RideQ - The Wearable Riding Coach
Are you aware of how often and in what situations you look down on your horse when you are riding? Do you know how much it affects your posture, balance and weight distribution? We do, and it’s more than you think!
Like so many of us, the sessions you have with your trainer are amazing and watching the videos back makes you feel like you should be selected for the Olympic Teams. You think you and your horse have finally turned a corner, only to get back on again the following day to find that you are still struggling. Because how good is your position when your trainer isn’t watching?
That questions is what Annika Ridington asked before she started RideQ and developed a unique, patented, wearable device that remind riders to sit up and look up when they aren’t in balance on their horse. Having produced and trained horses her own life, she was awarded a merit for producing Sweden’s highest graded 4-year-old stallion in 2019. Her extensive experience highlights how difficult it is for riders at all levels to stay neutral and balanced in the saddle despite knowing exactly what to do.
Our brain is not designed to keep track of our body position. This is done automatically (just like breathing) so your brain can focus on more vital things. This is also the case when we ride, which is why during lessons the constant reminders from our instructor keeps us sitting up and looking up. Without these prompts we will quickly fall back into the pattern of looking down at our hands rather than where we are going.
Looking down is a common problem whilst riding, and the effect this is having on your seat and balance is not readily understood by riders. RideQ spent five and a half years studying, testing and developing their technology and had over 200 riders from different countries including US, Great Britain, Germany and Sweden trailing the device. The data collected indicates that the effect of looking down is much greater than previously realised.
“Amongst other things, we have measured the weight distributed in the riders stirrups. When a right-handed rider looks down, they often put more pressure in the right stirrup. A head generally weighs 6-8kg, which is as much as a bowling ball. Just imagine the head moving a few centimetres and the big difference this will have in weight distribution for the horse!” - Annika Ridington, Founder of RideQ
That you as a rider should look up is already understood. However, that you can change your posture and overall performance dramatically by adjusting your head position is not commonly acknowledged. And lets be honest, the habitual behaviour of looking down is a hard one to manage when riding and training your horse without the watchful eyes of your instructor!
HeadQ, the wearable riding coach, will help you curb this habit. It simply attaches to the chin strap of your riding hat, and prompts the rider to look up every time their eyesight dips below vertical. The prompt is a haptic signal delivered through a slight vibration, instantly reminding the rider to raise their gaze and correcting their position in the saddle. The consistent delivery of these reminders will make for lasting results, and most riders notice a difference already after their first use.
“By looking ahead you are forced to feel the horse and your movements. You get a completely different focus by riding with soft eyes looking up than if you look down like so many of us do.”
Riders who have ridden with RideQ’s device over time says that their seat has changed and their leg position improved, but also that they have noticed an improvement in the way their horses better respond to their aids. They are also saying that they are making faster progress in training, that the horses are working more through their backs and are even scoring higher in competitions.
Instructors who have used HeadQ find it useful not having to remind the riders to ‘look up’ and as a result they can spend their time focusing on the task at hand and overall development of the horse and rider they are working with. Riding schools who have tested the device are saying that balanced riders are causing less strain on their horses, which have made for horses who are happier doing their job.
RideQ was placed third of 160 companies in the Women Innovation World Cup, and was also awarded the "‘Best Hardware Start-Up’ prize in Sweden in 2019. Their device is developed, manufactured and hand assembled in Sweden, and they have more products to aid rider performance in development. More information on how to place your order can be found at RideQ’s website.