Whoa under saddle is very easy once you have accomplished a sound and instant Whoa on the Ground.

Introducing the Seat Cue

The goal of this exercise is to adjust your body position and weight to contact a pressure point on your horse’s back so that he can discern when to stop. To introduce him to this seat cue, we will use a verbal cue for “whoa” that he already understands and slowly replace the verbal cue with the body language.

As we proceed, remember that what cannot be accomplished easily at a walk is even harder at a faster pace. Thus, this exercise starts at a walk in the confines of the round pen.

Step 1: Walk around the edge of the round pen sitting with good, upright posture. There should be a little space between your lower back (back pockets) and the cantle of the saddle.

Step 2: Relax your posture back into the Cantle of your saddle. (Exhale deeply as you melt back, and envision the stop.) Your feet should be BARELY forward of the neutral position. Your horse feels your weight shift from forward to back on the deep muscle of his back but you are not “gouging” him with your fanny bones – just melting slightly back into relaxation. The perfect seat cue is like “plugging” your seat into the horse, not rocking like a hobby horse or leaning back with your feet up. However, your cues may need to be be a bit exaggerated the first few times you try this exercise. Your exhale is a little more exaggerated, Your “melt-back” is a little deeper. Your feet a bit more forward of neutral.

As you exhale and pull your stomach muscles tight to contact the cantel with your pockets, simultaneously say the word “Whoa” in the same tone you have used for in-hand training.

Step 3: He is moving at a slow pace. Your verbal request to “whoa” has given him a clue. As he continues to travel forward, relax further into the cantle of the saddle. Your new seat posture is not particularly comfortable for him as you relax further and further into the sensitive spot. His slow pace and your strange posture generally brings things to a halt. (A green horse may startle forward. Be careful here.)

Give him a chance to think it through and come to a stop. Exhale-1000, whoa-1000, rein cue-1000. Release, Rest.

Step 4: Release all cues instantly when he stops. Practically throw the reins away for full release.  Wait at least 30-60 seconds (an eternity) before resuming forward motion. Most horses love to rest, and this gives him time to compute what happened and relax a little if it made him nervous. Look for his Licking and Chewing to show that he is relaxed. Then repeat the exercise.

We are using some very basics learning theories here.

Paired Response: You are doing three actions nearly-simultaneously. First the “Whoa” is paired with relaxing back into the saddle cantle followed by picking up on the reins and then easing the reins back until he is stopped. Then release. If your horse is already trained to give to the pressure of the halter or the bit, he is warned that it is coming (by your voice and seat position) and given an opportunity to stop before his head is controlled by the rider’s hands.
Remember: Seat cue; Voice cue; Head Control (if necessary); Release.

Anticipation is your friend. Your horse doesn’t understand the seat cue. But he does understand what follows. Soon, he will be acting on the seat cue instead of waiting for the verbal “whoa” simply because he is smart and he knows it is coming. He will also want to avoid the rein control.

If you use the sides of the round pen as your other friend, you can start at one side, walk calmly toward the other (right across the middle). As you approach the other side, give him the seat cue before he bumps into the fence. You can do the same thing with the arena fences.

Always give him time to relax after each successful stop.

Step 5: When he can walk the perimeter of the round pen and the arena with nice, controlled halts, move out into the arena and ask for halts at different places inside. Change up the routine so he can’t anticipate where you will stop without listening to your seat. You can drop the verbal request when you feel that he is understanding and acting on the seat cue.

Step 6: When all is beautiful at a walk, raise the ante. Go back to the perimeter of the round pen and ask for a slow, gentle trot. Use the exact same routine.

However, as the pace gets faster, some horses begin to forge ahead and lose respect for the seat “whoa” in the heat of the moment. Stay on the fence until he is stopping the moment you exhale back.

What To Do If He Does Not Stop: If he does not stop, use your inside rein to bring him around in a circle and ask him to circle until he stops. It doesn’t have to be excruciatingly tight circles. And you don’t necessarily have to prod him forward. If you don’t let him walk off forward, he will soon stop circling of his own accord. This is something he will not think is much fun. If you give him the seat cue and he doesn’t stop, he has to circle until he does stop. He will soon figure out that stopping without circling is more desirable.

Step 7: When he understands the seat cue, you can work on getting more urgency to your stop. After he stops, come forward in your seat so that you are not continuing to pressure the seat-cue. Now ask him to back up 3 steps the moment he has stopped. Then relax.

This exercise builds on the verbal “whoa” to make it easy to introduce the seat cue to stop. As practice continues, your horse becomes more and more comfortable and reliable with this exercise. More of the pre-cues disappear over time. First, you can lower your voice or drop the voice cue altogether. Soon you will have a horse who works off of the seat cue alone. The bit/head control is almost never needed. It is a very exciting lesson and surprisingly easy to teach.

Horse training can be dangerous. Not all methods work on all horses. Instruction presented here is not meant to be prescriptive in nature, and Horse-Pros.com takes no responsibility for the welfare of any animal or person using our methods.

Please note that any advice given on horse-pros.com is neither veterinary nor prescriptive in nature but offered only as an introduction to this topic.

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