pedometer on horse?

[stephanie teeter]

Have any of you used pedometers on horses to estimate mileage? and do
they sort of work at all??

Steph

[Carla Richardson]

When a human wears a pedometer, the placement is important -- I think most of them you wear on your belt, and they are not very accurate unless they are "horizontally" placed.  I don't know where you would put one on a horse, maybe on the chest, on a breast collar? 

 

In order to calculate mileage, you have to program the length of your step.  Pedometers are fairly good at counting steps on a human, if the pedometer is placed correctly.  If you program in your "average" stride, it will estimate distance. But on a horse, again, with different gaits I think you'd have a problem.

 

The only way to see if they would work is to try it, on a known distance.  It might work at a steady walk, but be totally haywire with a canter, I'd bet.

 

Carla

On Sun, Nov 13, 2011 at 3:02 PM, stephanie teeter <st...@endurance.net> wrote:

Have any of you used pedometers on horses to estimate mileage? and do they sort of work at all??

Steph

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[Carla Richardson]

Here's a link, sounds like they're not very accurate, just like I thought.  Even for people... for a horse it wouldn't be feasible at all, I don't think.

 

http://www.livestrong.com/article/306605-pedometers-that-measure-mileage/

Carla

 

On Sun, Nov 13, 2011 at 3:02 PM, stephanie teeter <st...@endurance.net> wrote:

Have any of you used pedometers on horses to estimate mileage? and do they sort of work at all??

Steph

[Sisu West Ranch]

Since I have never tried a pedometer on horseback, please feel free to ignore this if my logic seems faulty.

 

Pedometers measure impact with each impact = 1 step.  Calibration consists of finding how many steps per unit distance.  If used on a hiker who does not run, but walks they can give a relatively consistent result.  Even this assumes that stride length does not change from hills, mud etc.

 

Now horses not only change stride length, they change gaits which dramatically changes the number of impacts per unit distance.

 

My reading is that this would make a pedometer useless on horseback if one mixes gaits like endurance riders do.

 

GPS readings, with all of their uncertainties, seem like a better bet.

 

Somewhere I have a human pedometer that I would mail to someone who wishes to try it out. 

 

Ed

Ed & Wendy Hauser
2994 Mittower Road
Victor, MT 59875

 

(406) 381-5527

 

ranch(at)sisuwest(dot)us

[Bonnie]

Hello stephanie,

We used the Horse-o-meter for a while. It worked best if you rode
your horse at the same gait, same speed all the time. You fastened it
on the breast collar of the horse. You had to measure your horses
stride and program that in.

We quit using it when we got wrist mount GPS units as they were much
more accurate ;-)

--
Best regards,
Bonnie mailto:bon...@b4boots.com
http://www.b4boots.com
check out our blog at http://www.b4boots.com/w

[Buddy]

Answer to first question is NO and answer to second question is also
NO. And I will add any device used by a rider on a horse to measure
whatever is only as good as the rider can use with ease not to
interfere with the gaits/movement of the horse as the horse trots/
galops along up and down hills and around corners hoping not to come
up on a mountain biker listening to music while looking down at his
bicycle tire not wanting to hit a tree root or rock... And suddenly
there is a horse rider looking at his/her wrist watch measuring heart
rate, speed and distance and then there is an accident.. OOPS>>>>Buddy

[Joe Long]

Sisu West Ranch wrote:  

GPS readings, with all of their uncertainties, seem like a better bet. 

Indeed.  That was my immediate thought.  Why would anyone use a device that only provides an approximation when such a more accurate and reliable device is available?

-- 
Joe Long  aka ChipRider
jl...@chiprider.com
A++ G+ PKR+ PEG+ B+ M+

[Valerie Jaques]

I think the "horse-o-meter" predates mass-market GPS devices. They're
okay if you all you're interested in is a "guess-timate." From what
I've seen there's a bit of work involved in calibrating them. You
have to trot your horse over a known distance to get it set right, and
then if you're walking or cantering, it's inaccurate. Also, with the
"horse-o-meter," you'll only know how far you went if you get off and
look at it. Can't check it while in motion.

I prefer a GPS. Never had a problem taking a peek at it while riding
and encountering an inattentive mountain biker resulting in a wreck.
Interestingly enough, my horse seems to hear oncoming bicyclists, even
if they can't hear him.... Of course, I don't usually bother to look
unless we're in a clear area with a long line of sight. I've looked
while galloping out of curiosity to know what our top speed is. My
current horse's top speed seems to be 17mph -- for about 100 yards.

[Buddy]

Too cool... My horse seems to hear on coming bicyclists even if they
cannot hear him? How do you know unless you are watching his ears as
he is listening to sounds and then looking at the wrist watch reading
heart rate, speed, and distance covered..., By the way, Are you riding
a quarter horse? 17 mph for 100 yards is their top speed for that
distance.. So, I have been told.. Buddy

[Don Huston]

I used a pedometer for several years. Being a weirdo surveyor I took
my large off road wheel and measured a 6-7 mile loop on some
endurance type trails. I mounted the pedometer on a leather flap on
my saddle. I found that that let the pedometer flap up and down which
is what makes it work. I set the stride on 2.5 feet and rode that
loop at a similar speed that I would do at a regular race. Some
walking, lots of trotting, very little cantering. I rode that loop
many times and adjusted the stride setting until I got the miles I
had measured. After that I rode 6-8 50's and that little gadget would
end up at 46-48 miles every time. One day at home I dropped my saddle
and broke the plastic case and never got another one.

I took readings at each vet stop and noticed that the first loop
would always be a lot shorter that what the map said and then lunch
would still be short and then the last 2 loops would be long with the
final reading being pretty close. I think that that was because when
my horse was fresh he would have a longer stride covering the miles
with fewer steps and then as he tired his stride shortened making him
take more steps so at the end the average was okay but the stuff in
between was not very accurate.

Tell John you want a Garmin Forerunner305 for Christmas, $100 on
Ebay, and they are plenty accurate. :-)

Don Huston

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[Carla Richardson]

Quarter horse racing horses can do a quarter mile in under 20 seconds.  That's 440 yards.  I think the top speed a quarter horse has reached is over 50 miles an hour.  They are of course sprinters so going all out for that quarter mile.

Sometimes they don't breathe and I saw one fall over and lay there like he had died, but after several long minutes, he got up and was alright.  The jockey luckily wasn't hurt, because he had a mount in the All American Futurity later the same day.  He rode the winning horse in that race. 

Totally off topic, sorry.

Carla

[stephanie teeter]

Thanks for all the feedback. I'm asking because I want to revive the 'VV - Very Virtual' endurance competition series that John started a few years ago. It was a lot of fun for folks that can't do AERC rides (because it's winter) and like to have a reason to get out and ride when the weather is nasty. 

We basically had an ongoing mileage competition - folks logged all of the miles they rode - any distance - over a period of time (e.g. a month) and we kept track of the mileage and awarded a 'winner' at the end of the competition.  

Since it's based on an honor system of recording mileage, my son suggested maybe we could send everybody a calibrated pedometer and they could us that to determine the miles ridden - they are inexpensive and then it would be the same for all (sort of). Other options are GPS, google earth tracks, known mileage trails, sanctioned rides, wild-ass guesses...

I'm thinking the pedometer might not be worth it tho based on all the comments. Plus we'd all probably lose them within the first two weeks.

We might be able to do some sort of topo map thing too - all the USGS topo maps are available online and maybe we could use some shared document software to let folks draw in their training rides or park trails or paddock loops or whatever trail they took. (AERC, CTR rides could be done too somehow). just thinkin...

At any rate, we'll be doing the VV series again this winter - stay tuned!

Steph

[Quentin & Libby Llop]

I loved the VV rides. I almost always carry a GPS, just to track milage. But I kind of dropped out when filling out the online vet card exceeded my computer abilities. Also, when it is 10 degrees out with a howling wind and dark as we finish a ride, just loading my crippled husband and two horses and going home is all I'm up for: not trotting out two horses for CRIs.
                                                                                    Libby

[stephanie teeter]

It will be a little simpler this time around (no vet card) - and I've got ideas for awards and stuff. stay tuned!

[Valerie Jaques]

On Nov 13, 10:33 pm, Don Huston <donhus...@cox.net> wrote:
> I used a pedometer for several years. Being a weirdo surveyor I took
> my large off road wheel and measured a 6-7 mile loop on some
> endurance type trails. I mounted the pedometer on a leather flap on
> my saddle. I found that that let the pedometer flap up and down which
> is what makes it work. I set the stride on 2.5 feet and rode that
> loop at a similar speed that I would do at a regular race. Some
> walking, lots of trotting, very little cantering. I rode that loop
> many times and adjusted the stride setting until I got the miles I
> had measured. After that I rode 6-8 50's and that little gadget would
> end up at 46-48 miles every time. One day at home I dropped my saddle
> and broke the plastic case and never got another one.

Of course you had good luck with it. You are such a technophile....

[Valerie Jaques]

On Nov 13, 8:35 pm, Buddy <buddy.glea...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Too cool... My horse seems to hear on coming bicyclists even if they
> cannot hear him?

It would have been more accurate to say he does hear bicyclists or
hikers even if they cannot hear him. Amazing what a horse can hear
that a human cannot.

How do you know unless you are watching his ears as
> he is listening to sounds and then looking at the wrist watch reading
> heart rate, speed, and distance covered...,

A horse's ears are by no means the sole indication of what a horse is
paying attention to. They have an awful lot of body language. I can
tell where he's looking by the feel of his body with my eyes closed,
let alone while checking a device.

I find your evident assumption that riders using GPS and/or HRM are
somehow constantly staring at those devices. Arguing we shouldn't use
them is like arguing speedometers, tachometers, odometers, fuel and
oil gauges should be removed from vehicles. By the logic you seem to
use, drivers are spending all their time staring at that data and
ignoring the road.

By the way, Are you riding
> a quarter horse? 17 mph for 100 yards is their top speed for that
> distance.. So, I have been told.. Buddy

I have a Mustang. And he's just not really built for speed. He's
extraordinarily consistent. Since I have no interest in "winning"
rides or top tenning, and I kinda like being on the trail for the
better part of the day, this works out well for both of us.

[Tami Rougeau]

Steph, YEAH!!!!! We loved the VV rides. It was a fun way to get
through the winter. Thanks for bringing it back. There are so many
ways to track now that part of the fun will be seeing what programs
everyone uses. I use my Garmin for keeping track of my riding but
also have a Spot which will do the same thing. Seems like many people
also have apps on their phones. Lots of options. Thanks again, this
is so much fun.

Tami

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