How important is it to have lessons?

Murphley Moo

Murphley Moo

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Jun 5, 2009
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Hiya - i have been having private lessons twice a week, but wondered how important having lessons is ? I know a few people who have never had a lesson - they are self taught and seem to do very well! I don't intend doing any shows or competetive work - just want to be a happy hacker !!!!! For the last 5 or 6 lessons i have had i seem to spend 45 minutes doing the same thing - trotting to circles, serpentines etc, sitting trot with no stirrups, and 10 minutes at the end cantering. My bank balance is going down and i don't seem to be moving any further forward!
 
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I think they're important if you want to progress and also to make sure you're doing things right!! Its easy to think you've nailed something when you need tweaking to get it right!!

But if you only want to hack probably not so important. But even if you don't want to compete - still satisfying getting your horse to do something new! :D
 
I learnt from a friend (unqualified) when I was about 10 years old. I went on to have lessons for a couple of months, but they nothing for 10+ years! I have had my first two lessons for 10 ish years recently and both were fine.

I think you can do without! My riding is by no means perfect but we still do well at competitions etc :) x
 
I think as long as you have the basics of walk, trot canter and balance that is enough to get by on, hacking can be very beneficial and you can learn more than in a school as suddenly you have a need for all the work you have been doing.

Lessons can be taken up again at a later stage if you want to progress:)
 
It is important because unlike other sports where inanimate objects are used ie bat, club etc there is a living, feeling animal involved. If you ride badly it is the horse that suffers. True, some people have never had official lessons, but you can bet that they have had unofficial instruction from friends or family, nothing wrong with that if the quality is good. Teaching quality does vary even with qualified teachers. It is up to your good judgement if this is good for you and your horse or not. If you feel the instruction is not working for you or your horse do a bit of research and try someone/something else. The most important thing is to listen to your horse, it is his back you are on!
 
i didn't have lessons until recently :) and they are sj'ing and jumpcross lessons ready for competing... but i'm lucky in that i've been able to ride a lot of horses worknig as a groom so self taught to stay on basically - but now i'm having to fine tune everything :)
 
What else do you want to learn? Have you discussed your aims with your instructor? Or tried a different instructor? Is your instructor actually telling you *how* to ride and offering advice on how to improve things, or just barking instructions at you?

Just because you want to hack, it does not exclude you from learning about lateral work and so on. Rein back, leg yield and turn on the forehand are all useful things to be able to do on a hack in case you meet gates etc!
 
My instructor is very good at explaining things and tells me i am riding very well and have a good seat, i am just getting frustrated with not going forward. I am starting voluntary work at a sanctuary soon and hope to get my own horse soon, when i am confident with horse care. Just wondered if i could skip the lessons when i have my own.
 
If you want to fit into a box of what's right and wrong and to compete then I probably think lessons are the way to go.

If you are happy to do what you want to do at your level then not so important.

There are so many different schools of thought on how to ride English style and each one different that I don't think it's a case of right and wrong any more unless you are being judged :p

The important thing is being able to recognise feel and know that a certain feel means a certail thing is happening. I know that I used to feel right but when I felt right that meant I was wrong as I was leaning forward.

A fresh pair of eye or getting some tape of yourself can be very useful as can lessons.

Incidentally I do feel that when hacking out and having to deal with the big wide world in an uncontrolled environment it is more important to be able to ride well and be able to hold a horses attention than it is in a school although you obviously don't need such finesse or style - or at least I hope not or I might as well hang up my joddies now :p
 
maybe pay for rides out instead then? :)
or ask for differnt horses each time who are at different training levels?
if you are going to buy soon then i'd recommend riding as many horses as possible so you really know what you liek and don't like :)
 
rather than having lessons, would it be a good idea to just go on hacks then, with the odd lesson thrown in once in a while?
 
atc said:
rather than having lessons, would it be a good idea to just go on hacks then, with the odd lesson thrown in once in a while?
Click to expand...

How about a mix of both?

I went through a stage of alternating before I bought Joy :)

Hacks are where you can put what you learnt in the school into practice but without the controlled environment ;)

I use school moves for shoving over out of the way of passers by and directing her bottom out of harms way. Great for gates too. Fantastic as diversionary techniques for potentiall 'hairy' situations.

Gaits and changes within the gait are good for negotiating different terrain.

There's no end of applications if you put your mind to it. Great experience and bonding for you and the horse and varied too :D
 
I have recently given up lessons after a year and a half - I hack out 2 or 3 times a week and did not feel I was really getting much out of my lessons anymore to be honest.

I have a good seat in walk, trot and canter, can leg yield etc and don't really see lessons as being beneficial anymore as I don't wish to compete or do anything other than hack :eek:

As long as you have mastered the basics and have the opportunity to hack out, you should be fine ditching the lessons. Remember if there is anything you want to expand on, there is nothing to stop you booking the odd lesson in the future to cover it, as and when you feel the need.
 
My lessons when I used to have them did me the world of good - all I ever wanted to do was hack but I quickly realised that the only way I was ever going to gain confidence was to have proper regular lessons. I haven't had any for a while but am certainly looking forwards to having some again soon. They always leave me feeling pleasantly tired but happy! And, when I am out hacking madam whatever she does ie, her sometimes bolting trick if she sees something scary, I feel much better able to cope with it. I say to myself "well, I cantered for 10 minutes in the school so I can do it out here" kind of thing!
 
I had lessons once a week from about the age of 6 until 10. I then had ponies on loan and had the rare lessons with them until about 13 and 17 years later, havent had any since! tell a lie, i had ONE half hour one before my dressage test but thats it i dont have any really and i compete xc and sj. thats not to say i know everything because i dont if i had more time/money i would but at the mo i feel like i know what i need to do with my girl/me :)
 
I have lessons as I like learning how to ride 'properly' for two reasons:

1-dressage is my thing and you kinda need to know roughly what you're doing lol

2-as Kathy T said, it is much nicer for the horses I ride if I can ride them 'properly' than sit on them like a sack and cause them to be carrying more weight.

Plus I like the achievement of learning something new :)
 
I have been riding for well over 20 years and still have lessons on my own horse.Another rider at the yard has been riding for 40 years and also has lessons with the same instructor as myself. The reason we have lessons is to ensure we don't have really bad habits which are all too easy to pick up,to improve our horses way of going(we both have good but young horses with the ability to go quite far in dressage) and the fact that you never stop learning.If you are finding that your lessons are not progressing then maybe you need a different instructor,one who can take you further. I used to ride some years ago at a riding school and was told they could teach me no more and that all they could do was give me the experience of riding different horses.I moved on to a different school and learnt loads.I now keep my horse there and have lessons with an independant Bhs II SM who teaches classical riding and has trained with the best.He is amazing and every week I come away feeling we have made good progress.That is what lessons should be about.
 
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