Filming Horses?

[Hiwayman]

Never thought I'd get this request...to film a horse and the rider..?
Early thoughts may be to do it on a beach where wave noise may cover drone noise....and make sure rider is happy it's at their risk....but any other thoughts appreciated..

 

[old man mavic]

Never thought I'd get this request...to film a horse and the rider..?
Early thoughts may be to do it on a beach where wave noise may cover drone noise....and make sure rider is happy it's at their risk....but any other thoughts appreciated..

you would have to be careful of the making sure that where you were flying to film was appropriate airspace and try to stay down wind to lessen the chance of the horse being spooked

 

[CactusJackSlade]

To qualify my answer I'm from a horse ranch... I have noted that in a pen, they do not even notice them really until they get about 30 feet of altitude... below that they become wary.

Because of this I never tried doing any aerial of horseback riders, at least not very close at all.

IMO very risky.

If you decide to try, have them get geared up but not on the horse and see how it reacts.

Keep in mind horses are a "prey" animal and they do not fight, but rather "flight" if something spooks them.

 

[BigAl07]

We've had mixed experiences with horses. Some couldn't care less about our drone and some go crazy. We were filming a farm for a Realtor and the horses in the pasture beside the house were going crazy running as hard as they could from one end to the other. The home owner came out and asked us to leave because they were concerned one of the horses might accidentally hurt them-self.

We've filmed horses during a parade and during a live Search & Rescue and they paid the aircraft NO attention. So it's hit or miss but think it through since you know there could be problems.

We were filming a Donkey Farm and ALL of the donkeys were freaking out.

 

[CactusJackSlade]

I like your idea of the beach with covering sound. IMO, it is the sound more than anything that was making our horses wary.

 

[Mavic Mac]

As stated in previous posts it all depends on the individual horse. In my job guiding I have ridden some horses in the area of buffalo and grizzly bears without a problem. Other horses would go nuts under the same condition.

My suggestion is meet with the owner and horse before you plan your filming. I would start the drone a distance away from the horse and slowly bring it closer, with the owner maintaining contact with the horse and using calming techniques. If the horse gets skittish or antsy shut the drone down. It may take a number of tries of approaching the horse slowly to let it get accustomed to the noise.

The owner may not want to pay for the time to get the horse accustomed to the noise of the drone

 

[Juggler]

We were filming a Donkey Farm and ALL of the donkeys were freaking out.
[/QUOTE]
Sounds like they were making "a**es" of themselves?

 

[Giovanni]

Never thought I'd get this request...to film a horse and the rider..?
Early thoughts may be to do it on a beach where wave noise may cover drone noise....and make sure rider is happy it's at their risk....but any other thoughts appreciated..

I live in Amish country and I am friend with couple of Amish families. Their horses could care less, even at 30'. "Regular" horses are different. I fly over some farms at never lower than 100'. Some horse ignore me or don't notice me. Some run to the other side of the pen. Of course I leave immediately before they really panic. That's at 100' with mostly M2 zoom, sometime MA2...

 

[Hiwayman]

Thank you for all the comments...I do intend to do a bit of a trial with the horse in question, with the owner beside it...?

 

[dronerdave]

I've had similar results. Some horses (and cattle) freak, others don't care. My buddies horse didn't like my MP at all. But after several flights, as I kept coming in lower and lower, finally it started to ignore the quad.

 

[hiflyer201]

Horse's probably care less than the rider's..I had a lady tell me that her horse hated yellow and my raincoat scared him...But as a long time horse lover..the horse come's first so I would make sure that the horse was good with it and..I'd clear it with the owner too.
My dog's, the neighbor hood cats, and even most of the local raven's seem to have all gotten very bored with my buzzing around.

 

[Mavic Mac]

Horse's probably care less than the rider's..I had a lady tell me that her horse hated yellow and my raincoat scared him...But as a long time horse lover..the horse come's first so I would make sure that the horse was good with it and..I'd clear it with the owner too.
My dog's, the neighbor hood cats, and even most of the local raven's seem to have all gotten very bored with my buzzing around.

I rode horses for 20+ years and my rain slicker was bright yellow - like with other things it depends on the individual horse (or person )

 

[roaddawg]

Like everyone has stated, individual horses will all react differently, depending on how they have been trained or "desensitized". My horse could care less. I have had the drone within three feet of him at eye level and had to move it due to his curiousity and approaching it. Flying over him and one of the mares, doing circles and fly by's and they could care less. However, another horse was not so carefree and would shy from the drone when it got within fifteen feet or so.