# hot seat!!! what is it?



## cathy321xx (May 26, 2015)

Can someone explain to me what a hot seat is please ?
There's a little pony on my yard who I end up riding a lot and I've Ben told by lots of people that I've got hot seat on him but all of them say different things when I ask what a hot seat was! 
Is there any way I can stop having a hot seat on him as well and whay i mite be doing to get one?!?!?

Thanks aha x


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## celestejasper13 (May 16, 2014)

It generally means that you make him lively or more forward than usual - it isn't necessarily anything to do with your seat at all, just obviously the way you ride gets some sort of reaction from him.
It isn't necessarily a bad thing (especially if they're usually a bit lazy), but if it's causing you trouble then just like learning anything else when it comes to riding, try and work out what you're doing that's different from other people and correct that - watch other people ride him and see what they do!


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## DanteDressageNerd (Mar 12, 2015)

A hot seat where I am from would be used to describe a rider who makes a horse hotter, spookier, or more reactive in an unintentional way than they actually are. It is VERY common for riders to have a hot seat. It usually stems from a lack of body awareness and feel (tension, unintentional aids, excessive aids) and sometimes from the rider's nervous energy. It takes time to develop a good hand and seat, as well as mind-body-connection awareness which is a big part of riding. I think yoga and dance (basics ballet, being athletic) is great for aiding with coordination, being self aware and having that control over your body, as well as to promote suppleness and elasticity in the body. 

Fixing a hot seat mostly just takes time. I think a lot of riders have one and perhaps don't realize it because the horses they ride have learned to tune it out, then they ride something sensitive and reactive and that horse points it out to them. Be thankful to those horses, they will make you more aware and a more effective rider. This is also why it is great to ride schoolmasters when given the opportunity, they make you more aware because they react and have a lot more buttons. You breathe wrong you might fly down a longside or diagonal doing tempi changes vs doing the 2's or 3's you wanted. Our horses look to us as their leader, if we are fearful or tense it can make them tense and fearful. You can actually condition a horse to be spooky who is not actually spooky or hot when they really aren't.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

First tine I've ever heard that term.


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

Sometimes it is also called an electric seat.

As said, it is when a roder can get a horse more forward or hotter then usual. It is often nothing they are doing wrong, or it can be that they are to 'busy' with their seat.


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## Textan49 (Feb 13, 2015)

I think it is just the riders energy at times, just as there are riders who can get on a normally hot horse and be a calming affect. Other times it's a physical thing/ things that the rider is doing and might not be aware of. It would be good to be able to turn it on and off.


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

Can be caused by several things -
We had a mare that couldn't tolerate a nervous person on her and would literally freak out - she must have been able to feel the tension in them because she wasn't super responsive to leg cues or pressure and could be lazy at times and had no problem with being ridden 'aggressively' by an experienced rider
Some horses that are very responsive to leg cues hate being ridden by anyone who grips a lot with their legs or turns their heels in so they're constantly jabbing into the horse's sides
Some horse's start to get wound up if they have a rider who hangs on to their mouth all the time


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## cathy321xx (May 26, 2015)

Ah okay thanks  it happened again today aha cantered across a field and only put his head between his knees, we stopped at the end and then he spun and bolted back down to the start of the field again and then was bouncing around, I tried everything to stop him and I just cant! I don't think its to do with my legs as its mostly all voice with him and a few small nudges and I don't really know, with his owners he's a plod most of the time but then he's a fruit loop when I get on him!


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## ecasey (Oct 18, 2013)

This must mean I have a cold seat. Sometimes when I get on my horse I swear she's ready to fall asleep.


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## NorthernMama (Mar 12, 2008)

Wow, I was just talking to someone about this. She totally has a "hot seat" with all horses. Interesting.


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

cathy321xx said:


> Ah okay thanks  it happened again today aha cantered across a field and only put his head between his knees, we stopped at the end and then he spun and bolted back down to the start of the field again and then was bouncing around, I tried everything to stop him and I just cant! I don't think its to do with my legs as its mostly all voice with him and a few small nudges and I don't really know, with his owners he's a plod most of the time but then he's a fruit loop when I get on him!


You might actually be too passive a rider (sorry but just a passenger) and the horse has figured that out
We went to try a pony for my eldest son when he was about 10 and we knew its history really well - a real top performer - but the children he'd been bought for couldn't ride and he'd soon figured out he could crawl at snail pace to the top of the paddock and then spin round and gallop back to the gate because they didn't know how to stop him doing it. He tried it once with my son, realized he had a rider on that wouldn't let him do it and never did it again. We decided to have him and never regretted it


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## Palomine (Oct 30, 2010)

Hot seat means a hard to ride horse, very temperamental and sensitive, or ticked off easily.

A tough ride.

That's how it's used in Saddlebreds.


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