System for aiding horseback riders in maintaining balance

A system for aiding a horseback rider in maintaining balance while riding, comprising:

• a sensor pad configured for positioning between a rider and a saddle, the sensor pad including sensors for measuring force exerted by the rider on the saddle at a plurality of individual measuring points;
• a controller in communication with the sensor pad, the controller being configured for receiving force data from the sensor pad, where the controller comprises:
• a microprocessor configured for continuously polling each sensor in the sensor pad for force data, calibrating each measurement based on an initial value, adjusting measurements based on environmental factors, aggregating measurements from sensors on a left side and a right side of the sensor pad over a predetermined time interval, and calculating the differences between measurements on the right side and left side of the sensor pad;
• a power supply;
• and
• appropriate electronic circuitry;
• and
• at least one alerting mechanism in communication with the controller, the alerting mechanism being configured to receive a signal from the controller and notify the rider when the rider is off-balance based on the calculated differences between measurements on the right side and left side of the sensor pad.

A method for aiding a horseback rider in maintaining the balance while riding, the method comprising;

• determining the initial force values exerted by a rider on a horse in a resting position using a plurality of sensors positioned underneath the rider;
• continually measuring and sensing the force applied by the rider underneath the rider against the sensors periodically throughout the course of a ride;
• calibrating the values sensed while riding against the initial force values over a predetermined time period;
• comparing the values measured on the rights side of determining whether a rider is balanced on the horse by determining if more force is being exerted on one side over the other based upon the compared values;
• notifying the rider when the system detects that more pressure is being exerted on either the left or right side by the rider based upon the compared values.