Trainer using science and technology to train
I received a link to this article today:
It’s nice to see some publicity about those using science and technology to condition racehorses. Australia and New Zealand seem to be leading the way in using heart rate monitors and other tools to get facts about the horses they train.
I will be rooting for Ortensia on June 19th!
Update on Chance and Zola . . . August 26
Zola had the day off on Tuesday. On Wednesday I lunged her with tack on, but didn’t ride. Yesterday I rode her and we did some more walk/trot trot/walk transitions. All went well. The key thing is that she has not done anything ‘bad’. This is critical (to me at least). The more times she does it correctly, the more it becomes what she will do. The goal in training (educating) a horse is to be consistent so that the horse’s responses become second nature. I have to say that I am really picky on the early training. To me, it’s the foundation the horse will have for life. I want it to be solid. Even more so, I want the horse to respond consistently and without thinking so that when something unexpected comes up, the situation will be that much easier to handle.
Even though I didn’t plan on riding Chance, I did tack him up and attach the heart rate monitor. And it worked! What was interesting was that he was already tacked up before I put the monitor on. He was standing, apparently calm, tied to my horse trailer (which is routine), he had been fed some cookies, and appeared totally relaxed and ho hum. Wrong! When the heart rate was picked up on the receiver, it was 69 beats per minute. Should have been more like 30. I was very surprised. I led Chance away for perhaps 150 feet. His heart rate dropped to 59. I stopped and let him stand, and it dropped to about 50. As I led him back to the trailer (to both Chance and Zola this means they are done for the day) it dropped immediately to 39. And that was without a bridle, which I think would have made his heart rate higher. Let alone my actually getting on. Will be interesting to see what happens when I ride him with it.
What this tells me is that it is much harder to read horses than I thought. And I feel I’m good at it. I can easily see that a person less attuned to their horses – say someone who boards and rides a couple times a week – could be getting on a horse who might appear relaxed, but could be very nervous. This experience was fascinating to me and for those who can afford it, I recommend a heart rate monitor. The ironic thing is that horses monitor our heart rate constantly – without need of a monitor. Will be interesting to see, as an experiment, if Chance’s heart rate goes up if I try to get mine to go up. On Zola my heart rate is probably always high!
Knock on wood, Chance appeared to be walking normally this morning when he came in. Plan on riding him tonight.
Heart Rate Monitor update
Yesterday I gave Zola the day off, as she’s been going so well. Wasn’t planning on riding Chance, other than at the walk, as he is probably still sensitive on that right front. But I was excited about trying the heart rate monitor again, since I bought a new battery.
I saddled Chance up and positioned the heart rate monitor according to a YouTube video (the manufacturer’s video was for a completely different model but the positioning appeared to be the same). Then the disappointment – heart rate of zero. I had wet the pads that touched the horse as well, so was really surprised it didn’t work. Didn’t bother wasting 20 minutes, just took it off, untacked Chance, and called it a day.
Inside, I got on the computer and emailed the woman who had made the YouTube video. Also contacted the manufacturer asking for assistance, and the dealer from whom I purchased it. After that I went online and googled for help. A Facebook entry came up which seemed promising.
I should say, at this point, that I had already tried finding my own heart rate, with no success. In all honesty the company offered NO decent instructions. I did notice that the transmitter is clearly marked Left and Right. However, the belt on which it is attached has no matching right or left marking – which to my mind defeats the purpose of labeling the transmitter. Using “common sense” I had attached the transmitter with the logo facing the same way as the logo on the belt.
The woman on Facebook told the user to do the opposite. Who would have guessed? Also, the entire belt was to be wet. Then she advised trying it on yourself! Imagine my amazement when it actually worked!!!! Thank goodness. It was quite discouraging coughing up over $300 and then not having a working device.
Having finally surmounted that obstacle, I also managed to successfully download the info into the Polar online software where I could then see it. Woo hoo! And this morning I tackled the GPS sensor (this has no readings visible, but communicates only with the heart rate monitor – so I will still wear my own GPS so I can see what I’m doing) and got it working. Or so it seems.
Tonight will be the test.
- View from the driveway January 25, 2012
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