This is what I’ve been doing, only because it’s still on “probation” for me as far as locking onto the horse and staying locked. The one time I tried it at C, it locked onto something that was not a horse outside of the arena, and if that happens at C, you’re not getting it back unless you get off the horse and fix it. If it’s at X and you’re going around it in a circle, you can just ride past whatever direction it’s looking, and it’ll pick you back up. That said, I know there are definitely people having success with it at C.
Would this work well if, say, the trainer bought it to film our lessons, and then airdroppped the video to us?
I already have a tripod. Would that work? Did any of you use your own?
I’m an Android user so I’m not sure on AirDrop, but there would be a lot of ways she could share the video. And it just takes a standard 1/4" tripod. I bought one off Amazon and didn’t buy any of the Pivo bundles.
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It arrived yesterday. Squuueeeeee.
I have only opened the camera at the moment and put it on charge overnight. I can set it up at X and I can move the mounting block next to it as a reminder not to knock it over. It came with a tripod, a remote control and 2 mounts as I bought the extra one. The charging cable does not come with a wall mount. When I put it in the adaptor one I have nothing happened. When I put it in the samsung wall charger the LED came up red. So I expect to see it blue or green hopefully this morning.
When I downloaded the app I was able to log in through facebook, so no worries about the email address being rejected or having to wait for an activation email.
I took the plunge and bought one this morning. I ride alone and it’s always difficult to find someone to video me. Hoping it’ll be great for my jumping and flat work and that I can figure it out!
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Well, here are the tips I know, but the forum has a lot more:
- Put it on airplane mode so only bluetooth is available, if a call comes in while you are filming it will stop
- Only use Predictive Tracking if you are going in a circle around it. If you place it at edge of arena and leave Predictive on, it will spin around and look for you outside arena, as you found out. If it is off, it zooms to wide view and waits to find you again.
- Auto-Exposure is hit or miss depending on whether your phone can compensate and whether your arena has a lot of shadows. Try it both ways.
3.5 Make sure AI tracking is on or you won’t see the red box outlining your horse. - Frenzy mode (Silver version only, for fast work) might be TOO fast and touchy, don’t be afraid to try a simple Fast mode. It works, I can’t tell difference.
- Make sure you select video mode, and then press the button to video, check the counter is working. Big complaint is that in the sun, it is hard to tell it is recording as it will track you in both Camera and Video mode.
- Most people set up the Pivo unmounted, put their horse in front and ensure the red box is locked onto the horse, press Video Record, check the counter is counting, then walk over to the mounting block to mount (it should track you).
The 900Facebookpony blog does a great review. Once you start to think like the camera, it makes sense.
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These work the same in an indoor arena, correct?
I have a SoloShot that knock wood is working, but for the price I might pick up one of these before winter for indoor use.
I want to love my Pivo. Its great when it’s great, but I have been struggling to have a successful full ride with it. I think its mainly because I get too close to it, still trying to figure out the best place to put it, and struggling with the size of my arena.
2 updates ago it was perfect, but the recent updates have done something. Still sorting it out on my end.
Rode with a friend, it struggled with the two of us, but again, size of arena and getting too close to it could be the main reasons. It’s an EXCELLENT idea, budget friendly and definitely an excellent thing to have when you ride alone. Just still sorting a lot of it out.
I saw the topic of the thread and it made me giggle… ‘pivo’, in the country where I live, means ‘beer’. I agree…pivo works. 
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Hahaha.
I had a go with it yesterday. Sigh that it does not come with detailed instructions.
In the morning - it is no good for lunging as it gets confused when the horse goes behind the handler. It would be better to just put the video on on your camera.
I did get it into horse mode and that worked well but of course he was not quite right so just a walk around it in a 20 m circle and nothing exciting.
In the afternoon I could not get it back into horse mode. Where is that %$#%: icon? I did click on the many person video one and it did track. I put it at X as suggested and it lost us at 30m away. It also got stuck on the setting sun so I guess I will have a lovely video of the sun setting.
When I clicked stop recording afterwards. On the screen was the %$#^_% horse icon!
I tried mine out this morning for the first time. Was working in an indoor arena with a dark bay horse, so certainly not ideal conditions. I had it on the railing of our indoor arena at E, and mostly longed her in a circle at B. It tracked pretty well in trot, but but it struggled to track her in canter. I think that there just wasn’t enough contrast with her dark coat against the dark back ground. I was just longeing, so didn’t have a saddle pad or any contrast. I will try it again with a saddle pad if I can find someone to borrow a surcingle from or I guess I can longe her with a saddle on. I’m also going to try it on a tripod so I can have it a bit farther away from the circle.
I had to peek because pivo is the word for beer in Czech. It had me wondering.
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So, it works if you do it right. I did it wrong first. Doing it wrong included knocking the tripod over (glad we got that done with) and then the Florida sun baking my phone. iPhones turn off when they get overheated. Who knew?
It also helps when you press the record button.
I’m going to try this again tomorrow, making sure to press the right buttons.
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Mine worked really well tonight. I think the main differences were that I put it on a tripod at X, which was much better than having it on the railing. It didn’t get stuck looking at the post instead of the arena. Also, it was raining so grey and cloudy, which meant there was much less contrast in lighting between the interior of the indoor and the windows. I also put it on airplane mode - I hadn’t heard that tip before. It only lost me once, when I came too close to it on a canter circle. I am interested to try it again with the tripod on the sunny day to see how much of the difference is the location/tripod versus the light conditions. But seems like at least it should work well in the indoor this winter.
I ride in a large arena, bigger than a 20x60, I place it at G and it was perfect there. In a short 30 min ride, it lost me 3 times, only because I did leg yields and got too close to it. Keeping the horse full in the screen is important for it to keep you.
I made an updated post yesterday with all of my Pivo tips/advice/thoughts in one place for easy reference. I included some videos in there too towards the bottom. Hopefully this helps someone who is thinking about ordering or has just gotten one!
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Thanks for posting this, I will have to check that out! I ordered one and it’s supposed to come next week, can’t wait to play with it!
It was a splurge for me, but I ordered one! Can’t wait to try it. 99% of the time I ride alone and report back to owners on how it went, what we worked on, etc. Being able to share videos regularly will be helpful for everyone. I don’t get as many lessons as I would like either so I’m really looking forward to being able to critique my own riding.
Unfortunately it was supposed to arrive Monday 8/3… It’s now Friday and no Pivo. Tracking indicates that it’s in the next major city over. Hopefully it arrives soon!
Mine arrived last weekend. I rode Tuesday and it would. not. track. me. I had it in Beta Horse originally and that was a flop. Tried again in regular horse and it seemed to re-find me more often but then my phone overheated and died so I didn’t get the video to confirm.
Tried again this AM in the indoor and it seemed to be tracking me most of the time. Lost me at times but would pick me up again (just based on me being able to see the back of the phone). But when I dismounted and clicked ‘stop record’ it did the “Making Magic” notification and then after 30+ seconds of patient waiting the app crashed. Reopened and no video. ARGH!
Not giving up quite yet but am so far really disappointed.
For reference I have a Pixel 2 (~2 years old) and did Horse, Fast, Predictive off, exposure on, zoom on, back camera.
