Well THAT Was Unexpected

While it's mostly a huge waste of time, Facebook does have its uses. My favorite thing to do is check in on my friends. Sarah has the cutest little boy who loves her horse almost as much as he loves her. Sandy does all of these fascinating runs/walks around the world on her NordicTrack. Laurel shares pictures of the tantalizing meals from her family owned restaurant, Sorella. Valerie's online shop, The Dressage Pony Store, is constantly tempting me with beautiful show clothes. 

I also follow what's going on over at USDF. My group member organization, the California Dressage Society, has their official page as well a members only page. I skim the political stuff as quickly as I can although I occasionally get sucked into reading something that just makes me angry. And then there's the so and so likes this product, this page, this group. That stuff has a lot of distraction potential because if so and so likes it, it's probably worth liking. The owner of that page/product knows that which is why it's such an effective marketing tool. That is how I saw the Pivo ad; a friend liked it, so it popped up on my feed. 

On Sunday afternoon as I was eating lunch and scrolling through Facebook, a Pivo ad caught my eye. If you're an equestrian, you've probably already seen or heard about Pivo. You might even have one already. If you've never seen Pivo, it's a small device that uses your cell phone to record video. The thing that makes it so useful for equestrians is that it has a horse recognition feature so that it can track you while you ride.

Image borrowed from Pivo.

I've been interested in the concept, but the truth was that I assumed it was a cool gizmo too expensive for occasional use. But then I saw it on Facebook. I clicked the ad and saw the current sale price. I have no idea if they're normally this cheap, but at $155.87 out the door, I thought it was worth the risk. I ended up buying the faster model, the Pivo Pod Silver, which is currently selling for $139 directly from Pivo. For an extra $20, I upgraded to the Pivo Pod Silver Starter Pack which includes the Smart Mount and Travel Case.

If you're new to Pivo Pods, there seem to be two versions, the Pivo Pod and the Pivo Pod Silver. They look nearly identical, but the Pivo Pod Silver claims to be two times faster. I figured that I should probably go with the faster model as Izzy has been known to move more quickly than asked for. That's a joke. When dealing with technology, I like to get the fastest model possible.

Both models, the Pivo Pod and the Pivo Pod Silver come equipped with Auto-Tracking*, Multi-Stream Live*, Smart Capture* and 9 Quick Create modes* 
 as well as:

Panoramic Mount (with bubble level)
Extendable stabilizer legs
Tripod-ready (¼ thread)
Remote control
Micro USB charging cable

​The only difference is that the Pivo Pod has a rotation speed of 10 seconds per 360º rotation while the Pivo Pod Silver has a rotation speed of 4 seconds per 360° rotation. 

​(*All features require companion Pivo Pod app.)

And a charging cable.

I am not an impulse shopper. I like to research things, check out reviews, think about it a while, so I don't know what came over me. All I can say is that a Pivo Pod Silver should be on its way in a few days. I hope it gets here before Saturday as I am taking Izzy to a Cavaletti Clinic with Erika Jansson on Sunday. It's supposed to be able to pick you out of a group of moving horses, so it would be fun to try it out.

I'll let you know what I think once I've had a chance to try it out.