I also bought a heart rate monitor this year. It is an Easyrate Pacer. That's
the one that can be used with or without a saddle (no separate electrodes). I
found that the same thing was happening to me. The heart rate would stay
steady (esp;ecially when climbing) and the shoot up when we dropped to a
walk. My monitor also has an alarm that can be set to beep at every
heartbeat, and I noticed that my horses heart was beating in perfect time
with my posting. Aha! The monitor also had a peice of velcro on the
transmiter that is supposed to stick to the girth and keep it in place ( I am
assuming this because it did stick to the girth, so well that it wore a spot
in my new girth). Well, I took the velco off the transmitter and all of a
sudden my horses heartrate does exactly what I thought it should do. As soon
as we start up a hill it increases. The transmitter was sticking to the girth
insead of maintaining contact with the horse and every time it came in
contact with the horse it registered as a heartbeat. Since I took the velcro
off I have been much more pleased with my monitor, I can see it as a real
tool instead of a fancy toy that beeps at me and tells time.
Jane
UT
JBagford@aol.com