Riderideride, studystudystudy!

Okay, so this is the rewrite, because my first try was pretty jumbled...
So Friday, I was out riding, and a younger rider at Bold's barn, a very nice and quite talented dressage rider who also rides with my trainer and has a superstar sassy pony, was out, so I asked her to help me with Bold. We ended up trading horses, and while watching her, I told her "That's what I want him to look like when I ride!!" so she helped me figure out how to get a little closer-
She worked on getting him to accept the connection better, by asking him to give (more with my outside rein) then releasing. Alright, I know I've heard this before, but it's like I just CAN'T REMEMBER! I know that I definitely have a tendency to just hang onto the horses mouths, which they don't usually like and really doesn't help with connection issues... Oopsy.
Anyways, so more explanations of the same idea, and totally 100% correct. Also, her pony was fun to sit on :)
I think right now, having someone standing there making sure I'm releasing helps a lot.
Saturday we started to work on the same stuff until....... dun-duh-duh-DUNH....
... I jumped! We started off at crossrails and I eventually put it up to a small vertical, and obviously Bold was fine- he tried to get lazy and would hit rails just enough so they didn't fall, but still, not something I want him to start. As long as I kept him working he was good, and I'm planning to jump again soon! Maybe not in a dressage saddle next time though. I was working on making sure I release over the jump.
Newest(slash re-newing) exercise/explanation/reminder to self-
Jockey Stirrups- flip stirrups over saddle, lift your feet back in, and trot around in a two point type position (you'll need a dressage whip on most horses) until you fall on your butt. seriously. It helps with quads(and I think glutes, otherwise I've been doing this wrong again) but you need a trustworthy horse!! Laurie and Dori suggested this- Dori says to just roll your stirrups, but Laurie said to flip them. And both of them said they would jump in that length when they did it. (I'm not there yet, suprise)

Sunday- no riding! I worked the morning shift and decided I needed to study for my exam tomorrow, so I took a dinner shift as well, and just studied between and after. Microbiology is tough! Hopefully my sectioned, color-coded flashcards help ;)