Once a rider has become comfortable in the canter, they should learn to use their seat to help communicate with the horse. There are three aids that a rider uses to communicate with a horse. The 3 aids are seat, hand, and leg. A good rider can ride off their seat and leg, using a light hand connection. For a beginner rider, there are three different seats to master before moving onto jumping. First, you have your two-point, then your half seat, and last a deep seat. Each seat has a different function and communicates something different to the horse. It should be noted that there are not just three seats; there are endless numbers of seat positions. Seat position should be viewed as if they were a sliding scale, and the more skilled a rider becomes, the more fluid their seat aids become.  

Summary of the Different Seats – For Beginners

Above I explained when to use different seats and the effect of the seat on the horse in sport situations, and when riding a trained horse. Knowing what each seat does is also very helpful when riding less well-trained horses and hot horses. For example, when riding a hot horse, sitting deep in the saddle can often cause them to feel claustrophobic and collect and whoa more then they are comfortable with at the time. With a hot horse, especially an off the track thoroughbred (OTTB), its best to get in a two or three point, and give the horse some pressure relief and let them move out some. Once the horse begins to relax, starting to sit a few strides, then getting up off their back again, is a good method to teaching a horse how to respond and accept a deeper seat.

In addition to knowing when to use a particular seat, its also helpful to know when not to use a seat. For example, when cantering to a jump, a rider should not be leaning forward and adding weight to a horses forehand. If there is to much weight on the front end of a horse when getting ready to take off, it could result in them pulling a rail with their front end.

Here is a YouTube video that shows how important the rider’s seat is and shows a variation of different riders demonstrating different seats. Please note that in this video they are showing advanced riders and have defined four different seat types. The purpose of this blog is to help beginner riders move up in skill, and therefore we will keep it simple with three different seats.

Building Blocks to a Great Position: Part 5 To Sit or Not to Sit - YouTube

Stay tuned for a video that helps show all the different seats and how I move between them on my OTTB.

Hope this series has helped all the beginner riders out there better understand the canter. Please leave a comment below with your best tricks on how you learned to canter.