Horse back riding lessons?

Question

What is better, half an hour private lesson or hour long group lesson? Both options are $30 per lesson. Currently I do group lessons, but I feel that I would do better in a one-on-one lesson that way my trainer can tell me what to improve and I would have more time riding. Which would you recommend?

Answer 1

Personally I like the longer lessons.  There's simply more time to be on the horse.  Getting individual attention is great, but there's only so much a person can tell you.  Unless you've never ridden before, you really don't need someone talking you through every step that you're doing on the horse.  

However, individual lessons do allow you to do more advanced things.  Your instructor isn't going to stop a lesson to show you how to do a turn on the haunches... but in an individual lesson, they could.

I feel like a half hour is just too short of a time to be on the horse.  By the time you warm up the horse, all you really have is 20 minutes or so.  I'd spend about 10-15 minutes at the trot and canter.  Then if you want to do anything specific like a pattern or a jump course or something like that, you have 5-10 minutes.

I taught lessons and did teach some that were a half hour  and i found that I didn't have enough time to teach the rider much of anything at all.

The individual attention is good of course, but I find that I don't need to be talked to that often.  And as an instructor, I don't have that much to say.  As the horse warms up at the walk and trot I can help the rider do balance exercises and that sort of thing, and that's useful, but I'd really rather have the extra time to do a complex pattern or work on ground poles or jumping or things like that.

And if you're in a group lesson and you have an hour, of course there are times when the instructor is going to be working with others and there are times that the other rider will be riding the jump course or the pattern, but if you're in an hour lesson, your horse will enjoy these little refreshing breaks.

And I really think that the biggest challenge in riding is just developing leg muscle, posture, and your seat.  You're going to develop those things by actually riding the horse... an instructor can tell you that you need to sit back and put your heels down, but you'll be a better rider by getting stronger, not just by having good position.  To get stronger, you don't need someone to talk at you... you need many miles on the horse.

In an individual lesson, the instructor will pay attention to you for the entire 30 minutes.  In an hour long group lesson, the instructor will still pay attention to you for about 30 minutes.  Then you're getting 30 uninstructed minutes on a horse for free.

Try to be in a group lesson with people who are more advanced than you.  Then you'll learn both from watching the other riders and from the instructor working specifically with you.

Answer 2

Group lessons should be fine. You really don't need that much personal attention; it's one of those things where practice has more value than instruction.

Answer 3

After you feel comfortable in the group lesson and are bored with the waiting around and slower pace I would go on to the private lesson where you get your individual attention and improve much quicker and go much further at a faster pace.  The group lesson can only go as fast as the slowest less capable rider, a group is excellent for someone who needs that extra time to settle in and get more confidence.