By Josep Closas
My name is Josep Closas and I own IndoorHorse.
I want to thank Wooden Horse Corporation the opportunity afforded me to explain
how I use "Marengo", my Equicizer
purchased earlier this year and named after Napoleon's horse.
For thirty years I’ve dedicated myself
professionally to computers and since almost ten, to horses as well. My partner
has an equestrian center and I spend part of my time teaching riding in the
family center and in a vocational school near Barcelona, Spain. Three years ago
I opened EQLearning.net, an online
equestrian training portal and earlier this year, coinciding with the arrival
of my Equicizer, I inaugurated IndoorHorse, an indoor training center
in Barcelona that uses "Marengo" as the main focus of its activities.
Perhaps it is my professional fascination with computers that has led me
to build gadgets that I used in my classes, such as an artificial hand to teach
nailing horseshoes or a reins contact simulator. I have always been interested
in the simulators, and when I discovered the Equicizer, I thought I could finally implement my dream: to open an
equestrian training center for continuing education courses for professionals,
and to teach beginners, within a controlled environment, the theory of riding
as well as some aspects of their practice; such as the position to be taken by
a rider when riding and the mechanization of the various movements associated
with the horse gaits.
IndoorHorse also offers other services related with
training or rehabilitation of riders, assisted therapies for people with
functional disabilities, and programs to restore lost confidence after a fall
or injury. All these activities are always led by a professional.
The big enhancement that incorporates my Equicizer consists of a television
screen in front of the horse that shows training sessions specially designed,
training videos, or recordings made with a GoPro type camera of people riding
different disciplines: horseback trail riding, dressage, eventing and show
jumping. On the television screen you can also show videos of children playing
and riding, or even cartoons if the situation requires. A final compliment that
is also very useful is a mirror opposite the rider that allows him (or her) to
observe and correct the position taken when riding. These tools are also very
useful for correcting bad habits in experienced riders, such as heels in wrong
position, how to hold the reins or lack of balance when galloping in
suspension.
