Do you think we improve as riders exponentially?

[marmalade76]

Whether one continues to learn to ride better surely depends on whether one decides to go for tuition? What clinics and demos one attends.

I can't entirely agree with this, I'm afraid. What improved my riding the most, particularly over fences, was hunting.

That said, I think with young riders, they need to be taught the basics, then they need a period of just going out & doing it - hacking, messing about, having fun, etc to get experience, feel, balance, confidence - things that cannot really be taught, then go back to tuition to add finesse.