Most riders think the answer to getting better is simple: ride more.
And, of course, time in the saddle matters. A lot. But, more riding does not automatically mean better riding. If you are repeating the same habits every day, avoiding the same weaknesses, and calling it “practice,” you may not be improving at all. You may just be getting better at staying stuck.
Multiple World and Congress Champion trainers Leonard and Leigh Berryhill have never been vague about what improvement requires. “No one can do the work for you,” Leonard says. “Get a different hobby if you don’t want to start early and stay late.”
That kind of honesty may sting, but it also points riders toward the real issue. If you are putting in the work but not getting better, the first question may not be whether you are riding enough. The better question is whether you are riding with enough purpose.
You are Riding the Same Way Every Day
One of the most common reasons riders stop improving is that they fall into a routine with no real plan. They get on, lope some circles, run through a pattern, work on the same maneuver the same way, and call it a ride.
Leonard says there is also a balance between resting and staying sharp. “There is a little competitive edge they lose when they stay here all the time and aren’t going out to the horse shows. A week or two before we go to the horse show, we try to start simulating the horse show environment and try to get that edge back on there a little bit.”
Leigh agrees that riders can feel rusty when they return to the show pen. “When it’s time to go back to shows, they get relatively nervous being that it had seemed like it was forever since they showed horses,” Leigh says. “What I tell them is that everyone is in the same spot. When you do go back, you feel like you’re rusty, even if you’ve practiced up.”
Leonard’s approach is more direct. Riders have to look at where the holes are and address them honestly. That does not always mean drilling harder. In fact, over-practicing the same thing can create new problems. “Focus on completing specific maneuvers rather than working through an entire pattern,” Leonard says. “Change up the sequence in which you do the maneuvers.”
He also suggests taking the cones out of the patterns and changing the routine. This is where many riders go wrong. They think they are practicing because they are repeating. But repetition without adjustment is not training. It is just rehearsal of the same mistake.
You are Mistaking Busy Work for Progress
There is a difference between being busy and getting better. A rider can spend hours in the saddle and still avoid the one issue that actually needs fixing.
Leigh points to one of the simplest and most useful tools riders have: video. “The biggest thing is to watch your videos, over and over,” Leigh says. “You can simulate feeling like you’re on that horse. Ask yourself, ‘What did I do there that I can do differently?’”
Even if riders do not have their own videos, Leigh says watching other riders can still help. “Watch other people’s videos, and try to learn from them and their mistakes and your mistakes,” Leigh says. “Video is incredible because you can almost close your eyes once you’ve watched it and do it.”
Leonard has also stressed the value of watching others. When he was learning, he treated horse shows like school. “The best place to learn about training or showing is not in the bleachers, but around the warm-up pens or exercise arenas,” Leonard says. “I tried to follow the ones whose style and abilities appealed to me. When I wasn’t riding, I was watching and talking to see how they were able to make their horses competitive. Then I would go get my horse and mimic what I had seen.”
That mindset still matters.
“My lesson is never over,” Leonard says. “Every day I feel like I learn something. And if I don’t, I feel that day was wasted.”
You are Not Physically Prepared
Sometimes, the problem is not the horse’s talent or the trainer’s program. Sometimes the rider is simply not strong enough to be effective.
“You have to stay physically strong,” Leigh says. “A lot of our riders have to ride without their irons and get as sore as possible because you don’t want that before a horse show.”
Riding requires strength, balance, timing, and body control. If a rider gets tired, collapses through the core, loses leg position, or cannot stay centered, the horse feels it. Weakness in the rider often shows up as inconsistency in the horse.
How to Actually Get Better
Getting better is not about riding more for the sake of riding more. It is about riding with a purpose every time you step in the stirrup. A plateau does not mean you are out of talent. It means your current habits have taken you as far as they can. To improve, you have to be willing to change how you practice — and do the work no one else can do for you.
