Equestic’s new Rider Reflections feature records the thoughts, questions and small breakthroughs that can otherwise disappear before the next lesson.
Most riders know the feeling. You finish a session with a clear thought about what improved, what went wrong or what you need to ask your coach. By the time the next lesson arrives, the detail has often been forgotten.
Equestrian technology company Equestic is tackling that familiar gap with Rider Reflections, a new voice-recording feature within its EQ Coach-Copilot app.
Recently launched, the feature allows riders to record their thoughts after a lesson, solo training session or groundwork. The audio is automatically turned into a structured written summary and added to the horse’s training diary.
It builds on EQ Coach-Copilot, which launched earlier this year and is already being used by thousands of riders and coaches. The app records coaching sessions and creates summaries containing the key guidance, exercises and points to remember.
Rider Reflections extends that record to the many rides that happen without a coach present.
A rider might log what felt different, note a breakthrough, record a question for the next lesson or identify something that still needs work. Capturing those observations immediately could provide a more accurate picture than trying to reconstruct the ride several days later.
“The rider taking their time to make their own thoughts about the lessons is incredibly valuable. They’re the ones that are really going to progress and become our real trainers. As a coach, I look forward to be able to see what’s going on between sessions -not only with their horse, and their training, but what’s going on in their heads, because that’s often the hardest part to analyze,” said Lendon Gray, Dressage Olympian, Founder and Chairman of Dressage4Kids and recipient of the 2024 US Equestrian Lifetime Achievement Award.
Connecting the rides between lessons
A coached session may provide new exercises and clear goals, but much of a rider’s learning takes place afterwards. It happens while practising independently, testing the coach’s advice and working out how the horse responds on different days.
Regular reflection can help riders recognise patterns in their own riding, including which aids produced a better response, where tension appeared and which exercises are becoming more consistent.
It can also give coaches a clearer view of what has happened between appointments. Instead of beginning the next lesson with a general recollection, the rider can return to specific questions and observations recorded at the time.
“EQ Coach-Copilot has already changed the way I review lessons, but Rider Reflections takes it a step further. The real work happens between coaching sessions, and now I can capture what I’m feeling, what’s improving and what I want to ask my coach before I forget it. It keeps the learning process moving forward every time I ride,” said Harrison Ashton, International U25 Dressage Rider and British Dressage U25 Team Bronze medallist.
Over time, these individual notes create a continuous record of the horse and rider’s training. This could make it easier to identify recurring challenges, recognise progress and prepare more focused questions for coaches.
How Rider Reflections works
Riders can:
- Record a voice memo after a lesson, solo ride or groundwork session
- Receive an automatically generated written summary
- Save reflections alongside coaching guidance in the horse’s searchable training diary
- Connect relevant training sessions with data from the EQ Saddle-Clip motion sensor
The current EQ Coach-Copilot app includes AI-compiled lesson summaries, Rider Reflections, a searchable training diary and integration with EQ Saddle-Clip data.
“Riders don’t learn only during coached sessions, they improve through the hundreds of rides that happen in between. Rider Reflections brings those rides into the learning process, creating a richer connection between coach, rider and horse. It’s another significant step towards our vision of EQ Coach-Copilot becoming the training companion that helps riders learn continuously, build confidence and make every ride count,” said Leon Rutten, Founder and CEO of Equestic.
EQ Coach-Copilot with Rider Reflections is available worldwide on iOS and Android. Riders can access a free 14-day trial, while the lesson-recording feature remains free for coaches.
Find out more about Rider Reflections and how to use it.
