LOL Dragon riding is not even close to my favorite system. And YES plenty of the issues you listed are 100% a Skill issue, so i will just say it, Get Good, Learn to Ride. All the issues you listed were a personal opinion and reasons why you are bad at it. None of them are faults with the game but faults with your skill or lack thereof.
If you scroll through my comment history you can find a video of me starting at the lowest point way below Valdrakken and flying directly to the highest peak in the dragon isles starting with 1 vigor.