Stopping with your seat?

How do you stop using your seat?
Recently I've been seeing a lot of posts referring to that and I have no clue how to do it...
I've tried leaning back a smidge and putting my energy down low but Lacey didn't stop, she didn't even slow down so I'm not thinking I have the right idea... My trainer/BO person most likely has no idea as well and I never see her so it's kinda a moot point to try to get her to show me. She'd probably be all "stopping with your what?" Haha
Lacey does stop to voice commands so I've been working on that but I really should know how to stop with my seat if at all possible...

Help? =)

ETA: I've been riding in a western saddle if that makes a difference. But I also ride her bareback a lot so yeah...

I usually riase my energy level so rena will collect Into the halt, I just stop my seat and think of not letting her through, it might take a little while for your horse to understand, so just keep on practicing!! Sorry, someone else will probably be able to explain better.

I dunno about stopping with your seat, but I am teaching my three year old to stop the way his sires owner teaches his horses... when we want them to stop, we push our legs forwards near the horses shoulders and say 'whoa up' or 'hoooe'...

I think it means sitting deeper in your seat....I know it works for Ice, just like picking myself up out of the seat/shifting my weight forward makes him change gaits. I ride western as well, so it was kind of weird at first, but now I just think about stopping and put my weight straight down. But in general, leaning forward usually means "go" because you're essentially "opening up the door" for them to go forward. And the reverse works for backing.

Or at least thats what I've heard. It seems to work for me, so I don't question it ;p

If she has been ridden for very long with zero seat cues, then she likely has no idea what you are expecting of her. I would work on it like anything else. Sit deep, lean back just a smidge if you feel the need, maybe move your feet a little forward. Then at the same time, use her current stop cue (whether it is voice or reins). Just keep doing that every time you ask for the stop then slowly start doing seat first, then regular cue after if she doesn't respond. It shouldn't take too terribly long. I have been working on that with Dobe and he has almost dumped me a time or two. I have never ridden with my seat before and apparently, he is picking it up faster than I am cause I inadvertantly sat deep the other day while looking off the side at something and he drug his butt to a stop and I almost fell off. Needless to say, he got praised and I got a saddle horn to the belly to remind me to pull my head out of my butt.

Copied from another thread I posted in. This is my way of doing it:

I have three 'seats', I suppose you could say. A neutral seat, a blocking seat, and an open seat.

Neutral Seat - What I use when travelling, and not asking for anything, i.e. we are at my desired speed/impulsion and I just want it maintained. I try to sit quietly, absorb the shock of movement up through my core, and let my legs kind of 'hang' down and around my horse. I only move/change from this seat when I need to ask something, wether it be a lengthen, shorten, stop, turn, etc.

Blocking Seat – This is the seat/action I use when I need to shorten, transition down, make an abrupt turn, or a dead stop. What I am asking for determines the strength of the ‘block’. This one is the hardest to explain… It’s almost like ‘closing’ your pelvis. I kind of ‘contract’ my position… I contract my core muscles, and my thighs contract around my saddle while my heel pulls down to give me security in whatever I’m about to do. I also kind of rotate my pelvis forward which in turn puts more weight in my seat and puts a bit of a ‘hunch’ in my back, not enough that you can see, but enough that I become heavier on the horses back and it also gives me a bit more security in a fast turn or fast stop. So basically my whole body contracts and ‘blocks’ forward movement. However, I only ever do this for one step, except in the case of a back-up. I always pre-empt the block with a half halt so my horse is ready. I use this softly for a shorten, stronger for a downward transition and a back up, and stronger still for an abrupt stop. When I use this for a turn, I use the block to arrest forward motion for a second, and then cue the turn. For a back up, I start at a halt, and move into my blocking seat rhythmically, kind of like you would bump your horse with your legs. To end the back-up, I return to a neutral seat. If a horse doesn’t understand the block, I always start at a walk, and ask for a halt with the seat, and follow up with the rein. Eventually they learn to follow the seat.

Open Seat – What I use when asking for lengthen, upward transitions, etc. It is kind of the opposite of the blocking seat. I ‘open up’ my pelvis, which allows my legs to stretch longer, and straighten my core without becoming rigid, and open up my shoulders. It makes me lighter in the saddle, as well as presenting a lot of forward energy to the horse. I use this lightly for lengthen, a bit stronger for an upward transition, and stringer again for transitions like walk/canter, halt/canter, and then to an extreme when I’m gaming/cow chasing for an abrupt halt/gallop. I also use this to power out of sharp turn such as rollbacks and haunch turns.

And a clearer explanation of the sensation of a 'blocking seat':

I may have a good visual for what wild spot calls a blocking seat. Sit in a chair, quickly suck in your stomach. You'll feel your butt tuck under you. I believe that's what she's taking about. If you ride a lot of half halts using your blocking seat correctly, your stomach muscles should ache when you're finished riding.

Here's a video that I really found helpful. (hope the thing works, let me know if it doesn't, sorry)

Jane Savoie basically reiterates and demonstrates the different seats from wild_spot's post.

Oh, God bless you for these wonderful explanations and examples! I absolutely mean no disrespect to anyone on this forum, because I know that some people are just better at explaining than others, but I get so FRUSTRATED when I read answers like, "Well, it just can't be explained -- you have to feel it," or "You have no business doing that until you have learned how (with the implication that if you don't already know how, it certainly can't be explained to you)," or "Get yourself to a trainer/lessons!" More than once I have wondered if I should just throw in the towel because I am obviously too dense to be on a horse. And I certainly would have -- long ago, except that the horses I ride don't treat me as if I am stupid at all. They are very, very patient and loving, and don't seem to mind if we have to work on the same things over and over again. God bless them, too.

I taught my horse to stop by seat alone in about 20 minutes. We started at the walk. I'd get him going on a nice free walk, leave the reins loose and make sure I'm following along with my seat without any tension, or at least as little as possible. To cue him to stop, I would stretch my upper body up, shoulders back, tuck my pelvis under a little, stop following the motion, and the magic piece of the puzzle was to close my thighs. The first few times, he didn't know what I was doing up there, so I had to use the reins immediately after closing my thighs. After about 4 times, he began to understand what stilling my seat meant and would at least slow down his walk. I'd still use the reins for the complete stop. A few more tries he was stopping on the closed thigh cue, no reins. Once he got it at walk, we moved onto trot and canter. He had it all down in no time. I practice it a few times almost every ride while he's cooling out. He's gotten so tuned into what I'm doing up there, that all I have to do is close my thighs now and he responds. Pretty much it's whatever you and your horse agree are acceptable cues and to practice it until you have complete cooperation. It's a very fun thing to teach to your horse.

i ususally have to also block my mares shoulder with my upper leg a little, as well as block with my seat, she slows down and it helps her transition down better, but ive never gotten her to stop with it yet. you should always, always be riding with your seat, your hands should help guide, but dont rely on them to do all the riding, or else you could end up with a heavy or resistant horse.