I got to the point where I did not feel I was learning much more from my riding school lessons, once I had mastered the basics, and was starting to get a bit bored with the lessons to be honest (although I am still a 'novice' with a lot to learn!) I'm sure this is not the case at all riding schools (as some are excellent) but it was the case at mine. I also like just spending time with horses, mucking out, grooming and generally being around them and my riding school did not really offer this, they seemed to like people just to turn up, ride (the horses were already tacked up) and then go home.

So I decided to look for a share where I can have a pony for one or two days a week. However, I do intend to have a lesson on my shared horse with a freelance instructor once a fortnight at least, as I acknowledge that I am no expert and do still have tons to learn. I don't want to just take a share and not have any lessons for fear of getting into bad habits etc.

Also riding lessons here are £35 for a group lesson, whereas the share pony will cost me £50 per month (for unlimited weekend riding) then the freelance instructor will charge me £20 per half hour and this will be private tuition not group. So I think the share option is better value for me.

I suppose which is best depends on what your level of experience is and also what specific skills you are trying to develop, if any, or if (like me) you just like being around horses. Also if you take the loan, would there be other people around the yard you could learn from?

I think you do need to keep having regular lessons, but you will learn lots from the hacking as well, you just need to get the balance right.

How fit is the loan horse? Could you have a half hour lesson on that every week, then go out for a short hack afterwards? If not you could either have a lesson every other week on the loan horse, or as you said, alternate with the fast hack on a Monday.

I think if it was me I'd be tempted to have a lesson the first couple of times you ride the loan horse, so you can get to know it in a controlled environment before going out for a hack. Then do a mixture of the two.

Weekly lessons + bum in saddle time = experience + improvement

If you really want your skills to improve, there's nothing like a weekly lesson and as much bum in saddle time as you can manage.

Also keep a riding diary with notes about the ride and what you have learnt, how the horse responded, etc. Its surprising how doing the diary can help to cement the things you learn.

HTH

Hi, agree with what everyone has said, lessons on loan horse are a great idea. One tip though if you are doing half hour lessons is to make sure that you and the horse are warmed up and ready to actually do some work when the instructor arrives, that way you get a full half hour of lesson rather than losing some of it to warm up. Sorry if this seems to be stating the blindingly obvious but I used to have to tell people when I was teaching so know tis not to everyone!!! You might find it helpful, depending on the horse and you to do a session on how to do a really good warm up - I.e exercises for both of you so that you have a good routine.