Growing up, I looked forward to my weekly group lesson. I rode with 5 other girls my age, we all rode school horses, and we looked forward to seeing who had the most color coordinated outfit. We were always told to quietly observe each person ride the course and learn from what they did right and what they did wrong. However, there was many a lesson where the instructor didn’t notice I had kicked into the canter after trotting the majority of the long side, or how I had sat down to take a break doing no stirrups while she was fixing the girth of another rider.

As I got older, my needs changed and I had taken mostly private lessons the last 6 + years, until I moved barns. Now I take two group lessons twice a week, with some random private lessons here and there when I get out of work early, or when the other riders in my lesson cancel.

So what’s better? Do you prefer to ride alone, or learn with a group?

Riding Alone

Having private lessons does give you complete 1 on 1 attention (in theory). Depending on how fit you are, this could be great, but also exhausting. Being the center of attention for 45 minutes (or however long your private lesson lasts), could mean that you are under the watchful eye of your instructor the entire time or under a microscope for what seems like eternity.

Being alone in a lesson, you are going to be trying exercises for the first time, most often not being able to watch a rider do it before you try your luck. I knew an instructor who would say,

”Always go first. It’s good practice. What happens when they pull numbers for the order of go at finals and your number gets pulled first? Always go first.”

To her credit, being in a private lesson offers you no security blanket and you are the first rider on course whether you like it or not. This may help riders who are less likely to volunteer and help them practice the simulated pressure of being the first rider in the ring.

Riding alone also gives you moments to stop and ask questions or go over things you may not feel comfortable saying out loud in a lesson in front of others. I literally asked the other day what the difference was between shoulder fore and shoulder in… something I never really knew, but frankly assumed I should know so decided not to ask. Being the only rider in the lesson also allows you to really focus on a particular problem or skill that may only apply to you. Perhaps you are struggling with your left to right lead change, but the other people in your lesson are not. It may be hard to have a group lesson centered around an issue only one rider is having.

The pressure of riding with a group can be hard on some riders, especially the ones who are struggling or become easily frustrated. Maybe their horse is bad in traffic, and they are so worried about causing a problem in the group lesson, they ride nervous and poorly the whole lesson.

Whatever the reason, some people simply just have better and more productive lessons when riding alone!

Riding in a Group

Riding in a group does give you an advantage of practicing what I call “equestrian defensive driving”.

As far as hunters and equitation classes are concerned, you could be in a flat or under saddle class with 2 other riders or 20 other riders. Learning how to anticipate the moves of other riders, keeping proper space and working that quarter line track – helps prepare you for competition. Jumping with other riders may not prepare you for any over fences classes (outside team hunt classes), but it will ABSOLUTELY prep you for the warm up ring. Being able to ride with other riders in the ring is such a crucial skill that you may not be able to work on in a private lesson.

When you are in a group lesson, it is nice to look around the ring and see what other people are doing. I still remember having to hold the 2 point position at the trot during summer camp and looking around the ring to see who had sat down. You wanted to win, and seeing the other riders still holding strong gave you motivation even if your back was absolutely burning. Even if your barnmate wins the contest, maybe you keep that in mind and ask her at the wash stall what she does during the week to practice her two point. Maybe now every Wednesday you both duke it out and see who can hold their two point the longest. All of a sudden you go from doing 2 laps around the ring to 10 .

Being able to see other riders do the same course 5 different ways is priceless as far as learning is concerned. Watching the track that the large horse took versus the medium pony, or someone riding the line in a collected bending 6 versus a direct forward 5 – are small micro lessons you’re learning and absorbing just by watching. Even practicing having people – especially your peers, watch you ride is amazing practice for the competition ring.

If I had a dollar for every time I started to ride badly because some of the girls came out of the barn to watch my lesson, I may have a lot more than just 1 horse in the barn. (If they attempt to get a video, you can add the likelihood of me chipping into the in and out – 100%). However, this is my own mental exercise that I’m thankful to have in my group lessons that I spent years without.

OVERALL…

So what do we choose? Should you ride solo? Ride in a group? Maybe ride with just 1 buddy instead of a few?

I think ideally for myself I would have one private lesson and one group lesson a week if I could choose. Every week is different, and I think every rider has to decide what works best for how they learn, how their horse performs best, and what we can fit into our very busy lives.

Regardless of what you choose, I think my best advice would be if you feel like you could use one-on-one time, just ask! If you feel like you could use a practice run of a hack class to see if your OTTB is going to have race track flashbacks – just say something!

So have fun, clean your tack, and it’s never enough leg. 🙂