In this feature, Leon Rutten, Founder and CEO of Equestic, shares how a search for better rehabilitation support for his own horse evolved into EQ Saddle-Clip, one of the world’s leading horse motion sensors, and later EQ Coach-Copilot, a smart digital assistant designed to help riders retain more from every lesson while giving coaches greater continuity between sessions.
This article was originally written by Sharon Howe and first published by Mulberry Tree Dressage.
At first, the goal behind Equestic foundation was simple: to help monitor rehabilitation more carefully. But very quickly, we discovered that the sensor could do much more, giving riders and coaches a clearer picture of what was happening under the saddle. With the EQ Saddle-Clip, riders can see a bigger picture of the training they have done: the rhythm of the horse, the symmetry of movement, the exercises ridden, direction, number of transitions between gaits. By measuring what you do, you always know where to train and what to train.As riders started receiving more objective information about their horses, a new challenge appeared, many still struggled with a very human problem: knowing what to do with all that information. At the same time, coaches were telling us something equally important. They knew exactly what happened during the lesson, but they rarely knew what happened afterwards. Did the rider understand the homework? Did they remember their priorities? Did they practice the exercises correctly? That feedback led directly to the creation of EQ Coach-Copilot.
What is EQ Coach-Copilot? Who is it for, and what problem does it solve?
EQ Coach-Copilot was created to solve a challenge familiar to almost every rider and coach.
Most riders leave a lesson feeling inspired and motivated. They understand what the coach wants, they know which exercises they need to practice, and they leave the arena with the best intentions. Then life happens. Quickly, details start fading. Was the focus on straightness or balance? Which exercise should come first? What exactly did the coach say when everything suddenly clicked?
The reality is that riders process an enormous amount of information during a lesson. They are thinking about their position, timing, aids, horse reactions, rhythm, balance, emotions and coaching instructions all at once. Even the most committed students forget details. Coaches face different challenges.
They spend years developing expertise and sharing knowledge, but they often have very little visibility into what happens once the rider leaves the arena. EQ Coach-Copilot helps bridge that gap. Designed for riders and coaches across disciplines, it captures coaching instructions via audio recordings during lessons and turns them into structured summaries that can be reviewed later. Riders know exactly what to work on. Coaches know that valuable information is not being lost. Rather than replacing coaching, EQ Coach-Copilot extends the value of every lesson beyond the arena.
What does EQ Coach-Copilot do?
During a lesson, EQ Coach-Copilot audio records the coach’s instructions and automatically transforms them into a structured training summary. Instead of relying entirely on memory, riders receive a clear record of the exercises they worked on, the priorities discussed and the key areas to focus on before the next lesson. Many riders describe it as having a training journal that writes itself.
What makes the system particularly valuable is that it turns coaching knowledge into something riders can continue using long after the lesson ends. Rather than trying to remember dozens of details from a 45-minute session, riders can revisit the information before every ride and stay focused on what matters most.
When used alongside the EQ Saddle-Clip, riders gain an even deeper understanding of their training. Coaching insights can be viewed alongside objective information about the horse’s movement, helping riders connect what they were asked to do with how the horse responded physically during training. One tool helps riders understand the horse. The other helps them remember and apply their coach’s expertise. Together, they create a much clearer picture of training.
How do you use EQ Coach-Copilot? What is the rider experience?
The process is intentionally simple because the focus should always remain on the horse and the lesson itself. Before the lesson begins, the coach starts a session in the app and the rider joins. From that point onwards, the lesson continues exactly as it normally would. Coaches teach in their own style, riders focus on riding and nothing changes in the training process. Afterwards, the rider receives a structured lesson summary that the coach has had the opportunity to review before sending. The biggest benefit is often just the next day – when the coach isn’t there.
Many riders know the feeling of preparing for a training session and trying to remember exactly what their coach wanted them to work on. With EQ Coach-Copilot, those details are immediately available. For riders who only train with their coach every few weeks, this can be especially valuable. It helps maintain continuity between lessons and keeps training aligned with long-term goals rather than whatever happened to feel important that day.
How can a dressage rider and coach make the most of EQ Coach-Copilot?
Dressage is built on consistency. The biggest breakthroughs often do not happen during a lesson. They happen between lessons, when riders repeat, refine and develop what they have learned. EQ Coach-Copilot helps bring greater structure to that process. For riders, one of the most effective habits is reviewing lesson summaries before riding. It reinforces the coach’s message and helps ensure that training remains focused on long-term development rather than short-term fixes.
For coaches, the platform creates something equally valuable: continuity. Many top-level coaches spend most of their lives in the saddle and have incredible feel. They can quickly identify subtle issues with balance, straightness, rhythm or rider position. However, there is one thing even the best coach rarely knows: what happens when the student goes home. Did they remember the instructions correctly? Did they understand the priorities? Did they encounter challenges while practicing? EQ Coach-Copilot creates a shared reference point between coach and rider, making communication more effective and helping every lesson build naturally on the last.
What feedback have you received from coaches?
One of the most common comments we hear from riders is that they stop guessing. Dutch FEI Grand Prix rider Thamar Zweistra has spoken about how useful lesson summaries are for maintaining continuity. As she explains, “the last lesson often stays in your memory much better than the first lesson from several weeks ago. Having everything available in one place makes it easier to stay on track.”
Dutch instructor Romy Veldman values the ability to preserve lesson outcomes and keep riders focused on the right priorities between sessions.
Amanda Perkowski, US FEI Grand Prix dressage rider and trainer, describes EQ Coach-Copilot as replacing pages and pages of scattered notes with a very organised, searchable training journal. “Before EQ Saddle-Clip and EQ Coach-Copilot, I had a long running notes page which had my daily schedule in it with all the horses I’m riding and all the students I’m teaching. But as you can imagine you end up with a very long notes page that is not so organized and not so easy to look back and reference certain things. Now with the integration of Equestic’s Coach-Copilot it’s like a journal that really takes the guesswork out of it.”
The same “guesswork” theme appears frequently among EQ Saddle-Clip users. Many riders experience a genuine wow moment when they first see the data. Sometimes it confirms exactly what they have been feeling under saddle for weeks. Other times it reveals something completely unexpected. Riders discover subtle asymmetries, workload imbalances, or movement patterns they had never noticed before.
Interestingly, even advanced riders often tell us they learn something new about themselves. They may feel every stride of the horse, yet still be surprised by objective information about symmetry, balance, or consistency. As World Champion, FEI Trainer and International Dressage and Working Equitation Coach Nuno Avelar explains: “As a coach working with riders and horses across many countries, I know how important it is to have a summary from the lessons, ready to check out as often as needed. No one can remember 100% of every word after a lesson. That’s where EQ Coach-Copilot helps.”
Where do you see the future of this technology?
At Equestic we believe the future is not about replacing riders, coaches, or horsemanship. The future is about making sure valuable knowledge does not get lost. “I never created technology for the sake of technology. It was my horse in rehabilitation, me looking for answers, and the need to make better decisions with more confidence. That same idea still guides Equestic today.” said Leon Rutten, founder of Equestic.
We believe riders will continue looking for better ways to understand their horses, coaches will continue looking for better ways to share their expertise, and technology will increasingly help connect those two worlds. Our vision is a training environment where objective horse data, coaching expertise and rider experience work together. Riders gain greater clarity. Coaches gain better continuity. Horses benefit from more thoughtful and consistent training decisions. At its heart, the mission remains exactly the same as it was when Leon Rutten, founder of Equestic, first started looking for a better way to support my horse’s recovery, and help riders understand more, help coaches teach more effectively. And above all, help horses train and recover with care.
