Horse heart/fitness monitor

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mle22

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Thinking about a Christmas present for my daughter, I wondered about a fitness monitor for her to use when getting her horse fit for eventing? Does anyone have any experience of these, or any thoughts as to their usefulness?
 
I personally wouldn't bother for that level, unless she has specific issues getting the horse fit enough.
Equally, if someone bought me one, I'd use it (at least for a bit!) out of interest and would be grateful for the thought.
 
Thanks for the reply millitiger, she has done a few internationals and as I said being an ID and not built for speed, has to be fitter than a more blood horse in order to make times. Has anyone had any experience of using one? Any recommendations?
 
I've used the polar equine ones a lot, mostly the handheld ones for checking recovery rates after rides but I have used the ride on type when interval training. They work well and are useful when you're trying to find the best efficient cruising speed or are doing fast work. I'd recommend she start tracking recovery and resting rates after training regardless, it's the best way to judge their fitness and only requires a stethoscope, or nothing if you can find a jaw pulse.
 
On your type of horse and if doing 2* I would actually buy one. They often kid you with sending out tired messages but actually you look and the heart rate doesn’t match so then you know you can push on and get it raised to increase the fitness without worrying about strain.

I made a mistake at Bicton and had done a fair amount of hillwork but hadn’t done enough interval training as the gallops I used to use for it are no longer in use. I know listening to David doel he had made the same mistake of using hill sprints but it’s the sustained effort that intervals give you which is more useful and need to be combined.
 
We used a polar heart monitor for interval training especially when doing 3 day events. It was a useful tool to monitor fitness especially before events like Burgie and Blair where the hills meant you needed a fit horse.
 
I use an enduro equine girth wrap. Would def recommend for getting chunkier ones fitter :)
I don’t think it’s a waste of efforts even for happy hackers or unaffiliated, it’s pretty interesting the info it provides. Getting to know your horses normal at each pace and recovery is handy when it comes to wanting to up the levels.
 
I think it would be a really good investment on a draft horse eventing. They are disproportionately difficult to get eventing fit and if you can optimise how much mileage you put on their heavier joints all the better.
 
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