A New Pulse on Training
Equine Performance Monitors
Let’s get to the ‘heart’ of this advanced technology for you and your sport horse. By Liz Cornell
As technology continues to evolve, equestrians who are serious about their horses’ performance and well-being are finding innovative ways to improve their training. Whether on the cross- country course or in the arena, many aspects of a training session can be monitored and adjusted with more high-tech information.
W
e do our best to watch for signs of discomfort and anxiety: overheat- ing, rapid breathing, pinned ears, refusing to go forward, misbehav- ior, lethargy, drop in performance quality, etc. We check our horses’
teeth, diet, saddles and bits, the list goes on and on. We often change our train- ing regimen to improve performance. What if you could add a device to your horse’s girth that indicates exactly
when your horse is stressed? Information like how much time you spend at walk, trot and canter or how symmetrically your horse travels can be quite valuable. Tracking symmetry, for example, can help detect lameness and imbalances and assess the overall conditioning of the horse. Is your dres- sage horse’s extended trot in the same cadence as the collected trot? Jumper riders can learn a lot about how their horses approach and land obstacles by measuring the height of their horse’s jump and the trajectory. The speed of your horse on cross-country will vary, and it might be nice to know when and where the various speeds occur. Then there is the important ability of tracking your horse’s heart rate throughout each session, which can send off all kinds of warning signs if monitored and reviewed regularly. All this information would help you more precisely tailor your training sessions for better balance, relax- ation and soundness. Recently these kind of advanced tools have become available for the aver- age equestrian. Are these devices worth the time, money and hassle? Will they really help sport horses perform better and stay sounder? We decided to investigate three products available currently in the United States: Equisense, Seaver and Hylofit. Each company happily provided information about their particular products.
The Common Denominators The core of this new technology lies with sensors located on the horse’s girth. All three companies offer a girth sleeve attachment with the sensor device to use on a regular girth. Equisense and Seaver also offer a selection of girths with their sensors already built in. If you plan to ride more than one horse with these
TOP: The Hylofit device attached to the horse’s girth while in training. Warmbloods Today 15
Natt McFee
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