Stirrup Cam: The View from My Left Foot (Rider Cam Testing)

Stirrup Cam?

This may appeal to gadget loving boys, more than girls I'm afraid. As you may have seen on You Tube, you can now get a variety of small HD camcorders that you can fit to your helmet or other parts of your anatomy, HRN also reported on Peter Atkins wearing one of these cameras in the Rolex CCI****. The BBC tried this at Badminton a few years ago with a live link up on Polly Jackson as she went round the cross country, unfortunately that was a bulkier bit of kit and didn't really work as well as they may have hoped.

These new tiny HD Camcorder though work a treat, and are used by a bunch of 'extreme sports' enthusiasts, so I thought I'd give one of these a go as it might be quite interesting, and after some online research I settled on the Oregan ATC9K HD Camera in particular as it is waterproof, has a host of features, and I came across  a video of someone XC schooling with it.  I also wanted to see if there were some more exciting positions to mount the camera - Stirrup, Girth, Knee.

One excellent use for this I think, is as a training aid for Instructors. If an instructor wore one of these whilst teaching you could easily record the whole lesson without the need for someone else on a camera, and you'd be seeing exactly what your instructor saw. What a great way to review your training and instruction.

So far I've discovered I need to spend a lot more time mounting the camera securely, and the whole stirrup idea might be a bridge too far, as I find motion sickness sets in watching the footage! (see below) Typical man, never reading the instructions!

Tomorrow is another day and I shall continue with my filming exploits in an attempt to be ready with this for Highclere in a week or so's time.

Meanwhile the Great White Charger is feeling fit and lively, and at some point over the next few days we'll be doing a little XC schooling for fun, I shall attempt to get my camcorder sorted by then!

Now, grab your travel pills and watch this:



This video has been updated...v2.0