July 8, 2019 | by Marley Woolley, BBRM Equine Management student

This small device provides accurate feedback of your horse’s head position, speed, and heart rate

vert-green The new multi-purpose training device ‘Vert’ has been developed through the company equla, co-founded by USDF gold medalist and world-renowned researcher Hilary Clayton and Dominic Lombardo. Vert is a small device that attaches to the crownpiece of your horse’s bridle to provide accurate feedback of your horse’s head position, speed, and heart rate. Feedback lighting provides continuous indication when the horse’s head is in front of the vertical (+10° = blue light), on the vertical (0° = green light), or behind the vertical (-10° = red light). This can be extremely helpful for those who ride at a facility with no mirrors, or just simply while schooling at home without a trainer to act as eyes on the ground. The specific degree settings can be changed through the mobile app to accommodate different training needs. A second “alarm” mode will activate a light only when the horse’s head is behind the vertical, the light remains off when on or front of the vertical.

The Pace setting provides riders with an indication of their speed. Using the mobile app, you can set goal speeds to have light indications when you should speed up (green light), slow down (red light), or maintain your speed (white light). For those who actively condition their horses for competition, this is a great feature to assist with trot, canter, or galloping sets. This mode also allows you to map, time, and save your rides to measure distances and see where on course you were fast or slow.

The final setting available with Vert is still in the works, but soon it will act as a display for bluetooth heart rate monitors such as Polar. A continuous glow can be set to allow for a different light to be emitted when you are below, at, or above your pre-set heart rate goals for your horse. An alert mode can also be used to warn you only when you exceed a certain threshold.

VertBranding These three modes are available to be used in combination with one another to assist in the development of your riding when a qualified trainer is not present. The free iOS and Android app can be used to adjust all settings including the light colours, pace settings (mpm, mph, spf, km/h), head angles, light brightness, and goal heart rates. Vert is also customizable for use on multiple horses.

Dr Hilary Clayton and Dominic Lombardo will present Vert in action at the 15th annual Equitation Science Conference hosted at the University of Guelph from August 19-21. To learn more about equla’s Vert, check out their website https://www.equ.la, or find @equla on Facebook and Instagram.