grain of salt

Twelve minutes, twelve minutes...why do I need twelve minutes of inaccurate data to tell me what I already know? Maybe it's seeing the information in a visual graphic, or the competitive side of me wanting to do better now that information is in my face, or just because. 

Earlier this week I tried running the Equitrack app more diligently, twice. Once with my ride on Koda, where I carefully paused and restarted, whenever we paused and restarted, and once with my ride on Nemo, where I decided pausing was a hassle. Running the app the entire time during Nemo's ride would be a good comparison anyways. I got the same inaccurate results using the app both ways. Below is the hybrid map of Nemo's ride. It didn't record any part of our indoor ride. I'm not going to bother sharing the inaccurate tracking graphics, and Koda's ride map looks similar:

It's really not the app's fault, it's the lack of cell reception. I started both boys in the outdoor arena, which is still too wet for faster gaits, and then moved indoors to finish our rides. I spent more time indoors then out. Imagine my disappointment when I checked the app out of curiosity to see where we were with ride time, and noticed it had not changed since I last checked it outside. Clearly the app does not record data without GPS. Time to - step away from the app - and take all the inaccurate data with a grain of salt. 

I had both arena's all to myself this day, and spent the morning riding alone. Well, I was with the horses of course. I rode Koda first, he moved out better then our previous ride. Nemo was good too, except for his lope. I loped him enough to know to stop. I do think we could have put it together better had I kept going, but Nemo's lope has a very different feel then what I am used to. It's kinda like a rocking horse, but this time it felt like it was on the rockers ends, with not enough forward movement. Waaay forward, then waaay back. It didn't help he was preoccupied with looking at the light peeking under the service door. I decided to leave loping alone for now, until I get to know him better under saddle. Nemo has a fantastic jog, so we just enjoyed more of that!

After I got done riding both horses, I turned the wild child Cierra out to burn off some stalled energy. She had been calling us off/on through the morning. The girl had many bucks, crow hops, rears and squeals to get out of her system. As usual she ran faster then the wind! I watched her stunning beauty from afar. Koda & Nemo didn't flinch the entire time. One would think they are a couple of old men, but they are only seven. What a difference three years makes, that and daily turn out to just be a horse...wish I had gotten my camera earlier.

Nemo & Koda enjoying a buffet,
while Cierra goes cray-cray

Before I headed home I had to visit the resident baby horse Cash, who is growing fast. Such a sweet guy! I would take him in a heartbeat, if he was for sale and we had our own place. He is in a bit of a fugly stage, but still so darn cute. I'll share some updated pics of him soon. 

Hope you all take time to get outside and enjoy horse-time this weekend, before the snow flies!

app-solutely revealing

It was a busy weekend on the home front, unfortunately I have no colorful trail rides to share. Might be a good thing, considering all the rain we got during the week.

With a portion of the outdoor arena still under water, the one weekend ride we did squeak in was indoors. Sigh. Our inside rides feel different. The arena is smaller, sand deeper, obstacles are scarce, and barn distractions are but a short glance away for horse and rider. Both Nemo & Koda seem to be a little off the last couple arena rides. Could be one of many things, including a shift of the seasons. The fact that it is both horses, leads me to believe just that. Like it or not, the indoor riding season is rapidly approaching.

Instead of progressing, I feel like Koda & I are slipping backwards with our rides. Two steps forward, three steps back. Our technique is falling apart. Turns on the forehand were sloppy and our lope was back to hitchy. Brad decided to take a couple video clips, and I didn't like what I saw. It felt exactly like it looked. Not horrible, but Koda & I can ride together much better...time to refocus and rebuild our practice.

I decided to try starting up the Equitrack app again, and this time the GPS worked indoors. I started it at the far end of the arena, away from what I believe is "the dead" cell zone. What I learned was app-solutely revealing...

I only rode for 12:27 minutes...what?!! A couple things did factor in while I was in the saddle. I watched Brad & Nemo for extended stretches, trying to see if I could pick up on anything that looked off. I was also socializing with another rider. I find that when we share the arena with other riders, I don't focus as much on my own ride. I am preoccupied with not getting in peoples way, and being friendly.

As far as the overall elapsed/program time, in this case it doesn't reflect total time in the saddle. I forgot to turn the app off after dismounting. It includes picking up cones, untacking, chatting it up in the aisle, hand grazing, and even walking Koda back out to the pasture - whoops! All time was spent with Koda, and in-hand is as important (if not more) as riding. However the revealing thing here is, I only rode 12-ish minutes. That is pathetic. I wouldn't bat an eye if we lived nearby & rode frequently, but we travel 40 minutes one way - to ride. 

While I am a firm believer that it's not the amount of time a person spends - but the quality that counts - this still tells me a lot. I need to put much more effort into our ride, whatever that time ends up being, if I want Koda to do anything similar. Especially indoors.

According to the app (based on his weight and I assume speed & time) Koda only burned 108 units (calories?) of energy. Not an exact method of calculation, but still interesting. What is that, about a handful of hay? No wonder he isn't looking as fit. I can all but guarantee Koda isn't running around in the pasture, except maybe to get to the free-feed round bale of hay they recently added. I on the other hand am still burning up the energy charts at a big ol' zero - ha! 

I did notice the top circle speed filled into the tracking screen, for whatever that's worth. 

Below is the hybrid map for this ride. The yellow square is the indoor arena. I'm guessing the blue stuff outside the yellow square is a result of the GPS dropping, except for when it tracked our walk towards the pasture. The barn wing where I untack wasn't tracked at all, clearly a cell phone dead zone. 

Our riding stats from last weekends outdoor arena/pasture ride clocked me at 36:27 min riding time, for 1.51 miles, compared to this indoor rides paltry 12:27 min riding, for .57 miles. That pretty much says, we like to ride outside!! I think it would be valuable to continue viewing riding stats, but what I really need to work on is my lack of indoor riding enthusiasm!! I find the map tracking pointless in an arena. I wonder if the app will track a ride without the GPS on? Something appy to try next time!

Equitrack App Review

I purchased an app called Equitrack right before we took our trip to the glorious northwoods. I'm always curious how far we trail ride and for how long. I'm not very good at guestimating and forget to check the time. I thought a tracking app would come in handy on the unmarked Nicolet Forrest trails, if the app worked. 

Because I purchase Equitrack right before we left, I didn't spend any time playing with it or looking for online tutorials on how to use it. It didn't matter. Upon return, I found out there aren't any. I searched for instructions to resolve one nagging thing I couldn't figure out on my own, and found nothing that addressed it. Their website is easy to navigate and does have some info, including FAQ's, but I found the site pretty basic and lacking information. It didn't tell me anything I hadn't already figured out on my own. 

The one nagging thing I couldn't figure out while using the app in the saddle, was how in the H-E-double toothpick does a person go back/find the original tracking screen?? If I missed something, please do tell. For some lucky reason, I took screenshots with my phone - before I knew the tracking screen wouldn't save - and I also figured out what I call a "work around" to get back to the screen. Press "new ride" to go back - while active - otherwise, the tracking screen disappears...it's a bummer, because it's a great graphic! Know that riding information is saved into another plain text format.

Tracking screen at the end of our first ride.

Map screen at the end of our first ride.

I forgot to start the app when we started (start/stop was the same place)
and added the light blue line for the untracked part of our ride. 

Tracking screen at the end of our second ride. 

Map screen at the end of our second ride.

The light blue line is the untracked part of the ride.
I was fumbling with trying to locate the app's tracking screen and hit the wrong button.
The white location words were added for those who read my previous related riding post.

Map screen of our outdoor arena and pasture ride.

I love how the round pen looks like an upside-down bottle cap!
The yellow circled areas were added, they are places where I absolutely did not ride.
Unfortunately, I forgot to take a screenshot of the original tracking screen...poof, it's gone!

A couple additional things to note on the Original (black) Tracking Screen:

• I never saw the top "Speed" circle change numbers, even while moving. I assume it's tracking the current speed. If it's not going to visibly change, why bother showing it on the screen?
• The bottom "Energy" circle always showed me at "0". I sure hope I'm expending more energy then that! I entered my weight, which is the only requirement their website mentions. This feature didn't work for me. 

The app does offer some different levels of riding programs, including three pre-programmed. I did not try them, and therefore cannot comment on how they function. I did try entering my own riding program, and what I saw looked limited at best. However this app is marketed as an Equine Training Assistant, so there must be more to the training portion then meets the eye. For example, you can add sounds. I guess sounds might come in handy? You can read how this feature might work here. Do people really ride with earbuds on? I'm lucky if I can keep my hat on! Additional sound comments have been edited, because I can't stop laughing from being plain ol' silly. Seriously, if I play with the riding program features, I'll do a follow-up review. Don't hold your breathe, or make a sound!!

Quirks found with the Equitrack version 2.2 (yes, the version matters):
• there is no navigation to get to the original tracking screen 
• the app doesn't save the original tracking screen
• the riders "me" energy expenditure doesn't work
• my freestyle program rides did not list (they saved, but didn't list 1-10)
• map tracking isn't exact
• the phone GPS doesn't work in our indoor arena (no fault of the app)
• you can't add landmark points to the map
• my husband is pretty sure the only time Koda goes 13+ mph is in the trailer!

Favorable things about Equitrack version 2.2:
• it tracks distance
• separation of ride time vs elapsed time, as well as total time
• the original tracking screen is very eye appealing
• the original tracking screen is easy to read
• you can keep track of rides on more then one horse
• the cost is reasonable. I purchased the app for $3.99 (iphone only)
• hybrid maps rock, glad the app pulls the different choice
• the app stayed ON and tracked our entire rides (this is huge, so many cut out)
• weather, location, date etc is auto included in saved riding data
• you can add notes about your ride

Rated *** (3 out of 5 stars, because of the quirks).

With all that said, I had fun using Equitrack!! I was hoping to track all my riding time on Koda, and use our arena riding data as a conditioning gauge, but instead plan to continue using this app where I think it functions best - tracking trail riding adventures.