Taking home pieces of the jigsaw puzzle and adding them out of order just doesn't work. You have to be extremely careful. Many, many times people go to clinics and are not taught properly. Clinics are extremely difficult to teach. But you can't do the same exercises over and over with a horse.
Horses change daily.
Clinics may be fun, but they can't take the place of regular, systematic instruction. The best way for a novice rider to learn is to be taught every day on a lunge line. Any serious rider should try to take lessons just as often as he can afford to. Of course, it also helps to watch yourself ride in mirrors or watch videos of your rides, but you have to know what you're looking at. Best of all is having a knowledgeable spotter on the ground.