How often do you take lessons with a trainer?

[Eventer2483]

Hello, I am a hunter rider, turned eventer, and hopeful dressage rider. I’ve a lot of experience riding and developing young hunters and eventers, but my dressage education is decidedly lacking. I also don’t have a ton of money, so I’m doing things as frugally as I can. I have a 5yr TB who I think has the potential to be quite lovely, and while I still plan on jumping stuff with him, I think we could do well with pure dressage. My limitation is that I do not board at a farm with a full time dressage trainer (or trainer) and I am disinclined to move bc I love our farm manager and the care my horse receives. I do have the possibility of having a trainer travel to me (no trailer except once in a while can beg/pay friends to haul) but that would not be more than once or twice every 4-6 weeks bc of expenses. Is this frequently enough to make any kind of “difference” in my riding? I know dressage is a discipline that builds on repetition, so I don’t want to “waste” a trainers time.

so how often do you all have lessons, and do any of you all do it on your own with frequent clinics (a similar situation to what mine would be)?

[joiedevie99]

If you are a competent rider with solid basics and are capable and committed to practicing your homework on your own, I think you can do fine with periodic lessons/clinics. If at all possible, I’d encourage you to start off with a boot camp type period - a long weekend at the trainers, weekly lessons for a month (over video or Skype if you can’t get someone to you), etc.

I personally take 3-4 lessons a week. I think eyes on the ground are tremendously helpful when possible.

[Justmyluck]

I ride with my trainer once a week and occasionally twice a week depending on what we are working on and my horses attitude.

[solarflight]

Currently because I have boarded my horse out for the winter, I ride with my trainer once a week. That is the most I have ridden with a coach in 10 years, and I have noticed huge improvements with my riding and my horse.
I will be fine to go back to once or twice a month for the spring/summer, which has been my normal for at least the last 10 years.

[2DogsFarm]

Ideally, I’d have my trainer out (she comes to my farm) weekly.
But cashflow dictates 2X month & lately not at all since last June

BUT: she always leaves me with “homework” & I can put that to use riding on my own between lessons.
Progress may not be as rapid, but it is forward.
I am not at all competititve, I ride to improve each horse, so the timetable is my own & it has worked for nearly 20yrs.
Together we’ve gotten:
*A TWH who Did.Not.Trot. & crossfired at canter to be a comfortable ride
*A WB former GP Jumper with an explosive canter depart to soften so it felt like I just thought canter & got a soft depart
*Another TWH used solely for horsecamping into his teens, to trot, round up & win his first-ever Intro test
All of the above over a period of 15+yrs

[Hawks_Nest]

I find that most people struggle to make a lot of progress without frequent lessons because they either don’t have great feel or they struggle to push themselves and their horse beyond what they have done with the trainer. That being said, any amount of lessons is better than none. The big thing is that between those lessons you want to be mindful of any bad habits of yours and be willing to explore new exercises.

I get maybe 2 lessons a month in the summer (over one weekend), and in the winter I’m lucky to get a lesson at all because my trainer is 6hrs away in the summer and in FL for the winter. When she does come it is for 2 days at a time. I spend a lot of time riding on my own and have to really be mindful of my position and habits as well as be willing to try out new stuff and read things to give me new ways to approach stuff. That way when I do have a lesson I come into it saying “I’ve done X, Y, and Z but am struggling to progress with Y and would like some help.”

At least at the beginning try to do as many lessons as possible to help give you a good feel for what you want and where you want to go, then you can try backing off and working on your own. Especially with a green horse, you want to make sure you are on the right track first.

[Eventer2483]

@joiedevie99

If you are a competent rider with solid basics and are capable and committed to practicing your homework on your own, I think you can do fine with periodic lessons/clinics. If at all possible, I’d encourage you to start off with a boot camp type period - a long weekend at the trainers, weekly lessons for a month (over video or Skype if you can’t get someone to you), etc.

I personally take 3-4 lessons a week. I think eyes on the ground are tremendously helpful when possible.

I would LOVE that but cash flow is prob never going to allow that

[Jealoushe]

My coach is from about 3 hours away so she comes down once a month to teach at our farm on a Sat/Sunday. So once a month, but she is an FEI coach and amazing and lessons are $120 for 45mins.

Youtube is also an amazing resource when you cant get to a lesson.

[mmeqcenter]

I take one lesson every other week. I’m also a h/j convert and had maybe five lessons in a decade before switching to dressage. I’m used to “going-it-alone,” and though I adore my coach, even if I could afford to lesson more frequently, I probably wouldn’t do more than once per week unless I had another horse (or two or three or four). I like the time between lessons to work on what we worked on in the lesson and be able to show improvement the next time she comes out.

I think once or twice every 4-6 weeks would be fine. Sure you may not progress as fast as you could otherwise, but it doesn’t sound like you have any significant show goals so that really doesn’t matter.

[outerbanks77]

@joiedevie99

If you are a competent rider with solid basics and are capable and committed to practicing your homework on your own, I think you can do fine with periodic lessons/clinics. If at all possible, I’d encourage you to start off with a boot camp type period - a long weekend at the trainers, weekly lessons for a month (over video or Skype if you can’t get someone to you), etc.

Totally this. I’ve found it useful to develop my understanding of theory with an online program that aligns well with the lessons I take about once a month. That has been a frequent enough checkin that I get the push forward and stay on the right track. The studying in between helps me understand the “why” behind what my instructor has me doing, which allows me to address problems and make improvements in between lessons.

There are different learning styles, and this works for me.

In a perfect world, I think I would do a lesson once every 2 weeks, because I like to have a few rides in between to do the homework, process and confirm the instruction and make it my own. Also, with less frequent lessons, I feel motivated to show an improvement each time my instructor sees us.

It sounds like with your experience and background, you might be similar.

[EVneo]

If you can, film your lessons and keep a journal to write notes in immediately after your lesson. There are times I can only get one dressage lesson in a month, and then lose my trainer for 3 months in the winter. It’s been helpful for me to keep track of exercises, what we did and how it felt. Then, I keep track of how my rides are going, so that I come into lessons with a goal on what to work on.

[Smthn_Like_Olivia]

My situation is almost identical to yours - even down to the 5yr old TB. I also don’t have a trailer or regular trainer. I do clinics as much as I can with what is offered in my area. Fortunately, I have a friend who’s daughter wants to be an eventer, but mom is making sure their dressage foundation is strong, so I trailer with them a lot and we coordinate clinics. Last weekend, we had one come to us for a 2 day. So I’m basically getting lessons monthly or every other month. But what I do is have my SO video ALL my lessons and my rides on the weekends. I watch them over and over to absorb what I learned and work on it in between lessons/clinics. I also watch a lot of Youtube videos, read etc.

Getting video of my rides is TREMENDOUS in helping me improve because I don’t have eyes on the ground as much as I would like. The trainers I’m doing clinics with are far more experienced and knowledgeable that anyone local in my area, so I feel like I am gaining a lot more in my instruction despite it being so spaced out. My boy came straight off the track, and we will be making our debut at 1st level at the end of this month. The clinician I rode with last weekend thinks we are more than capable of tackling it.

[CanteringCarrot]

I lesson with my regular in-house trainer once a week. Every other week another BNT comes and I ride then too. I also have at least one full weekend clinic a month from November until April. Some I trailer to, some are at the stable.

I have occasionally booked extra lessons with my trainer if we are really working on something and I want more lessons/supervision to accomplish whatever it may be. For example, solidifying quality flying changes.

[GraceLikeRain]

Without a truck and trailer, lessoning on my personal horse will be limited to 1-2x/year for the foreseeable future. However, if I go a hour down the road I can ride a mediocre “second level schoolmaster” being used by a very good trainer. I’m aiming for a lesson a month to really hone in on my position.

Without having regular access to lessons for my own horse, DH bought me a Pixem and actually started using my Equisense that’s sat unwrapped for 5+ years. Neither are perfect but videos increase my accountability and equisense data helps me see how much work I’m actually doing (time at each gait, tempo, etc.). After every ride I journal about my ride, any tack adjustments, weather, and lessons learned. I also have a calendar on my fridge where I mark the days I ride. The days I don’t ride I have to put down why not. It’s rained like a SOB since December but if it isn’t raining and I skip, I have to write down “prioritized netflix and chill with the cats” or “really wanted Thai for dinner”. At the end of the month I can look back and assess how consistent I am being with the opportunities available. Thinking about the excuse I have to write is often all I need to drag myself out to the barn where the ring is under a inch of standing water to do groundwork and do unmounted contact work with exercise bands.

[emipou]

@Eventer2483

Hello, I am a hunter rider, turned eventer, and hopeful dressage rider. I’ve a lot of experience riding and developing young hunters and eventers, but my dressage education is decidedly lacking. I also don’t have a ton of money, so I’m doing things as frugally as I can. I have a 5yr TB who I think has the potential to be quite lovely, and while I still plan on jumping stuff with him, I think we could do well with pure dressage. My limitation is that I do not board at a farm with a full time dressage trainer (or trainer) and I am disinclined to move bc I love our farm manager and the care my horse receives. I do have the possibility of having a trainer travel to me (no trailer except once in a while can beg/pay friends to haul) but that would not be more than once or twice every 4-6 weeks bc of expenses. Is this frequently enough to make any kind of “difference” in my riding? I know dressage is a discipline that builds on repetition, so I don’t want to “waste” a trainers time.

so how often do you all have lessons, and do any of you all do it on your own with frequent clinics (a similar situation to what mine would be)?

I take lessons with my trainer 2-3x a week. I love riding alone for their own reasons, but she’s such a great trainer and I am able to learn so much in every lesson - I have grown tremendously since starting with her (coming up on three years), but still have so much to learn. In addition to this, I also take occasional lessons with my previous trainer who is a bit of a distance from me, and when my guy is back to full work in the next few months, I’ll try to get back into our semi-monthly lessons with a well known local judge/trainer.

I would encourage you (or anyone) to take as many lessons as they are able to - with a quality trainer. It’s worth the money.

[Eventer2483]

I have a SOLOSHOT camera that I do video my rides or have someone cell phone video… I do find that helpful!

[J-Lu]

Honestly, you should have a trainer work with you as much as you can afford it, and if that’s infrequently, so be it. I’ve gone through periods where I didn’t take lessons but saved for clinics maybe 3-4 times per year. The benefit to infrequent lessons/clinics is that the person can tell you how much you’ve improved because they aren’t used to seeing you all the time. I’ve never taken lessons more that once every 2-3 weeks and successfully moved up the levels.

If you have a Soloshot and/or people to video you, have them video your lessons and watch them more than once. Then watch you riding. You don’t have to be an expert to see if your horse is in a similar working posture during your lesson and when you’re riding on your own. I have found that videos are GREAT tools and I have always videoed my clinics nd dressage tests. SEEING is really more helpful than feeling, and can help you associate what you see with what you feel.

I can tell you for sure that you can learn and do dressage without going broke!!!

[NotGrandPrixYet]

Whatever you can afford, do it. Whatever you do, be dedicated to it. You will progress.

Just be sure that the trainer is a quality trainer who aligns with your goals. If you hire someone who is not good, your results will be disappointing.

[exvet]

Whatever the resources will allow. I did it for years bringing in a clinician once a month from March through November. Then I moved to an area where I could get weekly lessons and then bumped it up to 2-3 lessons a week (often in the same day on different horses I owned). Honestly the increase in frequency did make a huge difference in terms of speed of developing specific horses. I’m sure the increase in mileage helped my riding as well. I am back down to once weekly or at least 2 times a month lessons on one horse. It really is all about how you maximize your experience and mileage whether it’s with good feel, getting homework, taking videos of lessons and rides (which I share with my instructor when we do get together), etc or any combination thereof

[Samantha37]

I was similar to you but not probably as experienced with young horses. I started out doing very low level H/J, then switched to eventing, getting up to Novice level and during that time, doing the 3’ H/J. I switched to dressage in 2016 and have taken 2-4 lessons per month. My trainer lives 2 hours away from me, so I go up and spend the night Saturday-Sunday to get 2 lessons in one swoop. I try to go up to her once a month and she comes to me for one day clinics once a month.

I’m making pretty good progress considering my horse and I are learning together. We earned my Bronze medal in 2018 and I couldn’t competently do a leg yield prior to meeting my trainer lol. My trainer is really good at providing homework exercises for me to work on that help achieve the desired results without constantly just trying to get a specific feel.