Explain the forward seat at a canter and how to do it?

The forward seat at the canter — the position in which the rider brings her weight forward out of the saddle with the hips raised above the saddle, taking weight into the stirrups and off the horse's back — is the fundamental position for galloping, for cross-country riding, and for the work canter used in many jumping warm-ups and fitness sessions. It serves the specific purpose of freeing the horse's back from the rider's weight while maintaining a balanced secure position that allows the rider to influence the horse through leg, balance, and light seat contact without sitting fully into the saddle. The mechanical foundation of the forward seat is in the stirrup and the lower leg. With the weight dropped down through a soft heel into a shortened stirrup, the rider's knee and ankle act as shock absorbers that maintain a stable base of support while the hips rise above the saddle. The heel must be genuinely weighted and genuinely lower than the toe for the stirrup to function as a stable support rather than an unreliable pivot point that tips the rider forward onto the hands. The upper body angle in a correct forward seat is inclined forward from the hip — not from the waist, which produces a rounded collapsed posture that puts weight onto the hands, but from the hip joint, which maintains a straight back and strong core while producing the forward inclination that brings the rider's center of gravity forward over the horse's. The back remains straight and strong at every angle rather than rounding forward, which is the most common position error in riders learning the forward seat. The hip position is the key to the forward seat's quality and security. The hips should be above the saddle but positioned over the stirrups rather than behind them. Think of the hips hovering directly above the stirrup bar — this produces the correct hip position that puts the rider's weight into the stirrups and forward over the horse's center of gravity rather than trailing behind it. The hands in the forward seat maintain a following elastic contact while the upper body follows the horse's movement. The temptation to use the hands for balance — to prop them on the horse's neck or grip the reins to stabilize the upper body — should be resisted, because hands used for balance cannot communicate through the rein. Developing the forward seat to the point where balance is entirely in the leg and the hands are genuinely free requires time in this position — hacking in the forward seat, doing transitions in the forward seat, cantering over ground poles — until the lower leg security and hip position become automatic.