Just a lesson a week will make for very slow progress. For me, 3x plus a lesson works and more rides fi prepping for a show
Personally, I would prefer 1 lesson per week. I like to process what we’re learning and do some practice before the next session. But people vary a lot and I am not in a hurry. Many people do well with multiple lessons per week. Now, I usually ride 5-6 x per week with rare lessons. I would like to have a lesson a month, but that is not always possible.
When I was at a different stage of learning, it made a big difference when I went from 1 lesson and 1 ride to 1 lesson and 3-4 rides per week.
Enjoy the journey.
IMHO, this, posted by @Scribbler, says it best:
“I feel like being serious about riding for me included being completely realistic about where I’m at, about making slow but steady progress, but also about making sure it is financially, physically, and emotionally sustainable. If one or two good lessons a week are sustainable for you then that is taking it seriously, more than having big expectations that go poof.”
:yes:
I’ve ridden for more than 40yrs - including a near-20yr hiatus - and currently manage a lesson, at best, 2X monthly.
At my most active, I took lessons once weekly when I had the goal of showing H/J & then Eventing.
Did very well in both disciplines, not Top of the Pile, but enough Champion & Reserve rosettes to make me happy.
Now I am perfectly happy with my erratic lesson schedule.
My Trainer comes to my place & is a biomechnanics person who regularly clinics with a man who co-authored the USDF Judges Handbook - so I get his knowledge 2ndhand 
My progress, of course, is not as fast as if I devoted more time to riding, but still it is enough to make me keep doing what I love.
I have never had a “made” horse, mostly retraining from other use by prior owners.
My latest Science Project is a TWH who had been used for horsecamping & trails, never asked to trot or canter for the first 13yrs of his life.
I have had him 2yrs & he is now trotting consistently in a lovely frame & canter work is started.
He won his First.Ever Intro A test last Fall (59%) & placed 3rd (48%) in the B over WBs.
He reverted to Gait, but Judge - local r - placed us on our geometry 
Once his WTC is confirmed I will allow him to gait when asked - no reason he can’t have 4 gears,
Might even see how he feels about jumping as I kinda miss it.
I’ve also started Driving with a mini.
& #3 is a “decorative” Hackney Pony who ground-drives.
SO my Ride/Drive/Work Pony times vary - when I have the energy they get worked.
When not, they amuse themselves.
But, I digress…
OP: do as much as you can, whenever you can, compare yourself to noone & enjoy the ride! :encouragement:
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Can you progress on one lesson/ride per week? Yes, up to a point. Of course more is better, and you’ll likely progress at least 2x as fast on two lessons/rides per week.
How often do I ride? 4-5 days a week. Lessons are difficult, but hoping to do 2x a month this summer. I’m hoping to get my second horse going at the end of summer in which case I’ll be doing 8-10 rides a week.
Now the question you didn’t ask, is if you can do things off-horse to accelerate your progress on one lesson per week. The answer to that is yes. Working on targeted fitness can improve riding, as can visualization, studying and balance exercises. Just because you’re not actually on the horse each day doesn’t mean you can’t be working towards making the most of your next ride.
Well, I have 2 horses and my life pretty much consists of work / ride / eat / workout / sleep (LOL not much). Unless I’m traveling for work—I am riding at least 1 horse a day. I ride both horses on Friday - Sunday. So they both get worked about 5-6 days a week. I do work full-time in a demanding job, am married, but no kids. I take 1 lesson a week on each horse—so 2 lessons per week. I was at barns for years that didn’t have trainers that came out regularly—so I used to trailer out and take lessons once a month. Now that I am at a barn with a trainer who boards there as well—I am taking full advantage of having regular, weekly lessons. It does help us make progress!
If you can’t ride that often, I would recommend adding in some workout that is beneficial to riding, to help you make faster progress. Pilates, yoga, or strength training are some ways to help make the most of your limited time in the saddle.
When you can’t ride. Do exercises that will improve your ability as a rider. Also watch lots of videos, read lots of books, think of riding, visualize riding well. Best of luck. When I first got back into riding all I could afford was one lesson per week but I made the most of it. After each lesson I would write down everything I learned and review it between lessons. Best of luck to you.
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I think it’s hard to get anywhere riding only once a week. A lot of learning dressage for my has been having a lightbulb moment where it finally comes together, it feels right, and all those comments from my trainer make perfect sense. I usually find those moments happen when I’m riding alone but they’re built on a foundation of regular lessons and saddle time.
I think you can learn to ride in the most basic sense riding once a week. Learning dressage or anything else is definitely more than once a week.
I currently ride 4-5 times a week, usually with 1-2 lessons. I used to ride 5-6 days a weeks before I had kids.
I do notice a big difference in my students when they can only ride once a week (due to work etc) or if they manage ~2 rides in between weekly lessons - their position and timing is inevitably better if they are able to ride in between, otherwise they tend to be more stiff and not able to give aids as well.
You can progress by riding once a week, if that ride is in a lesson, but it will be slow…
Ultimately though, any riding is better than no riding, and you just have to do what you can with the cards you are dealt.
But if there is any way you can squeeze in one or two more rides, you will certainly notice a big difference. Or, as someone else said, even some other stretching/yoga/pilates in between could also help.
I am a returning rider (the last gap has been 2 years, but I’ve had numerous gaps in between there). Right now I’m lessoning 3 days a week, and I’ve just also added rides on one of the lesson horses in between (I’m hoping to add at least 2-3 days). I own a horse, who is in full training, who I will also be starting to ride soon (probably in my next lesson).
Why am I doing so much?
Each time I came back to riding I was so frustrated by my lack of serious progress, especially compared to where I was in the past. Mentally, I’m still very much in the game, but physically has been seriously annoyingly slow. So this time, I’ve decided to throw everything at it. My kids are all older now, so it’s my turn 
I love this post so much. I feel like often people aren’t really considered to be “serious” about riding if they ride less than 6 times per week. I used to be able to ride pretty regularly around 5 times per week (one of those was a less). However, I moved my horse to an amazing barn with way more opportunities that’s much further away and now I can only make it out around 4 times per week and I’m also not taking weekly lessons. I am in a relationship with no kids but I do have two dogs and so my evenings after working a full time job are tough, but doable, to fit in rides even if that means that I don’t do anything other than walk the dogs, drive to and from the barn, and ride my pony.
I still feel like we’re making progress though and I actually like not having weekly lessons since I feel like I can set the calendar more for what we’re working on from a day to day basis. When I do take lessons it’s two- three back to back (when I take some time off work) and then I have a few more weeks to work on homework.
With my pony and the instruction I’m getting (and the level I’m at) it’s working and even if my progress slows down I’m ok with that right now.
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When I was a horseless rerider I found that having a lesson per week AND a practice ride worked for me. I had been out of the saddle for about 10 years and was pushing 60, but I did have some dressage experience. Very frustrating when my body didn’t respond as it used to (and neither did the rental horse!)
When I just got the lesson, I spent a lot of time with the instructor correcting things that I actually felt and knew needed correcting, but I just didn’t have the muscle or flexibility or control yet to do that. The practice ride allowed me to process and get more practice so I could better use the lessons. One lesson a week let me reconnect to riding and start to get my balance back. Adding in a practice ride really improved my confidence and riding.
BTW: Now retired and bought a horse last summer so riding 5-6 days a week!
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In an ideal world if you were independently wealthy, had a tolerant spouse, no children and unlimited time, you would ride at least 3-4 horses 6 days a week. Well most of us don’t live in utopia. I would not worry about whether you are riding enough but rather what you can do to get the most out of the time you can spend on a horse. What are you doing to stay fit so that you are in the best shape possible to have productive lessons (Pilates, yoga, stretching, cardio)? Do you read articles or books to discuss with your trainer? Some of these will have exercises that you can do off the horse as well as on the horse. Do you go to shows and clinics when you have time to learn from what you see others doing? Watch videos? If it is a money challenge, I would talk with your trainer to establish goals for yourself with a schedule that you can keep. This will reward you by letting you see the progress you are making. Any time in the saddle is helpful so look at your local saddlery store, local USDF group organizations, etc to see if anyone is looking to have a horse trail-ridden or lightly exercised in exchange for some barn work or even better grooming at local shows, if you have the time on the weekends. And particularly in the summer, early morning is a better time to ride than the evening and may give you some more time in your schedule if you have this option (I ride at 6-8 am in the summer). If you enjoy your 1x a week lesson and that is all you can do right now, keep at it. You will progress!
I ride 3-4 times a week dependent on my work schedule; but. on the days I ride, I usually am riding at least my two if not more.
I typically ride both horses 5 days a week. On work days, I ride very early in the am, so generally they each get a short(ish) work session. I find I need 2 lessons a week to really make progress, but right now I am only getting 1 lesson a week.
Today was pretty typical for me: get up at 5, do email while I drink coffee and make sure everything is under control before I head to the barn at 6. Drive time is 45 min. I have the horses groomed on work mornings, so when I get there I run a brush over the already groomed horse, tack up and ride horse 1, then horse 2 and hit the road again around 9:30, get home by about 10:15, shower and get to the office by 10:45/11:00.
Weekends are a much more leisurely schedule
