hunter??

Ok I don't want to start a war here but im very curious about the seat position for hunter. Admittedly I have never had any experience with it but whats the deal with sitting so far forward?? Doesnt that go against everything about position and riding?

It would be good if someone could explain why hunter position is like that

Do you mean goin ova the jump or just riding??? Becoz I dnt think I have eva been tld to sit/lean foward. I just recently had a showjump lesson wit sum top showjump fella and he really encouraged us to sit bak coming up to the jump so if something goes wrong ur still in the saddle but if you lean foward you will get thrown out.
I hope dat sorta helps you!!

No I mean when riding. In hunter your position is somewhat like your about to break into a two point seat

In hunters, you want to stay a little bit forward in your saddle. For Hunter Under Saddle, you want to keep about a 20-30 degree tilt forwards in your seat, the idea being that you can pop into your two-point or forward seat at any second to take a jump. This stems from the field hunters, who were very often in a hand gallop or jumping, so you want to be in your forward seat for most of it.
Honestly, I don't know why they do it for competition, but it's there... it's less effective than having a deep seat, but it's not completely against your basics of riding. You still keep your heel and hip in line, and your shoulders back, you just tilt your upper body forwards a bit.

You want to make it seem as tho you don't have to do anything your horse just goes lovely all by itself (which is the challenge of the hunters as most horses don't go that lovely by themselves) so going around in a light seat helps that illusion.

I never understood it either. Sure REAL hunters are ridden in a light seat, but it's not that in-the-saddle leaning forward thing that's used, and the light seat is only because hunters travel at a gallop most of the time. I don't think it has any place in the show ring - looks incorrect and ineffective today. Maybe it looks PRETTY, but I was always taught if you're sacrificing effectiveness for pretty, you're doing it wrong.

I'm never going to get used to American sports

MysticRealm took the words out of my mouth.
In hunters, you need to stay more forward, showing how good the horse can be, and that you barely need to touch him/her.

There's a difference between being a pretty rider, and being an effective rider... but if you can be a pretty and effective rider, you're golden.