I'm not sure that I feel yet when I need to give the aid.  I can feel the difference, after John tells me to, like I can feel when I put my outside leg back and use it with the beat of his steps, how he gets round and soft in the bend, but if I was just trotting around by myself, I would never think "oh, now is when I should move my outside leg back".  I am hoping that with time, this will start to sink in, but I imagine that whenever we start something new, it must be kind of frustrating to teach me, and just watch me struggle and struggle and struggle until I finally get it.  Please, please, let me get it.

Gymnastic

John started with some work on helping Duke to soften instead of jutting his head out (or up in the transitions) all stiff.  This is that same tricky - too many things happen at once - riding that I can't really describe, but I can feel when we get it right.
My best effort:
 - Reins should be short enough that when I ask for bend to the inside, I don't touch my own leg with my hand.  I did a lot of squeezing with the inside hand to try to get him to bend to the inside.
 - When he flat out refused, we'd bend him to the outside and then back to the inside.
 - Half halt still needed to happen on the outside, but I need to do a better job keeping my elbow connected to my hip.  I tend to push forward with the outside hand, I think especially when I am trying to use my inside leg.
 - I'd use outside leg pushed back to get him to put his haunches in, and then use it at the girth to keep him from drifting outside the circle.
 - I'd use inside leg to bend him.
 - I'd use both legs to push him forward, once he got soft and round.
 - For the canter, on the left lead, I was also putting more weight on my left seat bone and pushing down.
 - For transitions, I'd try to keep that inside bend going through the transition, so he didn't stiffen and toss his head up.
Duke got soaking wet just doing this part of the lesson, and I had to ride around most of the time with my tongue stuck out.  In fact, I have it stuck out typing trying to remember the feel of the movements and how to describe them.  Duke was moving great, and he felt fabulous, but my reaction time is still a little too slow for me to put all this together on my own.  What I think the take away was, though, was that I need to expect more from him and ask more from him, and not just be happy with what he offers.
Then we jumped.
We started with a little itty bitty vertical with a ground line in front of it, and one of the floppy jumps, John said that's the issue with show jumping at the shows.  I ask for the half halt, he blows it off, so I don't commit, and we come in at the wrong angle/speed.  John said to look through the turn, decide what I want, and ride it.  And so I did.  And it worked.
So then we did a cross rail, vertical, then an over that grew, and changed directions on the far side.  We haven't done this particular exercise since last winter, so it was interesting to see how we've changed over the summer.  I had to think heels down, back flat, and BOTH legs on, and I cut the right hand turn too short a couple times, but I think it was better than last winter.  One time Duke was a little slow, but other than that, he pretty much went through like a champ.  He likes to jump.  For this, it was me half halting before the turn to the fence, looking to the fence before we started to turn, and then closing my leg to ride through, and then over the oxer, looking the direction I wanted to go.
It's kind of frustrating that I still need to be told the basics (heels down, back flat) but if anyone can ever get it through my thick head, it'll be John.
It wasn't raining, so we got to do a quick walk around the back to cool off; Duke even had sweat under his chin.

Psychosomatic hoof

For the last two weeks, I've been babying Duke's hoof.  I'd ride him - and by ride, I mean I'd walk and walk and then trot, decide he didn't feel any better, give him the next day off, and then repeat.  So I did that from Saturday through last Thursday (12 days), then Thursday evening he felt noticeably worse instead of the same.  So I put magic cushion on his hoof, left it for 24 hours, and then gave him a gram of bute twice a day for 2 1/2 days.
He felt a bit off at the start of the lesson, but as we went on, he felt better and better.  John said that he's not a particularly stoic horse, and so he probably was protecting his hoof, until he realized that it didn't really hurt.  He also said that Duke doesn't push particularly hard off his right hind (that's his weaker leg) and wasn't putting all of his weight on the left front, so posting that way felt like a push up - post - stall - push up - post - stall, which was EXACTLY how it felt.
But then we went on for Duke to work really hard and do really well, and that was cool because he's basically had two weeks off, but he wasn't super stiff or hot or unpleasant.
He had us work on using inside or outside hand, with inside or outside leg, and then give a little, for both trot and canter.  And unfortunately, that's the best that I can do to describe it, because this is the part that's escaping me a bit.
So if he is on a circle going left, I push him out just a little with my inside (left) leg, but when he starts to go too far, stop him with my right leg.  Then I use my inside leg to push him into my outside hand, when I clamp my elbow into my hip to make it stay still and steady.  I have a hard time using one hand or one leg independently (still), although I think it is better than it used to be.
Then I use both legs to ask him to go bigger, but I keep the connection with my hands to prevent him from just going faster.
John he should be able to jump again later this week, and Tuesday is Ashley at Northwind, and hopefully I can get her enough students there that she can come regularly.