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When riding your horse, you may want to track multiple things. These can be measurements such as distance traveled, heart rate, GPS location. In addition, it can be very helpful to look back over time and see the progress that you and your horse have made. The human brain is not very good at tracking times and measurements over a period of several months or years. Because of this, it makes sense to keep track of things on a smartwatch.

In the world of equestrian, it is very common to time events such as showjumping or cross-country. Therefore, much like other sports that require a clock, there are several brands that sponsor horse riding events.

The most common brands associated with horse riding are Longines & Rolex. Both of these brands make luxury watches, and whilst they’re very nice to look at and admire. They are not practical for horse riding. These watches are made to be beautiful, but will not help you track and splits or measure distance covered.

In fact, Longines has an entire collection dedicated to equestrian watches.

What To Look For In A Horse Riding Watch

When looking to buy a watch, specifically for horse riding. There are going to be a number of features that you want it to have. Each of these features will be useful, but just how necessary they are is going to be a personal choice.

Not everyone will use a heart rate monitor or a GPS. Some people will want to know how many calories they are burning, others won’t care. The only real feature everyone will be looking for is a certain level of toughness. You will want to know that your watch can withstand the elements such as sun, wind, rain, and snow. Other than this everything else will be an optional extra dependent on whatever it is you’re looking to buy.

Heart Rate Monitor

What was once only high-end medical technology can now be used in a smartwatch. Many of the more modern watches measure ECG pulses in the wrist to measure your exact heart rate.

This can be especially useful if you’re trying to see whether horse riding is a useful exercise or not. Horse riding can certainly be a good exercise for your horse as well as yourself. But without monitoring your heart rate it can be difficult to measure just how much this is since the horse will be doing the vast majority of the work.

GPS

A GPS can be very useful if you’re taking an unusual or new route. If you are not near water and/or get lost, then it could be very difficult for your horse as well as yourself. By looking at your GPS you will avoid these problems altogether before you run into them. Although bear in mind that GPS does heavily drain the battery of almost all smartwatches.

If you are doing local and similar cross-country routes every time you ride your horse. GPS will not be essential at all. Whilst almost all smartwatches have this feature, it is very simple to turn off and save your battery.

Specific Horse Riding App

Another main selling point is whether the watch has its own horse riding app or not. Almost all smartwatches will have features such as “jogging” or “exercise”. These will be useful to you but may have diminishing value if you’re only using your watch for horse riding.

If you’re a person who needs a specific horse riding app, do not worry as there are many choices of smartwatches with exactly what you’re looking for listed below.

Toughness

Nobody wants to get their watch muddy, wet, or simply drop it on the ground. However, in life, these things happen. In fact, if you’re a regular horse rider, these things are 100% going to happen at some point.

Therefore it’s important to have a watch that is both practical and durable. It’s no use having a watch that has endless features, yet is very fragile. There must be a balance between fashion, durability, and practicality.

Best Watches For Horse Riding Workouts

Fitbit Charge 4

The Fitbit is one of the most popular fitness watches in the world. It offers a GPS and a heart rate monitor. Specifically, its heart rate monitor is very well designed since you can set a vibration alert when you reach your target. With that being said, the Fitbit does not offer a specific equestrian mode, so you might want to take its fitness results with a pinch of salt.

You are however able to listen to songs whilst you ride your horse, as well as make exercise goals and see if you are able to reach them. The Fitbit also comes in 3 different colors and due to its slimline shape. It fits on your wrist very well and is not as large as a regular watch.

Check The Price Of Fitbit Charge Watches On Amazon

Apple Watch Series 4

Apple is another brand that has actually kept horse riders in mind when making their smartwatch. The watch does feature a specific horse riding workout and is listed on the OS under “Equestrian Sports”.

The watch is more of an everyday watch, which was not designed specifically for horse riding, but certainly can accommodate it.

One point that is certainly worth mentioning is that the superior design and technology of Apple watches do come at a price. Firstly Apple watches are generally more expensive than other brands. Secondly, I would highly recommend getting a case for this watch since you will not want to damage the screen or break it. Apple is notorious for its products breaking easily. With a case, this problem is solved cheaply.

Check The Price Of Apple Watches On Amazon

Polar M200

Polar is a Finnish company that specializes in making heart rate monitor watches. In fact, they were the first-ever company to develop the worlds first wireless heartrate monitor.

The Polar M200 takes over where the company left off and offers a continuous visual display of your heart rate on the screen. Due to the superior technology to their competitors, Polar are able to do this by simply wearing the watch and do not require a chest strap.

The M200 is available in 4 different colors (black, red, blue & white) and can be used for swimming. So riding your horse on a wet day will be no challenge for it at all.

Check The Price Of Polar Watches On Amazon

Garmin Vivoactive 4

Garmin Vivoactive 4 is one of only a few smartwatches that actually have a horseback riding feature. This way if you’re wanting to check your own calories burned or not have your total days’ steps vastly exaggerated due to horse riding, this option is ideal.

Since Garmin is best known for its GPS software, this watch is mostly an idea for those of us who prefer cross-country horse riding to showjumping. This way you can make full use of the watch’s features. Overall Garmin is a smartwatch that has been designed specifically for physical fitness and not the other way around. Everything that the watch does or is used for was considered before making it.

On a personalized level you will be able to choose between 40mm & 45mm dials (40mm is ideal for a woman’s wrist) as well as 5 different color designs.

Check The Price Of Garmin Watches On Amazon

Optimum Time Watch

The Optimum Time Equestrian Timer is the only watch on the list which is specifically designed for horseback riding. Whilst the other listed watches have more features, technology, and appeal. None of them were made specifically for cross-country horse riding competitions.

The watch does not have anything fancy such as a heart rate monitor, GPS, or other fitness trackers. It is however extremely sturdy and battle-tested. It is designed to absorb the shock from any big jumps or falls. It’s very lightweight and also completely waterproof. You will never need to worry about breaking this watch, it is extremely resilient.

Check The Price Of Optimum Time Watches On Amazon