Velaryons were dragon riders also. Multiple Valyrian families were. We’re just used to Targs because that’s the only Valyrian line that was in Westeros during the GOT series
I was arguing tooth and nail with stupid cacs on TikTok who swore Velaryons couldn't dragonride when GRRM spelled it out in bold print English in the books
Like how dumb can you be? GRRM says multiple times throughout the books the Targs marry other Valyrian houses to keep their "blood strong". Why else would they need to keep the blood strong if not for dragonriding?
This logic implies that marrying Velaryons helps them maintain their Valyrian ancestry and that if the Targs married too many cacs from Westeros, that heritage would get diluted. The way I see it, in Valryia, you had to be rich and powerful to own dragons. You had to be the Valaryian equivalent of a Stark/Lannister/Baratheon/Tyrell to have dragons. If you were from a small house like the Umbers or the Mormonts, the top families over there wouldn't have allowed you to do it. The 40 Dragonlord Families are clearly a play on the Roman Senate and how the richest families in Rome (e.g. Patricians) controlled the government. Ergo....the Velaryons COULD have been dragon riders, the same way anybody COULD have been a Roman Senator. They just weren't ALLOWED because they weren't noble enough.