Pivo for Christmas!

 

Santa brought me a Pivo for Christmas! It is a camera tracking system that uses my cell phone to record my rides. It can track a specific horse while rotating 360 degrees. I have the Silver with the tripod and smart mount. It ended up on my Christmas list as a direct result of Facebook advertising. Months ago, I watched an ad for Solo Shot and saw all the comments of people who were not happy that theirs had not arrived after ordering them months prior. After that Pivo ads started hitting my news feed daily. The comments were mostly positive, horse people were especially happy with them. It was in those comments that I heard about the Pivo Horse Riding Community Facebook group. Every time I think I should break up with Facebook because I keep being told it's an evil corporation that can see directly into my brain, they come up with another one of the fantastic groups I need to be a part of. The riders in the Pivo Horse Riding Community group all recommended a Pivo Silver for tracking rides.

 I haven't worked with a trainer on a regular basis for over 2 years now. In that time, I've developed what I consider to be the elusive "feel" that everyone has talked about for my entire riding career. I had to learn to trust my instincts while working with my horse. With only my horse to listen to, over time I learned that less is more, and he does better when I break down new things into bite size pieces for him to build success from. He feels great to me, but I have no clue what it looks like. I tend to ride him on little to no contact and sometimes I question if he would benefit from more collection. My biggest fear is that mistakes I make in my riding will cause him discomfort and lameness. He feels great and is happiest on a long rein and does even better when I drop the reins completely for archery. I wanted the option to record some of my rides so I could see how he is moving. I also wanted video footage of my archery practice both on and off my horse. I know I have a ton of room for improvement in my form from set up to release. It would be helpful if I could see it in order to improve it. 

 

 

I was thrilled to find I had the barn to myself the day after Christmas. It has been raining all morning but was forecast to stop within the next hour. I set up in the indoor arena, the Facebook group was very clear that Pivo was not waterproof, neither is my phone. I had downloaded the app and confirmed my phone could connect to Pivo via blue tooth at home. The Facebook group has an 18-step checklist for using it with your horse. 18 steps sounded super daunting, but I only had to use the checklist the first time. I set the Pivo up on its tripod in the middle of the arena, I had Joe tacked up but let him be loose while I worked through the checklist steps. When I hit record the screen did a 3,2,1 countdown and then the pod started to spin until the camera found Joe who was standing in the corner reaching for a stack of hay in the aisleway. A red box appeared on the screen around him, it had its target locked in. I walked up to him to push him out of the corner and he raced down to the other end of the arena. The Pivo stayed with him. It also caught the next few minutes of me trying to catch him while he raced around loving this new game we were playing. I was able to stop and restart the Pivo from the saddle once I was on. It counts down from 3 and in that time, I walk Joe in front of the camera so it can find him. It lost me a few times in the indoor, I had the lights on, but it was an overcast day and it tends to be dark in there. The pod would stop and fixate on a set of white jump standards. The rain had stopped to I took Joe and the Pivo to the outdoor arena. This is where it really shined!

 

 

It turns out the Pivo enjoys the outdoor arena as much as Joe and I do. Unless it’s dark outside or raining hard, that is my arena of choice. I set up the tripod in the center of the arena and it never lost us. I spent a good hour back at home playing with the videos and was able to get a few cool pictures using Snagit of our ride through the puddle at the end of the arena. 

Joe on that long rein he loves so much

 The next day I brought my archery targets to the barn. It had rained all morning but was supposed to dry out in the afternoon. I set one of my box targets on a barrel right next to the tripod. I’ve heard about issues with the camera losing a horse if you get too close to the camera, but I was able to get within 7 yards of it and not have it lose me. Pivo also picks up sound. Joe broke into a lope while we were trotting down a line of targets. I didn’t remember telling him to trot, but the video picked it up. I’m really pleased with how well he responded. 

I plan to record a few rides a week and anytime I shoot arrows from the saddle. So far, I’m really impressed by the Pivo and how well it tracks my horse. I know I’ve barely scratched the surface in what it can do, it has cool features like cloning, burst and rapid pictures and you can even set it up to take pictures triggered by voice or clapping. From the videos I've learned that I tend to slide my lower leg back and point my toes down when shooting my bow from the saddle. I'm assuming it is an attempt to stay in two-point? Looks like I'll be spending more time in two-point in the Western saddle and bareback pad. The videos have also confirmed what I already knew, I have an amazing horse! I can't help but watch these and think "Wow, that is a really nice horse!" 

 

Cool shot of an arrow in flight