A Review of the Rein Tension Meter

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Critique and Opinion of the Rein Tension Meter

The reins provide an important link in communication between the horse and rider. Maintaining a correct contact is one of the fundamental requirements for a rider to be able to effectively train a horse.

How much pressure to hold in the reins has traditionally been very difficult to teach and is often referred to as the elusive “feel” of the rider.

The Rein Tension Meter however, now provides the coach and athlete with a new and exciting tool to quantitatively measure rein pressure.  The product measures and continuously records the left and right rein tension close to the bit. The data is recorded on a data logger but software enables the rider to download this into excel for statistical analysis.

 The rider and coach to can then use this to:

·      Detect asymmetries in the contact
·      Compare the pressure on different horses
·      Compare pressure by different riders on the same horse
·      Examine the pressure applied by experts
·      Use in conjunction with the accelerometer to determine if the horse or rider are pulling
·      Provide a more descriptive definition of correct contact.

Research published using the rein tension meter includes:

·      Examining the action of different bits on the horses mouth
·      Examining if there is an increase in heart rate as a result of the different types of bits and different pressure applied to them
·      Defining the use of the aids
·      Exploring the pressure on the bit and the welfare of the horse, www.reintension.net.

Such a device also has the potential to revolutionize the sport of dressage. I can see future applications including, data collection for judges in the warm up and competition arenas. At present there is a controversial method of training horses referred to as rollkur. In this method, force is used to have the horse submit his head and neck carriage to the rider. Previously, the amount of force used has never been able to be detected. The rein tension meter offers a system for measuring and quantifying such force. This could then be converted into a rating system that is used to assign marks to the rider for their contact during the warm-up and competition.

Future applications of data loggers may included pressure detection of the seat and leg aids when influence the horse, as well as detection of frequency of the application of the aids.

The data logger could also possibly be adapted in future to provide feedback to the rider by providing feedback when the contact becomes too heavy or too light. This may then assist in training the muscle memory of the rider, much like the basketball computer that Miles describes in his voice thread presentation.

At present, the only thing stopping me from integrating this technology into my coaching is the price. The set up cost is over $2000! Also, some of the descriptions on the website are complicated and possibly aimed at experienced researches. The other problem is that I was unable to find any of the journal articles referred to online or a video demonstration of this product in action, although the website did provide a description of how the data logger is secured to the bridle of the horse (see below).

Reference:

www.reintension.net

Voice Thread Reflections.....

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Voice thread

This week I have been reviewing and critiquing the voice thread assignments. I really enjoyed Robert M's presentation which highlighted that video footage is able to be used to enhance all four dimensions of the standard coaching model – psychological, tactical, technical and physical. This reminded me of the benefits of showing athletes footage of when they performed at their peak in order to increase confidence and also supported my view of the benefits of video modeling. The idea of showing athletes overcoming difficult situations may be useful as a form of video modeling to show riders how to overcome certain types of difficulties with horses, such as bucking and rearing.

I also enjoyed Gina's presentation on the Cross Country app. Although I do coach rider’s in this sport, I have not used the app and can see many applications. I will recommend it to riders in future.

The other presentation that I found interested was Miles looking at Noah and its influence on training the perfect shot in basketball. The idea of so accurately providing feedback to train the brain is interesting and results from the demonstration show were fascinating, highlighting the importance of expert feedback in skill acquisition. 

Another presentation that was of interest to me was the micoach presented by David I. This could be worn on the body and was able to supplied all the data including heart rate, breathing rate, body temperature and work rates. I am interested to know if this could be placed on the horse to collect similar data. This has the potential to provide valuable feedback to the trainer/coach on the workload of the horse. It could also provide data between trainers in order to accurately measure differences in requirements. 

The last presentation that I definitely learned something new from was Florian's presentation about the use of twitter. I have never used twitter and this presentation assisted me in updating my knowledge. I am not sure if it is something that I will integrate into my coaching at the moment, email, text and facebook seem to be enough... however I am glad that I have a little more understanding now about what it involves.

 Overall I really enjoyed doing this assignment. I think it is a useful tool and although the 20 by 20 restrictions were challenging, the definitely forced me to consider how to accurately present the information. The comments I received were helpful, however so far only from one person, so I am not sure what happened there....?
 

Dartfish

Dartfish

As I had the trial version of Dartfish, it was very difficult to assess all of the features that the program has to offer. On the whole, after exploring the ipad apps now available, I feel that this technology is too slow and time consuming to warrant incorporation into my coaching.  The ability to send the athlete the still comparison pictures with the voice attached is useful, however the time taken to work out how to use the program and the challenges in sharing and the large cost of the program mean that I would be reluctant to purchase it.

I am interested in the stromotion and striation features, however I think I will wait for an app to come out. Overall, I would not recommend Dartfish to coach’s and think that other technology is more efficient in both time and cost.

Visual Coaching

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Visual Coaching

This week I have been working on the visual coaching assignment. I do feel that such a concept would greatly enhance communication between the equestrian athlete and the coach. Coach’s usually have one hour sessions with the next athlete waiting so limited time is allocated to discussing upcoming competitions and year long programs. In fact as an athlete this was never discussed with me.

Having a program like visual coaching would also allow a detailed record of the training sessions to be kept. It would however, be most beneficial to have the program designed for the horse. It would be my intention to have a generic program for each year of the horse from commencement of training at 3/3.5 years of age. That way the coach could follow the development and gain longitudinal data which would be valuable in training future horses.

The other information that was useful was the ability to interpret and provide feedback to the diary information. This would again allow isolated equestrian riders a very valuable chance to remain in contact with their coach and identify any trends.

I enjoyed looking at the many exercises available in visual coaching and thought the system worked well. In terms of dressage, it would be useful to have  a similar system set up with the exercises that the horse was able to do. This would enable to coach to prepare a very detailed plan with ease – I wonder if the designers would be interested in building another one for the equine athlete?

At present, the annual plan and diary are the most useful features of this program. It was difficult to do without a PC, however I am still interested in integrating this into my coaching in the future.