An Abundance of Robot Cameras

I always said that I wish I had the money to pay someone to follow me around on my horse videoing me the whole time. And now that technology has caught up with this vision, I have a lot of robot cameras following me around.

Soloshot

I bought my Soloshot 3 in August 2018, it was on sale (it's like $800 now! I looked it up in my 2018 budget and I paid $427.93 for it, including tax and shipping) and much cheaper than the only other option at the time (the Pixio, especially because I don't/didn't have a video camera). I've gotten a lot out of it over the last two years and still really love using it. My main complaints are that it's a bit unreliable, it's hard to get videos onto my phone for IG, I can't do remote lessons with it, the battery isn't the best anymore, and I can't use it indoors despite them promising over and over again that they were going to get that done.

When I realized I wanted more lessons than one a month back in early April, I looked up what it was going to take. I could haul to Tanya's... it's probably a 2+ hour haul one way, meaning I'd have to go on a weekend only (and coordinate her show and clinic schedule with my show and clinic schedule) and probably stay overnight. Then the Pixem came out, and without needing the video camera, it was way more affordable, like, still expensive obviously, just not as bad as it was. But, all it'd take is a single clinic for me not to be able to do, plus the gas money and wear/tear on my rig, to make getting the Pixem worth it. So I ordered it. It was backordered, so I waited several months and it finally arrived in early July.

Pixem

I started seeing the Pivo everywhere and it looked really cute! I ended up buying it just on a whim before the Pixem arrived. Even if it didn't work at my busy barn, I'd love to have something super portable to have at the ranch when I'm riding horses there. And omg when my niece starts riding, it'll be so great to have while I'm teaching her.

So, that's how I ended up with three cameras. I feel really weirdly guilty about it, so I need to say this: I can't remember the last saddle pad I bought, I have only taken one lesson a month for YEARS until very recently, and I don't drink alcohol (so therefore never spend $8+ a drink at a bar) or go on vacations other than camping. I haven't even been out of the country as an adult. Different people spend money on different things, apparently robot cameras are my weakness. Okay, enough explanations.

Pivo

Here's my list of pros and cons for each.

Soloshot 3
Price: ~ $800 (I paid far less because apparently it was on a major sale)

Pros:
- doesn't take too long to set up
- only have to charge the one device
- can work on the edge of the arena
- lots of range, can follow you when you're very far away
- can work on hills (it will go up and down, not just side to side)

Cons:
- only works outside
- video quality isn't great
- tricky to get video onto my phone
- sometimes videos trees/loses you way easier than the Pixem
- takes a long time to charge
- doesn't hold a charge that well
- no ability to do live lessons
- terrible customer service

Soloshot

Pixem (I bought it here)
Price: ~ $900 including shipping (I got a discount, the SO works at a company that infuriatingly gives him a lot of discounts)

Pros:
- works inside and outside
- extremely accurate
- video is in phone (so therefore phone determines quality, and I have a decent phone)
- remote lessons are possible
- can work on the edge of the arena

Cons:
- takes a while to set up
- doesn't have a ton of range (fine for a dressage court though)
- everything needs to charge (beacons, watch, camera, phone)
- my phone isn't always charged all the way
- can't listen to music/etc while it is videoing
- remote lessons need either a ceecoach or a second phone

Pixem

Pivo Silver
Price: $150 shipped (I paid that amount)

Pros:
- super fast to set up
- great customer service
- way cheaper than everything
- video is in phone (so therefore phone determines quality, and I have a decent phone)
- works with software so it theoretically should get better over time (it already has been improved)
- quick charging, I can just charge it a bit at the barn each day (vs bringing it home)

Cons:
- struggles with multiple horses
- works best in the middle of the ring (disruptive)
- is definitely the worst at following you of the three
- not reliable enough for remote lessons
- my phone isn't always charged all the way
- can't listen to music/etc while it is videoing

FYI, none of them come with a tripod, so I picked one up at Best Buy. That one lives at the barn.

Pivo, I was right at the edge of the screen lol

So my thoughts are: if you just want something fun to snag some videos of you while you ride mostly on your own, grab the Pivo. If you want remote lessons or if you only ride indoors or if money isn't a big deal, get the Pixem. If you mostly ride outside and want something more accurate than the Pivo but without the price point of the Pixem (though man they're about the same price now), get the Soloshot.

As for now, I'm keeping all of mine. I know it's really overkill, but I have a good reason to hoard the cameras for now. The Pixem is great for remote lessons and for videoing accurately in the covered arena during the winter when we're stuck in there, but it takes a long time to set up and is just generally more of a pain in the ass to lug around, plus I fuck it up frequently unfortunately. The Pivo is super fast to set up and I get videos right on my phone that I can check as I'm riding (I LOVE that), but it sucks in group settings so I'm looking forward to using it when I barely have time in the mornings because it's fast and I'm basically guaranteed to be alone riding that early. I can also easily bring it to my parents' place to play with their horses with. The Soloshot doesn't work inside and doesn't do live video, but it's great for a quick setup in a busy outdoor arena where I don't want to take the time to set up beacons and when the Pivo is going to get confused.

Despite the overkill, neither the Pivo nor the Soloshot are worth enough to sell anyway right now, I think my plan is to keep them long enough to know which one(s) I find the most value in and then decide later.

But hopefully this post helps people figure out which one is best for them! Even if it makes me feel like I have a problem.

Horsetail Falls

This weekend, my best friend, who is basically a professional grade amateur photographer, wanted to do a day trip up to Yosemite to shoot Horse Tail falls.

It was overcast on Saturday, when we were supposed to go, so we swapped our days around and went on Sunday instead. This meant that I didn't teach this weekend, since I kept the whole weekend open just in case. Whatever, sometimes working 50+ hours a week isn't what you want to do. Sometimes you just want to drive 7 hours round trip to a beautiful place to sit in the cold all day.

Tunnel view

Unfortunately switching days meant that I couldn't see TC this weekend. I'm so so so excited to see him today. I'm hoping the vet is super late so I have an excuse to sit and play with him in the stall and not rush home to work. I also hope he doesn't need drugs so I can play with his smile trick again.

But Yosemite was so worth not teaching and not seeing TC (sorry pony). It's about a 3 hour drive from my house depending on traffic and there is zero excuse as to why I'm not going there all the time.

The night before, I made us pumpkin pasties from my awesome HP cookbook (bff is also a big HP fan and we were super giddy about them) and picked up some snacks at the store. We also stopped for fruit at Safeway because bff likes to try to be healthy (then four hours into our time at Yosemite, she turned and looked at me and said "I WANT CHOCOLATE" and I said "ME TOO WHAT IS WRONG WITH US?").

Once into the park, we headed straight to tunnel view because I begged for it. I was desperate to get some pictures there and have bff show me how to use my camera. On the one hand, I love having a photographer best friend because she's so patient with me as I go through all the buttons on my camera and she tells me what all of them do/how to use them. But then she is a bad influence because merely being in her presence makes me want to spend my entire savings account on a new camera so it can do more things.

The before shot, not much red in there

After tunnel view, we headed down to see Horsetail Falls. Now, before I go into detail, let me tell you why we decided that driving up to Yosemite in one day, not getting back til after 10 the night before work, was something that we thought was a good idea.

Once a year in the last couple weeks in February, the sunset hits the falls in a way that makes it look like it's on fire. The falls get really red and bright and it looks like lava is streaming down the mountain. Unfortunately for everyone but me, who had no idea what this was until bff asked me if I wanted to go, for the last FIVE years because of the drought, there hasn't been enough water coming down off the mountain in February for this to happen. This was the first year we've had the water for this to happen, yay!

Glowing. It looks photoshopped! I mean it is, but not completely.

We were going to a place where bff had coordinates. She had found a blog post that told us where to go to get the best view of the falls, since you want to be at an angle and be able to see through the trees.

Apparently every photographer that ever was ALSO read the blog post. For a span of at least a mile, possibly longer, cars were parked along the road. We got a surprisingly decent spot and headed out to the coordinates, which we didn't need on us since everyone and their mother was already there.

Now, this was at 12:30 in the afternoon. Sunset was at 5:30. Getting there FIVE HOURS EARLY did get us a somewhat decent spot, not like the people arriving at 4 who had to barge through the millions of dollars of equipment and the many people swearing at them under their breath. And we had snacks and hadn't hung out in two weeks since I was so sick, so we made due. Both of us are introverted and not fans of crowds, so we struggled a bit, but everyone was generally really nice- a couple of guys making small talk with us here and there, and people making jokes to the crowd.

It was a bit yellowish at first...

Five hours later the clouds rolled in and, while we did get some of the fire effect, it wasn't AS good as it was apparently the night before, where it had been cloudy all day and then cleared right before sunset. Damn, we could have been there for that! Oh well.

Leaving was exciting, since everyone wanted to leave at once. It actually wasn't that bad- once as you're IN the car, you don't have to be smooshed next to a bunch of people, some of which think that it's acceptable to SMOKE in a national park known for having a fire problem, WTF. So it was nice to get in the heat and out of the crowd, even if then we had to navigate out of the park and weren't lucky to get behind the car with Finding Nemo playing in the back seat.

Coming out of the park, there's a road you have to go down that's SUPER steep. Apparently most people take another road? I dunno, I was not paying attention. I was going through my camera looking at all the pretty pictures when I noticed that while everyone was turning right, we had turned off the road to the left. The only thing I knew was that we were surrounded by cliffs so I basically thought bff was just murdering us.

But no, just going down that road. Didn't stop me from shrieking and being suddenly pumped full of adrenaline. Bff thought that was hilarious but she felt bad for scaring me.

Then we got the real lava-pouring-off-the-
mountain look- I gotta redo this picture
since the mountain is too dark but figured
I'd show you guys

We got to my place a little before 10pm, so I longed my cat (if I don't play with her before I go to sleep, she runs through the house and uses me as a springboard) and jumped into bed. I was absolutely exhausted at work on Monday but man was it worth it.

I'm still working on all the pictures, I just kind of went through for fun and found shots for this post. Really hoping to blow up my tunnel view shot and mayyybe one of the Horsetail Falls shots to have more of my own photography in my apartment! It's not the best work in the world, but it's mine and I like being reminded of all the cool places I've been when I stare at my walls.

Planning more photography adventures with bff, including her patented star trails over tunnel view, night pictures at Pinnacles (plus the 11 mile hike I had wanted to do last time I was there), and making another trip down to Big Sur.

By far my favorite Big Sur shot, I need to
blow this shit up and stick it on the wall too

Today is ultrasound day. My boss had me switch my WFH day from Friday to today, which to me was a bummer because it means I have to squeeze visiting TC into my schedule on Saturday morning (instead of Friday afternoon), which means every day for two weeks I'm waking up to an alarm. Boo. Oh well. It's worth it to see my pony.

Fingers crossed that I can bring my pony home soon! But not too soon... I want it to be warm and NOT raining when he comes back. After this, there's a chance I only have FIVE more visits (if he comes home in April) or, more likely NINE more visits (if he comes home in May). Both of those seem so close! I'm also fine with thirteen more visits, which puts him home in June. If it's later than June I'd be disappointed. I'm eager to have the whole summer with BRH trainer so that going into winter, I feel really confident.

High as a Kite

Rico is getting better! This weekend I started doing real work with him and today I managed to get some really nice work out of him amidst the craziness. I also got some pictures! 

Today Rico seemed fine in the cross ties as I got him ready (while watching 30 Rock, how am I going to exist at a boarding stable when I can't watch television shows in the barn aisle?), but when I went to get on him, all hell broke loose. Rico doesn't do well with days off, one is okay but any more and he's kind of sketchy to ride. Today there was a blanket (!!) near the mounting block and as I jumped on, he ran backwards and spun across the mounting block.

At the end of the driveway on our way out to our daily trail ride, there were two recycling cans and one overturned garbage can. We barely made it out the gate before he started snorting and threatening to spin. I wouldn't let him spin, so he stood up and then spun. What a resourceful horse. I turned him back around and he reared again so he could spin. So I swatted him and all four feet came up off the ground. That was it for me, he wasn't getting his fun trail ride if he was going to be an asshole. So I took him up to the arena and put him right to work.

He was high as a kite in the arena, of course, but he was manageable until my dad came home and spooked him as the car went past the horrifying garbage cans. Once back on track, I started with the walk-trot transitions and his trot got better and better. I asked (begged) my dad to come out with my camera and take some pictures and he agreed!!

I haven't had pictures since before my first lesson with Tracey and I was both excited and apprehensive about seeing how Rico and I looked.

 I was not disappointed!

Rico was good for the most part and I was cantering on the right lead when we passed my jacket and he spooked, spun, and bolted. My dad was surprised, since Rico galloped right at him, but he caught the beginning of it on camera. Super hilarious.

The most ridiculous picture of my life

Such a scared and athletic pony!

My slightly demonic laughter after he bolted

Once we got enough pictures, I allowed my dad to go back to what he had been doing and I did some more transitions and canter work. I played a bit with the corners that Tracey had us doing at our last lesson to prepare for the pirouettes and they felt great! I then messed with the pirouettes and they felt much better than they had before that lesson so I think we're on the right track for 4-2 in May or June.

What a good pony! I need to stop slouching...

So fancy

So I was really happy with the ride today despite the rearing and the bolting... I'm glad he's sound and having a good time I guess.

Dapples!

So the good news is that Rico and I are back on track. Our clinic is this Sunday and I'm actually feeling fairly confident that we won't make a fool out of ourselves. I'm excited to take a lesson at a facility that is less than a half hour away!


First, I need to make this announcement: RICO AND I JUMPED!!

Such an intimidating jump!

Rico hasn't jumped anything since 2009! It was hilarious, I put up my ghetto fence and cantered toward it (in my dressage saddle... the most attractive). Rico slammed to a stop about eight strides away, he tensed up, snorted, picked up a canter again and found a beautiful spot. He CRACKED his back over the top of it, landed and started looking for the next one.

I'm not going to start jumping him big or often, but it's fun to let him pop over some small fences every now and then. If he stays sound, I might get him over to my jumping trainer for a poles and cross rail lesson :)


Anyway, in preparation for our clinic on Sunday, Rico got a lot of pampering today: a bath, a mane pull, and I clipped the ugly goat hair on his face.  He should be looking mighty fine for the clinic! Except that he still has those stupid rubs all over him but they're starting to go away so that's good. He's also getting some hardcore dapples all over him, so I'm expecting to have an appaloosa pretty soon!

Dapples!

After his morning of being pampered, I took him out for a ride. It wasn't perfect but he's doing much better than he was last week. I ran him through a few fourth level movements today just to check that they were still there. The lateral work in the trot is a bit lazy but it exists so that's good. The pirouette to the left is good as always and the one to the right was actually better than I expected. Lead changes are fairly good (which is awesome since I haven't done them in a week), we only had two bad ones. We'll be a bit rusty when we go on Sunday but it should still be a good experience.

I also got a chance to take some pictures this week! Here are some of the ones I took a few days ago, I'll have the ones I took today up later.

Dandy, my old pony :) he's 25!!

Rainbow in the front yard

Dandy in his pasture

These birds love to groom Rico, thanks birds!

Dandy

Such a good dog!!

Rainbow!!