learning to ride on your own horse?

OK so I took leasons when I was younger. I had my walk and trot perfected and was working on cantering. Anyways I had to stop taking lessons because they were too expensive in my area. I have ALWAYS wanted my own horse. And put it on my christmas list every year untill I was 18. We live on 7 acres and have a barn so a horse was very doable. I finally talked my dad into it at 24 years old. And we ran out and looked at tons of horses. We found a Paint/draft cross gelding. Who is very polite and docile. He was a fox hunting horse for a 70 year old man and he was getting to old to ride him. We pretty much bought him on sight after I rode him for awhile. Ok so we rushed into things a little bit. I probably should have perfected my riding before we got the horse.....but I was just so excited to actually have the permission to buy a horse! And what if he changed his mind? Haha

So my question is... should I finish learning to ride on a lesson horse at a near by barn? We are looking into getting him some more training and boarding him for a month. But I don't know if in this month I should take lessons at the barn on my horse or a lesson horse? Could I ruin my horse by learning on him? Thanks for your help!
-New time horse owner

Well first, congrats! You don't ever finish learning how to ride, and I don't see any reason why you can't take lessons on your new horse. If you have an experienced trainer with you I don't think you're going to ruin your horse. You both will learn new things and that's the idea, but I say start riding your horse

I learn on my own 2 horses. I was green, and they were absolutely green. So we are all learning together. My trainer thinks it's the best way to go for all 3 of us I started showing one of my mares this year.

You should definitely learn on your own horse, you will both benefit more from it, just make sure that right from the beginning you have a trainer or at least someone experienced there to direct you. The only situation in which you could ruin your horse is is you tried to do new stuff on your own and didn't do it right.

If you have your own horse to learn on IMO that's the best way to go. Get a really good coach, and they will be able to help you with the issues you are having with your horse if you have any.

I have a great coach and he is teaching me on my horse. I have good general riding knowledge and a very good seat but my coach is picking up on things that I would never have seen prior (nor any 'run of the mill' horseperson) and correcting those faults, and my horse is going better than ever before, because I am RIDING better than ever before.

Nothing wrong with learning on your own horse, whether you are a total beginner or an experienced rider, AS LONG AS you have a good coach.

I ride by myself just about everyday, I have someone come out and watch me about once a week to make sure I am going through the correct motions. I do not see anything wrong with you taking lessons on your horse. When I was younger tons of the girls in my pony club and the barn I rode at did it. You will also get to learn everything about him and grow together. He will be molded to how you want to ride and you will mold to how he performs.

I, too, rushed into buying my first horse. But that horse taught me so much; more than I have ever learned at lessons. I did have an instructor help us, but it definitely was different from learning on a lesson horse. So yes, it is perfectly okay (and normal) to learn on your own horse. Good luck!

Instead of thinking about it as learning to ride on your own horse, think of it as learning to train your horse. Find an instructor who can teach you not only work on you own position, but also how it influences how your horse moves. Once you get your own horse, the focus shifts to you being not just a rider, but also your horse's trainer as well. Don't worry about ruining him. If you have a good instructor, you'll make more progress instead of less.