I second that! Even as an adult when I bought my first horse, I wish that I would have leased, to know what I was getting myself into. Even if you have been taking lessons, you could find an arrangement with a local barn to lease a horse and give it some time to find out if you're going to be able to make it to the barn as much as you'd like, if owning a horse is something you really want to do, and just to get exposure to horsey things if you don't already know (e.g., vet checks, farrier appts, feeding, etc.). And with leasing, there's nothing keeping you from looking for the perfect horse to buy later. I think leasing is like a good test drive before buying the real deal.