To Lesson or Not to Lesson?
That should not even be a question!
I’ve met many people who are fascinated by horses enough to want to ‘get’ their own horse. Often, acquaintances or people I’ve met will ask me my opinion about buying a horse – where do they start?
I run through all the typical questions with them: Why do you want a horse? Are you aware of all the aspects of horse ownership? Have you budgeted for all the upkeep costs (and we go through the breakdown – the initial purchase price of the horse is dwarfed when compared to maintenance costs, never mind emergency vet bills should they happen). Why wouldn’t you want to lease a horse, part-board or take weekly (multiple?) lessons first, to see if you really are interested in all the associated responsibilities in the long run?
And then, after all these questions are articulated and clearly answered, I hit them with my final question: Are you willing to take lessons (yes, on your own horse!) long-term?
At times, this can become a contentious issue. Many people are not committed to taking lessons, especially if they are themselves, or know of, long-term horse owners. The argument: “Well, so-and-so has had horses forever and never took lessons. They learned from their horse, and they’re doing just fine!”
The world of lessons opens up a range of experiences that are not possible to achieve on your own:
- technical know-how (this should go without saying – you can’t possibly “know” how to do something if you’ve never been officially taught it in the first place!)
- help in resolving problem behaviour or finding the source of issues – riding or horsekeeping
- exchange of ideas and information (from a person who presumably knows something you deem valuable to hear from)
- goal setting advice from someone other than yourself (where are you now? what should be your next step?)
- encouragement when you need it, and a “push” when you equally need that
I watch with wonder when some people get on and ride their horses with nary a lesson in years, while on the other hand, I see the “top riders” of our sport working tirelessly with their mentors/trainers even though they are at the peak of performance and technical ability. Of course we are not all heading for the Olympics, nor are we riding in that sort of capacity. But certainly some input can be useful for everyone at some point in time.
As for the final question: How do you know if you’ve found the right instructor?
The answer to that one is easy – just listen to your horse!
Posted on August 14, 2011, in lessons/training and tagged dressage, horses, learning, lessons, riding. Bookmark the permalink. 13 Comments.
Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!
I’m always astounded at people who tell me that I’d do fine at starting my own horse, and that although I’m unconfident with riding all I need is to get in the saddle more. I agree… I need to get in the saddle more on a good lesson horse under the supervision of a qualified instructor! 
I’m working on scheduling something with a local hunter/jumper trainer and really excited at the prospect of getting some actual riding instruction again… I haven’t done lessons since I was 18, and now that my horse is being started under saddle (by a professional 
) I’m looking forward to doing lessons with her for as long and as often as I can afford.
In the “peak” of my lesson-taking, I was riding with my instructor 4 times a week, every week over a course of SIX years! Sometimes, she was on the ground teaching me, and more often, she was riding her own horse while I rode at the same time. Those were incredibly valuable sessions too, because she could model for me on her own horse and I could (try to!) imitate. During that time, I progressed very quickly…. Hope your lessons work out.
Lessons from a good instructor give you the tools in toolbox to take with you through a riding career. And a good instructor isn’t intimidated by a rider taking clinics or lessons from other instructors either because they know people sometimes need a different perspective. I would no more give up my lessons (twice weekly most months, three times weekly in August) than I would my horses.
KT – thanks for your comment. I am always amazed, when I watch or ride in a clinic, how everything from my regular lessons tends to come out in the clinic as well. And of course it’s nice to hear something being said in just a little different way than what you’re used to hearing – might help you make a connection that you hadn’t thought of before.
It’s so true that good instructors don’t think twice about you going to clinics or learning from others. That’s what makes them GOOD – as instructors, and as human beings.
When have you found a good ‘teacher/mentor’; very similar to attending classes at a gym, as someone once told me. There are a variety of classes, however, one is always drawn to one, maybe 2 instructors, and you keep attending their classes because you are energized and happy to keep up the hard work and progress. You almost find yourself skipping if a substitute comes in, waiting for that one person that drives you. A good instructor will leave you and your equine partner wanting more and happy with the process; even when some lessons are trying.
So true! I rode for years without an instructor and just kept repeating the same old mistakes. I am working with someone now that I am happy with. It makes all the difference in the world!
I think this is good advice.
Well said!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the post.
I was thinking about this a while ago, purely by coincidence, and ended up writing a big old post on how to find yourself a good teacher: http://pragmatichorsemanship.co.uk/horsemanship/2011/09/15/how-do-you-find-a-good-teacher/
I have no idea whether my suggestions are sufficient, but they provide a starting point at least.
Hi Ben, thanks for your link. It has some great suggestions. Thanks for reading!
Undoubtedly experience in handling and riding is important. The type of training and the length of time spent training largely depends on your goals. Not every rider wants to compete. There are plenty of good times to be enjoyed riding a horse that don’t involve training.
If you really want to have the most fun possible when riding, then take lessons because Riding is a sport and like all sports [skiing, tennis, sailing to name a few], there are techniques that need to be learned and practiced. If only to make sure you don’t hurt yourself.