Finally Wearables Can Train Your Horse Like You Train Your Body

After a successful Indiegogo campaign (153% of their goals), the Seaver wearable is that in-between phase of crowdsourcing, where they are filling preorders and gearing for regular orders. What is Seaver? It’s a wearable that allows riders and trainers to measure the biometrics of a horse, just like a human athlete would do with any wrist-worn wearable.

(source: mythicalrealm.com)

For early Greeks, Centaurs were half-horse, half-humans who fought with a bow and arrow. They had all the speed of a thoroughbred, with the accuracy of a human archer.

What they were actually seeing was the first horse and rider they’d witnessed. If you’d never seen someone ride a horse and that person was shooting at you, you may think the two beasts as one, especially if your eyes were on the nearest hiding spot.

This is the nature of a good rider. The horse and the rider function like dancers, as if they are one, but they are not. Each operates with a separate will, a separate brain, and separate heart.

(source: indiegogo.com)

The Seaver Horse Wearable allows the rider to not only measure the biometrics of their steed, they can use the data to better train their horse for competition by staying ahead of important information like calories burned and necessary recovery time.

Design

(source: indiegogo.com)

There are two versions to Seaver, the Girth, and Girth Sleeve. The latter is a sleeker version of the original.

The building materials of the Girth are a combination of leather and synthetics. The Girth Sleeve is neoprene and synthetics. The design of the Seaver Girth revolves around the position of sensors.

The Girth houses an ECG, respiratory sensors, and a control unit. Seaver sells thirteen sizes of their device. If you go with the original design, you can choose from black or brown.

Once on the horse, it fits in as if were part of the usual tack you’d find on a horse.

Key Metrics

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In real time, you can know the heart rate and respiratory pattern of your horse, which may be more valuable to coaches than riders.

It also displays vertical and horizontal jump data, left and right-hand analysis, gait time, speed and real-time track data.

Of course, all the data collected by Seaver one can review post-ride as well, so riders will also appreciate this product. The post-practice data is comprehensive, allowing riders and coaches to see a robust snapshot of what works and what does not.

Train Smarter

(source: indiegogo.com)

The Greek misperception of horse and rider as one is not lost on riders. They too feel the proximity of their relationship with their horse.

That said, even in the closest of relationships between rider and horse, there is no way for the rider to ask the horse how he feels. Seaver bridges this gap.

Combining the heart rate data with the horse’s movement patterns and respiratory rate, Seaver can determine the stress level of your horse. This can also be valuable when and if there is a need for veterinary attention.

Riders and coaches have early access to anomalies in the horse’s health, so they may be able to circumvent problems before they arise.

(source: indiegogo.com)

The device works with any application of equestrian sports. Wherever rider and horse come together, Seaver can give the rider what they need to perform better.

Over time, Seaver adapts to the individual horse. Precision increases, as does the relevance of the data for the specific horse.

Hopefully, 2017 brings Seaver to the open market so folks who missed the Indiegogo campaign can purchase the device. You won’t be able to strap your Fitbit to your horse’s leg to assimilate the effect.

Better you wait. In short order, you could ride like a centaur.