Teach the Basics – Seat- Part 2

Light Seat In light seat the rider sits on the crotch and upper thighs.  The rider maintains more of a forward inclination of the upper body taking more weight on the thigh.  This seat is used predominantly in riding that involves jumping such as forward seat, hunter seat and eventing and requires a shorter stirrup leather length than does the full seat. Light seat should not be confused with jumping position. Light seat is also a good seat to use on horses with cold backs and young/green horses whose backs are not ready for full seat work. It’s a good seat for general purpose riding. Sometimes the term half seat is interchangeable with light seat, but sometimes half seat is used to indicate jumping or galloping position. Half seat is one of the terms that doesn’t have a clear definition. In his book, “Hunter Seat Equitation”,  George Morris refers to this seat as the crotch seat.

2 Point Position

Also known as jumping or galloping position, this position doesn’t actually involve the seat.  The rider’s seat is clear of the saddle (although the seat remains close to the saddle without touching the saddle) and the weight is distributed from thigh through knee and calf to the ball of the foot on the stirrup. Because the rider’s seat is clear of the saddle, 2 point is the ideal seat for galloping cross country. The horse is not worn down from the constant bumping of the rider’s seat in the saddle.  This allows the galloping horse to maintain a good rhythm, which in turn helps the horse to maintain pace and stamina.

2 point is the ideal seat for a forward moving horse who is not in a state of collection, as the rider’s weight is distributed over the horse’s shoulders. A strong base of support (thigh. leg, stirrup) is crucial to developing a 2 point position that is stable and flexible. The seat is dependent on maintaining three flexible angles; the ankle, the knee and the hip which all act as shock absorbers. Once the rider adds leaning on the horse’s neck  in the form of crest release, done correctly or in correctly, the base of support is undermined. Care should be taken to learn to ride two point independently from leaning on the hands.

Two point is the same position that is used when jumping obstacles.  For high or wide obstacles the flexible joints (ankle, knee, hip) accommodate the difficulty of the fence.

Darren Chiacchia in galloping position

First things first:

All of the basic building blocks of riding are important and unfortunately we can’t usually work on just one part of the puzzle at a time but we can focus on main goals.  One of the main goals for the rider during the whole process of learning to ride is to disturb the horse the least.  In other words, we’re working at not causing the horse pain or discomfort. This is why beginners are frequently taught on a lead line.  It’s also why beginners should ride in enclosures with good footing.  It’s important to be able to control the pace of the horse in order to keep the rider from losing balance to drastically and bumping around in the saddle.

Another main goal is to develop a seat that’s independent from the hands.  Independent hands and seat mean that the hands don’t move just because the seat moved, and that the rider can use their hands without having to move their seat. We’ve all seen riders who lose their balance and hang on the horse’s mouth or riders whose hands move up and down in rhythm to their posting. This is aggravating and painful for the horse.  But developing a good seat involves even more than becoming independent of the hands.  It includes learning how to sit straight in the saddle, how to feel the rhythm of the horse and how to ride softly and lightly.  All things that take effort and time on the part of the rider and instructor. It’s not enough just to pay attention and try hard at lessons.  A good seat is developed by spending many quality hours in the saddle.  Once it’s developed, a good seat falls into the “use it or lose it category” and maintenance becomes a concern.

In my next posts we’ll begin to explore how to develop a good seat through traditional and non traditional methods.

This blog post is an excerpt from “Basic and Building Blocks- Curriculum for Equestrians” copyright 2010

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