I have a new Garmin GPS that counts steps, heart rate etc. How fast/far you run, average mile speed, etc. So far as I know, there is no “horse mode” to track horse activity vs mine. She can cover a mile a lot faster than me. So last time I took the watch off before my ride and put it back on after. The watch also tells you when you have a new PR. Right. Like I can do a 3 minute mile. Ha ha.
Anyone else wishing their watch had a “horse mode?”
I wish! I don’t record my ride with my garmin or count it as an activity, but do wear it on my rides. Maybe this is because I’ve been stuck in the indoor for months but when I look at my stress meter for the day, there’s a little elliptical emojii during the times that I ride. Guess it thinks going around the arena is me on the elliptical 
Absolutely. So frustrating to not have a horse mode. I don’t want to get credit for steps I didn’t take, but I do think I should get credit for the workout I get as measured by heart rate. So bizarre that no one has added this feature.
Fitbit does have “horseback riding” as an option for logging workouts after, but not during. Usually it auto-tracks my rides as runs and I update the type of activity after.
That’s a good point, you’re right that you can log a ride after the fact. And although I haven’t checked in a while, from what I remember it doesn’t go back and subtract the steps counted during that time, which to me would seem important.
I may just end up getting a less expensive GPS type fitness monitor to wear when riding to track how far we ride, average pace, etc. The hard part will be remembering to switch monitors when I ride.
Apple Watch has the option of Equestrian Sports that I select as I’m starting my ride. It does still add the “steps” to my total steps for the day, but tracks the calories burned based on heart rate which I like.
Um who cares if it’s your steps v the horse’s? Walking is easy, I think sitting a walk properly and not like a sack of potatoes, engaging your core and pelvis, thinking about posture, is about the same.
I put my watch on outdoor walk mode so that the incident detection and emergency notification is active. Mostly trotting which is going to be harder than walking but maybe not as hard a jog or an elliptical.
The Jenners. Thanks for your feedback. To each his own and I certainly respect your opinion. As for me, I just don’t think of riding (sitting on a horse) as the same workout as walking or running. I ride English, sometimes bareback and post the trot but I just don’t think it’s the same if you are thinking of aerobic endurance. In addition, my watch thinks it’s always me so it will think I made a fantastic PR if I cover a mile in three minutes. It will congratulate me on taking 15,000+ steps and set tomorrows goal to equal or improve on that. Spencerlucy- Encouraging the Apple Watch as a horse mode.
Mine always makes me feel so accomplished when it tracks my rides as a brisk walk 
I think I may get a second Garmin just for my pony. It would be fun to see how far we go on trail rides or in the arena. As well as mile splits for various parts of the ride.
Equilab is an app that a lot of people use to track their rides if you’re looking for an alternative. I personally don’t track my rides as an activity on my Garmin. IMO running is a little different compared to a ride and my runs auto upload to Strava so accidentally uploading a ride would be a nightmare.
Oh I get it, but I just don’t think of walking as “exercise.” Might just be me.
As @scislandsprite mentioned, you can just download the equilab app and use that. I use it for most of my rides. It’s great to see how long you’ve ridden (and how much at each gait), how far (on trail rides), etc. Pretty useful if you’re into metrics.
Honestly probably depends on each person’s walking! I would probably consider a longer brisk walk with hills and terrain to be exercise whereas a casual brief wandering down the street would be less so
You can create a custom activity in Garmin. I’m not sure how to do it, but there are ways to program the watch for activities that you design. It would capture your heart rate and the duration, and probably GPS.
Search Garmin + create custom activity. I have friends that capture all kinds of things like strength workouts, so it’s possible to get the data. It’s just not a pre-programed activity.
Some walking is, but a lot is not. That’s why I don’t bother counting my steps. My walking back and forth in the kitchen while taking a work call is definitely not exercise. But the steps keep getting recorded.
I think a lot of us active horse folk forget just how incredibly sedentary most of the developed world is. It’s not rare for my husband to take fewer than 2000 steps a day. For those types of people, 10k steps can be a stretch goal. Actual, classic “exercise” that increases your heart rate is a rare event indeed.
I look at my step counter on my Garmin and if I don’t purposefully exercise I think I get about 6000 7000 steps in the course of the day. Some of that from wheeling horse poop cans up to top of property. When I go for a walk or walk/jog for exercise I walk at a pretty brisk pace and usually do a few miles. Meandering down the street to a neighbors house doesn’t really count as exercise to me. If you look on the internet, they talk about exercise "snacks "(no not brownies) meaning small bouts of exercise throughout the day. For example doing x number of squats every time you brush your teeth. Or even better every time you pee. Unless you brush your teeth more than you pee. This seems like a great idea for most of us who have difficulty carving out dedicated exercise time.
Here is but one of many many articles…
This. And after your ride, you can see your heart rate throughout the ride which gives you a good metric for exertion and endurance.
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