The girth guard and Seaver strap calculate the height of the jumps made by the horse/pony. The sensor has no way of knowing the height of the bars, nor that of the horse's forelegs. The height measured is therefore that of the strap (or, more precisely, of the sensor). That is, from the middle of the horse's sternum, at the highest point of its jumping trajectory.

It is possible, if the starting place is not ideal, or if the horse is in the process of learning or has been surprised/misjudged, that the top of the trajectory may be shifted, which usually increases the height jumped further in relation to the height of the obstacle.

Depending on the generosity of the horse and his jumping style, especially in the forelegs, the sternum will pass at a greater or lesser distance from the bars. For the same obstacle cleared without fault, two different horses can jump at different heights of 80cm.

We see here that the sensor (red dot) passes far from the bar because of the pony's margin and the space occupied by its forelegs. Moreover, the pony is still in ascending phase, it will climb even higher.

For an obstacle cleared without fault, the sternum will pass an average of 15cm (for a horse that is very low and very tidy in front) to 75cm above the height of the bars. For a surprised young horse or a bell jump, even higher margins can be reached.

Why is this feature interesting for riders?

The interest of this measure is to quantify the effort provided by the horse. The height of the jump is of course not the only relevant data, but it does give an indication of the energy required by the horse to rise and cross the proposed bar, and it allows (as the rider usually knows at least approximately the height of the obstacle) to realize the tendencies of the horse.

Sometimes the rider can be deceived by feelings of power and speed and then overestimate the jumping height of an energetic horse with a good strike, or on the contrary underestimate that of a less tense horse. The sensor allows an objective quantification of this data, to which the rider would otherwise only have access by video analysis with prior calibration.

Namely

It should be noted that jumps under 70cm may go undetected if the horse "swallows" them in its galloping stride or has little articulation and tilting. On the contrary, a very expressive change of foot in the air or a "back kick" can be interpreted as jumps. On cavaletti with a correctly articulated horse, it is not uncommon to achieve jumping heights in the order of 110cm.

Indeed, the girth is already about 80cm from the ground (variable according to the horses), and the horse which crosses a 30cm cavaletti by raising its withers and articulating will draw a jump trajectory by raising its sternum about 30cm above the ground, which will give a detected jump of 80 + 30 = 110cm.

Jumps over a variety of terrain, including downhill jumps and "low" or "panoramic" type obstacles with a lower landing than the call, may slightly distort the calculation of the jump height. As the height is estimated between the highest point of the trajectory and the landing, it will be much higher in these cases than the height the horse has risen from its take-off point. On the contrary, uphill and "counter-high" jumps may be underestimated.

The importance of measuring your horse

The measurements required when creating a horse are important in the algorithm for determining the height of jumps. If they are taken incorrectly, or if you keep the default settings proposed in the application when creating your horse's profile, the results provided by the algorithm may be distorted. Indeed, our algorithms adapt themselves according to these measurements to offer you precise data that is as adapted as possible to your horse.

Two of them are particularly important, the shoulder-to-strap distance and the ground-to-strap distance.

The distance between the ground and the girth is measured by placing the horse on flat ground, as straight as possible (a square stop is ideal, otherwise the alignment of the hindlegs can be neglected as long as the forelegs are at the same level). The vertical distance between the position of the sensor and the ground is then measured, vertically below. This measurement is generally between 60 and 80cm for medium sized horses (160cm at the withers), but can vary greatly depending on the size and morphology of the horse.

Be careful, it can be difficult to keep the tape measure vertical, it is advisable to get help from an outside helper who will indicate if the tape is inclined or vertical.

The second important measure for this algorithm is the shoulder-to-strap distance. Again, the horse must be placed standing upright on its forelegs on a flat surface. Locate the position of the middle of the sensor, and go up vertically from this position to shoulder level. Then measure the distance from this point to the middle of the horse's shoulder. Get help to make sure that the tape is horizontal.

This measurement generally varies between 25cm and 50cm for medium sized horses. It can vary according to the morphology of the horse and the material used (strapping more or less advanced according to the type of saddle, sensor more or less backwards on the girth according to the type of girth).

Tip: Taking measurements on a saddled horse allows a better visualization of the sensor position.