Because I read things on the internet said or authored by Olympians and then try to apply the tips or exercises to my poor horse and then we get tied in knots and the only way out is to explain to my trainer what we were attempting to do so she can raise her eyebrows and tell me that I’m trying to solve a problem we never had and can we please get back to the things we are actually working on to achieve my goals.
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Once, while driving to my lesson, I tried to count the different, separate permutations of the aids that one could employ with a horse:
Left rein, direct, light, medium strong. Hold or brief.
Right rein, direct, light medium strong. Hold, or brief
Left rein, indirect, light medium strong. Hold or brief
Left lower leg
Right lower leg
Left thigh
Right thigh
Seatbones
Weight in saddle
bla bla bla
I didn’t get them all, and there were at least 325 different combinations, if my driving math was anywhere near close.
Now, pick the right combination for the situation you are suddenly in.
That’s why.
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There are 7 musical notes. With those 7 musical notes the amount of songs that could be written is infinite.
We have 2 reins, 2 legs, 2 seat bones, our weight and our voice.
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A beginner rider wants to do medium stuff. A medium rider wants to do advanced stuff. An advanced rider know that the basics are what needs to be worked on.
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I’ve believe most riders struggle to understand (let alone tactfully apply) the basic aids EXACTLY when they’re needed, and not a moment longer. Good riders have mastered their timing and application of them. My trainer’s feedback keeps demanding refinement of my skills. I love it!
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You don’t need to take lessons for life to do that. You can improve in your skills and the horse’s as well without someone yelling at you to look up.
I do realize that some people enjoy lessons and the personal one on one and all that a good trainer does for you and that is money well spent if it is a good relationship.
No one should ever stop learning because we never know it all and everyone has room for improvement.
Ok, been wondering about this, I have great balance and basics, and rode on my own for many years, BUT, now I realize how many bad habits I ingrained in myself during this time, and I am happy to have help to try and reprogram.
As to basics, what do you call 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.
Never had a lesson? What never? Someone threw you on a horse and magically you could just do all the things? I am not being snarky or rude either, but it is inconceivable to me that someone just had an innate ability to ride, certainly to achieve the level of harmony that I want.
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I am also a (more or less) lifelong rider, and have taken lessons for long stretches of time, including now. I understand the idea that not everyone needs or wants to continue with lessons, and that’s totally an individual choice. I enjoy lessons, I enjoy the feedback, I enjoy being given stuff to work on. And I haven’t showed in years.
But one more reason for taking lessons even after you already know how to ride is that, if you own your own horse, you often develop a specific relationship with that horse. That can be either good or bad, but if it’s good, the communication is usually there even if you don’t ever take lessons or don’t use cues in a conventional way.
But, when you start riding another horse, you may find that your ability to communicate is very horse-specific and not easily applied to another trained horse.
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Candyappy, I hope life long lessons don’t consist of telling someone to look up. What I mean by lifelong learning has more to do with improving our riding to do higher level movements, improving what we currently can do and make our aids ever more subtle, or improving our knowledge of horses in ways that may or may not include riding. Even Olympic riders need eyes on the ground…I am not saying that everyone needs weekly lessons for life, but we do need eyes on the ground from time to time.
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Because I still suck.
(ask a stupid question 
)
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I chose my instructor when he pointed out something I was not doing which I don’t know if I would have picked it up if I was giving myself a lesson.
15 years later I have at times had one lesson a week or at the moment no lessons for close to a year, sporadically throughout the years.
I still learn something every lesson. It is not just eyes on the ground.
Then the last gelding I bought is not as hot as most horses I have ridden. That was another learning learning curve for me and a lot more tools in my tool box.
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I like having a lesson every two to four weeks so that I can work on stuff in between.
I also have found if you refer to it as “coaching” to non-horse people they understand better.
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I take lessons to learn more about the biomechanics of riding and to be frank, right now it’s all I can afford. I don’t own. After a eleven month break from riding I am being taught currently by a pretty laid back instructor. More for fun and muscle memory than anything.
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Basically. At 10 we moved and the girl across the road had 2 welsh ponies. I got on one bareback and promptly feel off at the canter. She threatened me with a stick and I got back on ( i would have anyways!!)
We rode everyday and I learned how to stay on and things just evolved from there. Got my first horse at 13 and broke my first at 15 with help from a local college guy ( picking up extra money for college).
I read a lot, learned a lot through trial and error but always broke my own riding horses from then on. My only boarding experience ( 13 years) started at 17 and the BO was like a second dad to me. He was an excellent trainer and I watched and saw how he handled the horses and tried to do the same.
He never pushed them or lost his temper but was just calm ( but firm) with them no matter what. They responded in an amazing way. I know he was just one of those few people who can ride/ train any horse
they get.
I never had a lesson but he gave me plenty of horses to ride besides my own . He bought OTTB’s and a few of us girls would take a few to get going and he would sell them. He bought sale horses of all breeds and disciplines and we rode those too. In addition to training and showing my own horse.
Nothing can teach you like riding multiple horses every day for years and yes, I think for some of us we can just connect with the horses we ride and riding does come somewhat naturally to us. I am not as secure a rider as I was all those years ago but my horses still respond the same way.
I am 63 and have been riding since I was 7. I’m currently taking weekly dressage lessons. Dressage is relatively new to me and also new to my current horse, so we are both learning new things.
Lessons make me a better rider and help keep bad habits at bay. There is so much to learn in dressage, and a rider can always get better. My lessons also serve as training sessions for my horse, so he is progressing as well. Also, it’s all fun.
I get question a lot, though. You know, “I thought you knew how to ride” type things.
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I’m a former professional who has ridden some very nice horses for other people, and who has trained up my own investment horses to be worth beaucoup bucks.
My current horse is a 13 year old OTTB who had the basics incorrectly installed by a series of amateur owners and lesson programs, and it took me -literally- years to fix. I now live in an area that is a bit of a black hole for getting good upper level instruction, and COVID halted what clinics I did have access to, but when I finally got the chance to take this horse to an Anne Gribbons clinic I signed up in a heart beat, to the tune of an entire months board and farrier bill for two 45 minute sessions, stabling, and trailering.
We rolled in and Anne asked us what are we working on. I said “We don’t ride any level. I can’t get him to accept the contact so I have no half halt or transitions, and normally I would use transitions to improve things but since I can’t make a good transition I feel like they just untrain the horse.”
Anne said “Well this is going to be a very boring lesson for you then.”
I said “I have been waiting for this boring lesson for years.”
Anne to her credit first asked if he was UTD on teeth and saddle fit (yep!), and then said, “Ok. Then pick up the contact and if he resists, do not pull back but put ze leg on. Do not let go ze leg until he accepts.”
My 13 year old OTTB of a horse, bless him, proceeded to porpoise around this entire clinic for 45 minutes and $350. The auditors moved their chairs back. Anne said I was “brave” (
). He threw every opinion and defense mechanism he had at the situation, and Anne insisted I “NOT LET GO ZE LEG!” I sat in the whirling middle of it all and followed instructions. The next day we came back and did it again, with some improvement (she let us off the 20m circle and had us try some legyields. Much advance.)
So why would a former pro who has made up other horses 10x fancier than this one would ever be spend $700+ to take a 13 year old OTTB with remedial contact issues to a clinic with the former coach of the US Dressage team?
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Because this is the horse I have. I don’t have another horse, I have this horse. So I may as well learn how to ride THIS horse the very best that I can.
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Because this horse has value (even if he’s not worth many dollars at all) and potential, and I want to unlock as much of it as I possibly can.
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Because board and farrier is still going to cost $1000 a month whether I access this horse’s potential or not.
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Because I owe it to this horse to learn how to ride him. He doesn’t care that I can ride 150 horses without remedial contact issues all day long and twice on Tuesdays. He has HIS issues with the contact, from HIS experiences, and he needs my help to not have to feel so defensive or claustrophobic between the aids.
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He didn’t ask to be my horse, and he didn’t ask me to take him for a spin. It’s my job to make it work, not his.
And what was the problem? The most BASIC of the basics: Does he accept the contact? I knew this was the problem but that doesn’t mean I knew how to fix it. (And I dunno, if 45 minutes of rodeo stood between you and the other side, you too might need someone like Anne Gribbons to say “Just trust me on this. LEAVE. ZE LEG ON.”)
The results of fixing this basic issue have been dramatic. He is 1000x happier. He warms up long, loose, and fluffy. We can do big steps little steps with a soft back. We can do a walk canter transition without 7.5 minutes of careful preparation. Today he did some pretty decent head to the wall leg yields, which means soon I’ll have independent influence on each side of his body, and the option to ride those like rails, or cross his body and ride him like an X. (This is also the basics, but the basics stay the basics forever, while getting infinitely more nuanced.) Suddenly 2nd, 3rd, and 4th levels are just a question of strength, straightness, and fitness then.
Normally professionals don’t spend $700+ to ride 13 year old remedial former lesson horses in front of Anne Gribbons.
But I became an infinitely better rider for this horse, a better rider in general, and I gained access to a whole new horse, who is now so much happier and more comfortable in his work.
That’s why I still take lessons.
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I absolutely love this post and it should be a sticky.
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I have nothing against people taking lessons for life if they choose to. What people do with their time and finances is their business.
It looks like you were right in seeking help with your horse and if I had a horse with a problem I could not get past I would seek the help of a professional as well.
I don’t compete and I just ride for my own pleasure. Which of course makes a difference. I raise and train all my riding horses, always have and have not needed to seek help yet. That might also be different if I bought someone else’s training mistake.
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Remember this topic’s title: WHY are you having lessons? It’s not about if you should or not, if it’s justified or not. There are a million reasons to take lessons and it may have nothing to do with competency, problems or showing. Everyone’s reason is personal to them and their situation. I love hearing WHY many of you still lesson. I still do, too. If you get ANYthing beneficial from them, take them and enjoy your horse 
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I slip feel it is better to spend money on a lesson than a competition.
A competition is 6 or so minutes in the arena. Some warm up outside. A lesson I get to ride snd work for the length of the lesson. It is much more satisfying.
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