Gait analysis

[appendix100]

anyone have any experience w/ any of the gadgets that are supposed to analyze gait?
Stride length, symmetry, etc?
Looking at Ceefit, there are some others

Have a horse that I am trying to open up the stride on, & can’t always have a trainer/eyes on the ground to let me know. Plus don’t expect to gain a foot of stride length at a time, so would like to know if I am generally making progress, even slowly. If I gain a couple of inches would like to know so I know I am going in the right direction, but that’s not going to be visible on video, even if I can get someone to video for me (am struggling w/ a pivo - unfortunately it alway craps out during whatever section of training I really want to see).

Plus, if I am truthful, I love gadgets…

Suggestions? experiences?

[Snowdenfarm]

Oooh, following. I was just looking at the Equestic Saddle Clip which is on sale right now — though the name would always make me think of the Agrestic subdivision in Weeds, haha.

[IPEsq]

I have the Equisense Motion, and it doesn’t measure what you are looking for. It measures gait symmetry in trot on a straight line, elevation in the gaits, cadence, and regularity. None of those directly translate into stride length.

[joiedevie99]

@Snowdenfarm

Equestic Saddle Clip

I’ve been looking at this one as well. Seems super useful if it works.

[Obsidian_Fire]

If you look at the thread on Preventive maintenance/fitness, @RedHorses posted about their experience with the Equestic Saddle Clip.
Sorry I can’t figure out how to attach that thread to this one.

[blob99]

I have one and I find it useful/interesting esp for those that can be a bit obsessive, like me, ha!

one thing that I have found especially useful is to compare lunging work to ridden work.

my one issue is that i’m not sure how it factors in lateral work. I have been meaning to email the company.

[joiedevie99]

@Obsidian_Fire

posted about their experience with the Equestic Saddle Clip.

Thanks! @blob99 I just ordered one, so in 2-3 weeks I’ll give it a go

[Mallard]

I have also ordered one…should be here any day!

[IPEsq]

The Equisense people say that lateral work should not have a negative impact, but it really kills my symmetry scores. I don’t know if that’s a fault of the device or me and my horse move unevenly on the diagonals when doing a lot of lateral work. I haven’t tested it with another horse to compare.

I have a 2nd generation Motion, pre-the one with heart rate. I’ve had worse numbers lately even though the horse feels fantastic, and it’s been more finicky about connecting to my phone. I do think that girth placement makes a difference, and maybe I need a new holder.

ETA - Historically, my horse gets pretty darn close to or around 8+ for symmetry when he’s feeling good, and low 7s when not so much since most of his wonkiness is in the hind end. Supposedly, it’s more sensitive to front end issues. Unless you are getting 6s and below, there’s no feedback on which diagonal is the weak one. The Equestic seems to have more analysis available.

I’m considering moving to the saddle clip to see how that does, especially since I get the worst readings in my dressage saddle, and I’m not sure if that’s because he’s been a very tricky fit or if it’s from the shape of that girth.

I just want someone to come out with an Apple Watch app for one.

[LadyB]

If you can find someone that owns a Werkman Black Gait Analysis, you’ll get everything you’re looking for.

We have one guy in Ontario, Canada who offers the service, I went to a clinic and it was fascinating.

Home - Werkman BLACK - See The Unseen

[Marla_100]

If you have any farriers in your area who do racing Standardbreds, they can help you with your horse if you just want to lengthen the stride. Those guys know how to tweek heel/toe balance to make the hoof reach farther. Some Standardbred racing farriers are really masters at this.

[RedHorses]

The Equestic isn’t going to tell you in the moment if you’re getting a longer stride. Over time you would be able to see if the hang time of each stride got longer by looking at the rhythm graph in the symmetry analysis. But that’s air time, and not necessarily indicative of actual stride length.

Have you tried the old school counting strides between two ground poles?

[scislandsprite]

I think this might be newer but maybe Estride’s Precision Pro would do gait analysis? It’s pretty expensive but it does look helpful since the nodes attach to your horse’s boots/polos.