Ride your horse or a lesson horse?

Before I got Oscar i used to ride all types of horses. When I got him iI just rode him for a while. Its nice for a bit of variety and different horses teach you diffrnt things!
At the weekend i rode two green horses. One was very strong while the other was quite spooky!
In an exam yday i rode two diffrnt horses, one was a gent and the other took off on me a few times.
Its good practise riding diffrnt horses

I don't because it's impossible to find a lesson horse that is as well trained as my own horse.

That said - riding different horses usually makes for a better rider - horses are like people - different personalities, different ways of going, etc.

By riding lesson horses she'll learn how to get the "lazy/slow" horse more forward, how to slow a too fast horse, how to sit a bouncy trot, what to do if the horse wants to go one way and not another, etc... and that in turn will make her better able to handle anything her own horse may throw at her in the future, but during lessons she has a professional telling her how to counter act the evasions the horse she's riding may be throwing at her.

After having a good bit of experience on one horse, I think it is a good idea to try different horses.

Since every horse is different, a good horseperson needs to know how to adapt to different horses and use different training styles.

I believe you can often learn more from horses than you can learn from instructors - after you have a good background, of course.

Different horses help you learn how to use your hands effectively and "feel" each horse.

It helps you learn which cues - seat, legs, reins each horse needs and helps you practice to be a good rider.

There is nothing like an old "schoolmaster" horse to help teach you.

Funnily enough I never particularly liked riding schoolmasters....I always went for the horse/pony that i knew was going to make me work!
I always felt more satisfied! For example i took a horse who is infamous for stopping at jumps and just not jumping! I took her round a course of 1m jumps (I hadnt ridden this horse in about a year and aparently she had gotten worse) and she threw me off at the 1st jump. I got back up and she cleared every other jump! I got more satisfaction then then i would if it had been a Grade A showjumper jumping 1.60m courses!

Thats just my choice:)