A question asked by DH more than once, and then you have to try and explain continuous improvement, etc etc.
First lesson with a new coach yesterday, and it really made me wonder WHY after nearly 60 years of riding, I am still paying someone to tell me to LOOK UP, 
I should starch my new buff and fix that problem.
Ok I did get sone great exercises to do with the boy, and felt him going so much better after riding āunsupervisedā for a whileā¦but jeez,why am I still working on the basicsā¦
My dad has asked me that. āI thought you already knew how to rideā¦ā 
He came along and watched me ride in a clinic last year, and got a much better idea of how much is going on. Itās hard enough to manage one body and brain in a sport. With riding, itās two brains and bodies both within the moment, and simultaneously needing to incorporate the training objectives. So not only keeping position, tempo, etc. but deciding when to do a transition, use a different exercise, push for more energy, etc. not to mention the needed expertise of someone who has brought horses farther up the levels than I have and has seen and navigated more training issues, to identify what comes next and keep us out of a rut, and act as eyes on the ground for things that are hard to see or feel from the saddle. My instructor is great for talking me through tough patches with my young horse, and sometimes has to point out the obvious. Like my mare always falls in right, so I do a lot of LY to the left, but then she goes on auto-pilot and starts crabwalking left towards the rail. My instructor is like āumm, just LY right a couple steps and then try again.ā It was obvious after she said it, but I was so stuck in my head about getting her off my right leg that pushing her to the right didnāt even enter my mind.
I would start comparing it to pro football teams having a coach. They obviously know how to play football, but they still need someone giving drills and feedback and captaining the ship.
Same with horses. You know how to ride, but it helps having someone to keep steering you in the right direction.
Yes. Everyone at higher levels of any sport has a coach.
Eyes on the ground. I always refer to ballet dancers when people ask me why I have lessons.
Ditto with the others. I just took my 4 year old to his first ārealā dressage lesson today. I backed and started this guy and have done all his training. I have another who is moving up from second to third. I have my bronze and silver medals; but, I still need an eye on the ground and appreciate input from a coach. All too easy to have bad habits creep in when you ride in a vacuum 
which is what I still have to tell my SO who questions the wisdom of the expenditure.
I grew up with trainers. I was always told it was very, very hard to work a horse by yourself. They were right.
You canāt see what it looks like underneath you (or in front of you if driving). Itās a bit easier when driving, but still hard - you can see how high or low their head is, but not what it looks like from the ears forward. You can kind of tell what they are doing with their legs, but not quite.
I find that most of my friends who participate in other sports are mystified as to why we donāt spend more time with our trainers. So much independent practice is foreign to them! So I agree with others, if someone asked me why Iām lessoning, Iād say for the same reason football teams still run plays with their coach looking on.
Timely for me too. Iām home from one of those clinics where I wonder if Iāve been riding for 25 years total, or 25 minutes, since Iām sure the clinician was wondering the same. Only way to improve! Lol
I told my DH that itās my job to stimulate the horse economy and asked him why pro-golfers still take lessons and have coaches.
I majored in Equine Science when I went to college in the late 70s and then went to Potomac Horse Center in the early 80s. Fast forward to the 2000s when I wanted to get back into eventing after trail riding only for a number of years and signed on with a local coach. When my mom asked why I was taking lessons I told her āto get better.ā She said āI thought you were betterā referring to my school years. I asked her why she still took piano lessons even though she knew how to play. Touch`e
At my barn there are 3 trainers, the 2 partners who own the place and me. Weāre all middle aged. They rode/showed horses until their late 30s, then became ātrainersā when they inherited the family stable. I continue to show, teach and take weekly lessons. One day they asked why? I said because thereās so much more to learn. I said Olympians still have coaches and Iām certainly no Olympian! They shrugged their shoulders muttering āwhat else is thereā? I cringe when I hear them āteachā.
I did my first Grand Prixs this yearā¦ and I feel like a training level rider all over again. Itās a whole nother sport at this levelā¦ I still feel like a spaz riding the ones and the piaffe with this horse is tricky to say the least. Currently feeling confident in my half passes and canter piourettesā¦ but weāll give it a month
Reading the flying change hell thread in the Dressage forum is making me laugh. I have two 7yr olds that I put changes on last winter; one I taught the changes to in 2weeksā¦ and he has been perfect ever since, his mom can ride them and work on them too. The other horse yeah well itās a processā¦ and I keep saying that because itās still like those first couple weeks.
If I just had the second horse to be working on changes Iād āslit my wristsāā¦ luckily I have two Iām working the changes on at the same time. Keeps my spirts up! Which Iām going to need cause I have two more to put changes on this winter!
The people who take lessons are beginners or advanced riders. Those who do not take lessons know it all, have closed minds and can not be taught.
As said above even the Olympians are still having lessons.
This is one sport where you keep learning until the day you die, even if you live to be 128yo.
Iām riding alone right now, and I have to say, itās wonderful to have an instructor to talk with during a lesson. You can discuss theory, what youāve got wrong, where your balance is incorrect, what the next step is (that you might not take for another 3 months!!!) Itās an exchange of ideas as well.
That is a good question. You obviously know how to ride? If you are not wanting to compete what are your goals for lessons? Are you still lacking balance and the basics?
I have never had a lesson, just a self taught and it came naturally kind of person, so my wondering is legit-- not being snarky or rude.
For many of us, riding is a lifelong pursuit of learning. There are always things we can improve and things we can learn to make our horseās job easier by helping them use their bodies in ways that make them stronger and more athletic.
Well, I have been having lessons over the last few years while I was pursuing dressage goals. Those goals are now parked, so my current challenge is to turn my āIād rather still be a stallion, just hanging around and getting a girl friend every now and againā into a willing and reliable work horse.
A lot of it I can do alone, but certainly I find huge gaps in my training, while trying to teach him, so eyes on the ground is a very useful back up. I used to joke that the difference between riding with my dressage trainer, and riding alone was about 5000 steps
I guess this was posted though because I cannot believe that after all these years I still need to be reminded to look up. A friend shared these, she makes them for guardian dogsā¦maybe I need something like it to remind me to look up!
Love that exchange of views, and also someone saying āwell thatās not working, try it this wayā and the light bulbs start flashing
Because I donāt know everything. Because horses are humbling. Because what is life if I am not learning? Because I still need someone to yell at me to stop sticking my right leg out in halts like a reiner. Because every time I think I finally āget itā there is a other layer and more complexity, and it gets harder. Because there is no way I can do any of this alone, and thank G-d I recognize that, otherwise life would be very empty.
At my advanced age it takes a zillion reps for muscle memory to set in, and without lessons to make sure those reps are correct, Iām doomed. 
But the the posts above pretty much nailed it. Particularly like Mersidoatsā comment.
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