Can you learn to ride at a riding school?

[NicoleS_007]

Yes, of course you can. At the riding school I manage we teach the basics and follow a structured progression ladder. Once riders are competant enough they are then taught to ride the horse correctly on the bit and progress to lateral work on the flat. They also jump decent fences and are encouraged to compete and often win against open competition. As in all fields, you can only teach some one to ride as welll as they want to learn.
Here are some of our clients competing on our horses- don't look too terrible!:
Dressage:

http://www.rpeevents.co.uk/gals/130910/dr/pages/page_26.html
http://www.rpeevents.co.uk/gals/130910/dr/pages/page_28.html
http://www.rpeevents.co.uk/gals/130910/dr/pages/page_43.html
http://www.rpeevents.co.uk/gals/130910/dr/pages/page_72.html
http://www.rpeevents.co.uk/gals/300710/gr/pages/page_17.html
http://www.rpeevents.co.uk/gals/300710/gr/pages/page_41.html

XC:
http://www.rpeevents.co.uk/gals/250710/c4/pages/page_35.html
http://www.rpeevents.co.uk/gals/150810/c1/pages/page_46.html
http://www.rpeevents.co.uk/gals/150810/c2/pages/page_16.html

And SJ:
http://www.rpeevents.co.uk/gals/110710/c2/pages/page_14.html
http://www.rpeevents.co.uk/gals/110710/c3/pages/page_55.html
http://www.rpeevents.co.uk/gals/110710/c4/pages/page_19.html
http://www.rpeevents.co.uk/gals/110710/c5/pages/page_49.html

Sorry for the millions but hardly horrific! See much worse riding by Non school clients.
Also, not all riding schools have hairt plods! We have a horse that has been sucessful eventing with Graham Law, a 2* horse, AM dressage horse, Int event horse and all of the horses will work correctly if ridden correctly.

Wow i can honestly say i have never seen RS horses/ponys looking so talented and looking so well!! That probably sounds weird but all the horses and ponys at my old RS were ... lets say either psyco or plods and never looked that good

 

[Vixen Van Debz]

So those of you who said no, and you realised once you had your own horse: is it comparable to driving lessons almost? When you're getting lessons from an instructor you learn to pass your test and do the textbook basics. However, once you have you licence, THEN you learn how to drive.

 

[madeleine1]

i got my own horse this year at 20 first time ever.

i learnt a riding school and can ride.

my medium dressage/novice eventing horse who is a stroppy loony mare listens and works really well with me.

it all depends on the riding school, its horses and instructers and the pupil.

me on my horse while we were both in the riding school

 

[SirenaXVI]

I honestly think that you can learn to ride a school horse but once out in the real world it is a different kettle of fish. There are videos on this forum of various riding lessons at various riding schools which prove this point.

I am not saying that riding schools produce bad riders, what I am saying is that riding schools cannot teach feel and can also give some riders a false sense of their own abilities - I have seen countless people who have spent a couple of years at a riding school and then come a cropper when they buy their first horse.

Not sure whose fault it is tbh, I do feel that riding schools are up against it what with people who sue at the drop of a hat and also those learners who think they are ready for faster/jumping work before they really are, they are between a rock and a hard place.