Noisy heart rate signal, what do I do?

My horse’s heart rate is too noisy throughout the session, how to fix it?
1) Conductive gel
2) Position of the high electrode
3) Clip the electrode to the attachment
4) Insertion of the sensor
5) Position of the attachment
6) Clean both electrodes and the two metal connectors
7) Remember to tighten the girth right

My horse’s heart rate is too noisy throughout the session, how to fix it?

The App can sometimes send you an error message telling you that the signal is too noisy. As a result, parts of the curve are have no data. We prefer not to display data rather than displaying noisy data!

Let’s fix this.

1) Conductive gel

The absence or lack of gel may be the first cause of noisy signal. Make sure that you have put a good amount of gel on the two electrodes (grey fabric areas): the high electrode that is positioned under the saddle pad and the low electrode integrated in the attachment.

Remember to use the conductive gel provided by Equisense. Some gels are less conductive than others.

The amount of gel has to be adapted accordingly to the horse's coat! If your horse is very hairy, you can increase the amount. On the other hand, if your horse has just been clipped, you may use less gel.

Don't hesitate to apply gel directly on the horse, while massaging slightly so that it goes through the hair. You can then put extra gel on the electrodes. You'll have a beautiful signal

Another tip: you can replace gel with salted water. You just have to have a spray bottle. Fill it with salted water (1 teaspoon of salt for 1 Liter of water). Spray this mix directly on your horse, in order to get the hair really wet, and on the electrodes as well. You can also add a tiny bit of gel as well. This is very efficient for the very hairy horses!

2) Position of the high electrode

If the electrode is not correctly positioned, it may result in faulted signal. Check if it is correctly positioned by referring yourself to this article: ➡️ How to correctly position the high electrode?

Remember to properly adjust the cable to prevent it from hanging. Parasitic movements can alter the signal's quality!

3) Clip the electrode to the attachment

The signal received by the high electrode is then transmitted to the sensor via the cable and the snap button. Check that the button is well attached.

4) Insertion of the sensor

The sensor has two metal plates on each side. These come in contact with "springs" present at the bottom of the attachment. They transmit both electrodes' signal to the sensor. If you insert the sensor upside down, contact will not occur and the cardiac signal will not be displayed on the App properly.

To position the sensor correctly, read the following article: ➡️ In which direction should the sensor be inserted into the clip?

5) Position of the attachment

If the attachment is positioned upside down it will result in moving the electrode away from the horse's heart. Therefore, it is essential that the integrated electrode is positioned on the left side of the horse. Also, if the attachment hangs from the girth, it may cause disrupted cardiac signals.

Check that the attachment has been correctly fixed!

6) Clean both electrodes and the two metal connectors

If the electrodes are too cluttered with hair or dust, they may lose their conductive capacity. Therefore, remember to clean them regularly with clear water, if possible with lukewarm water, rubbing with a nail brush or similar brush. In the same way, do not hesitate to clean the two metal connectors present on the sides of your sensor as well as those located at the bottom of the orange case. For that, use a toothbrush type brush and water.

7) Remember to tighten the girth right

If the girth is not tight enough, the low electrode may not make good contact with the horse's skin. Therefore, remember to tighten it well before and during the session.

Are you experiencing a problem with the heart rate detection despite proper use of the product? Here are the steps to solve this issue.