The Equicizer is a mechanical horse that is non-motorized and is controlled by the rider's movement. Invented by Frank Lovato, Jr. in 1982, it is used by people all over the world for exercise, training and therapy. It has been used in many television and movie productions, including the movie Seabiscuit for close-up horse racing scenes and the 2019 Australian film Ride Like A Girl , a sports biography with jockey Michelle Payne. TV appearances include the talk show "Harry" with Harry Connick Jr, CBS TV Series Big Brother and The Ellen DeGeneres show.
Lovato built his first non-motorized mechanical horse in 1982 while recovering from a riding accident that left him with a seriously broken leg. There were no horse riding simulators on the market at the time, and so he designed one for his rehabilitation. [1] As word got out about his invention, Lovato began receiving requests from other jockeys to build more, [2] and the design evolved into the Equicizer. [1] The Equicizer is now used all over the world by equestrians and non-equestrians alike. [2] In 2011 he sold the Equicizer to a company called Equisense, to be manufactured and marketed more widely. [1] This was not accomplished and in March 2014, Lovato re-purchased the Equicizer brand and business under his Wooden Horse Corporation located in Norwalk, Ohio.
Crafted entirely by hand, the Equicizer has a wooden body resembling the back of a horse in size and shape, covered with padding and carpet, upon which a saddle or bareback pad is placed. The head is hand carved to look like a real horse, and the neck moves independently from the body. [2] The Equicizer has a spring balanced mechanism that is easily activated and controlled by the rider's level of effort and fitness. When in motion, the Equicizer simulates a real horse' movement, allowing riders to exercise, stretch and practice technique and improve body posture and positioning, fitness and confidence in a safe, controlled manner. [3]
Today, Equicizer users range from intense professional Equine Athletes to those with severe disabilities, novices, and those who may have never ridden a horse in their lives. In short, the Equicizer™ can be used by anyone. It has been used by riders for styles as varied as Dressage, Hunting/Jumping, Western Pleasure, Endurance, Vaulting, Polo, and Racing, as well as for training by riding instructors, for film making and special effects, and in private homes. It has been used for weight loss, by rehabilitation centers, in therapeutic riding programs, for Hippotherapy, Massage Therapy and general exercise. [3] Lovato has also used them in his own Jockey Boot Camp to introduce people to the work of a jockey in a safe manner that allows them to develop both basic skills and the required level of physical fitness to ride a real horse. [4] Equicizers were also used in the movie Seabiscuit for all of the closeup racing scenes and in other parts of the film. [5] In 2018 Jockey Mike E. Smith, an Equicizer owner himself, won horse racing's Triple Crown aboard Justify. [6]
Trail riding is riding outdoors on trails, bridle paths, and forest roads, but not on roads regularly used by motorised traffic. A trail ride can be of any length, including a long distance, multi-day trip. It originated with horse riding, and in North America, the equestrian form is usually called "trail riding," or, less often "hacking." In the UK and Europe, the practice is usually called horse or pony trekking.
Equestrianism, commonly known as horse riding or horseback riding, includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the use of horses for practical working purposes, transportation, recreational activities, artistic or cultural exercises, and competitive sport.
Seabiscuit was a champion thoroughbred racehorse in the United States who became the top money-winning racehorse up to the 1940s. He beat the 1937 Triple Crown winner, War Admiral, by four lengths in a two-horse special at Pimlico and was voted American Horse of the Year for 1938.
A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual who rode horses in racing. They must be light, typically around a weight of 100–120 lb., and physically fit. They are typically self-employed, and are paid a small fee from the horse trainer and a percentage of the horse's winnings. The job has a very high risk of debilitating or life-threatening injuries.
Seabiscuit is a 2003 American sports film co-produced, written and directed by Gary Ross and based on the best-selling 1999 non-fiction book Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand. The film is loosely based on the life and racing career of Seabiscuit, an undersized and overlooked Thoroughbred race horse, whose unexpected successes made him a hugely popular media sensation in the United States during the Great Depression. At the 76th Academy Awards, Seabiscuit received seven nominations, including Best Picture, but ultimately lost all seven, including six to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
John M. "Red" Pollard was a Canadian horse racing jockey. A founding member of the Jockeys' Guild in 1940, Pollard rode at racetracks in the United States and is best known for riding Seabiscuit.
Gary Lynn Stevens is an American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey, actor, and sports analyst. He became a professional jockey in 1979 and rode his first of three Kentucky Derby winners in 1988. He had nine wins in Triple Crown races, winning the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes three times each, as well as ten Breeders' Cup races. He was also a nine-time winner of the Santa Anita Derby. He entered the United States Racing Hall of Fame in 1997. Combining his U.S. and international wins, Stevens had over 5,000 race wins by 2005, and reached his 5,000th North American win on February 15, 2015.
George Monroe Woolf, nicknamed "The Iceman", was a Canadian thoroughbred race horse jockey. An annual jockey's award given by the United States Jockeys' Guild is named in his honor. He became known for riding the people's champion Seabiscuit to victories in 1938.
An equestrian helmet is a form of protective headgear worn when riding horses. This type of helmet is specially designed to protect the rider's head in the event of falls from a horse, especially from striking a hard object while falling or being accidentally struck in the head by a horse's hoof.
John R. Velazquez is a Puerto Rican jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing. He began his career in Puerto Rico and moved to New York in 1990. In 2004 and 2005 he was the United States Champion Jockey by earnings and both years was given the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey. He was inducted into the Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2012, rode his 5,000th winner in 2013, and became the leading money-earning jockey in the history of the sport in 2014.
A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, ride, bridle road, or horse trail, is a trail or a thoroughfare that is used by people riding on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now serve a wider range of users, including equestrians, hikers, and cyclists. Such paths are either impassable for motorized vehicles, or vehicles are banned. The laws relating to allowable uses vary from country to country.
Rosemary Homeister Jr. is a retired American jockey in Thoroughbred racing.
Shaun Xavier Bridgmohan is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing.
Anna Rose "Rosie" Napravnik is a former American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey and two-time winner of the Kentucky Oaks. Beginning her career in 2005, she was regularly ranked among the top jockeys in North America in both earnings and total races won. By 2014 she had been in the top 10 by earnings three years in a row and was the highest-ranked woman jockey in North America. In 2011, she won the Louisiana Derby for her first time and was ninth in the 2011 Kentucky Derby with the horse Pants on Fire. In 2012 she broke the total wins and earnings record for a woman jockey previously held by Julie Krone, and became the first woman rider to win the Kentucky Oaks, riding Believe You Can. She won the Oaks for a second time in 2014 on Untapable. She is only the second woman jockey to win a Breeders' Cup race and the first to win more than one, having won the 2012 Breeders' Cup Juvenile on Shanghai Bobby and the 2014 Breeders' Cup Distaff on Untapable. Napravnik's fifth-place finish in the 2013 Kentucky Derby and third in the 2013 Preakness Stakes on Mylute are the best finishes for a woman jockey in those two Triple Crown races to date, and she is the only woman to have ridden in all three Triple Crown races.
Corey A. Black is a retired Champion jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing.
Harry Clayton Richards was an American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey and the first president of the Jockeys' Guild. Hall of Fame jockey Eddie Arcaro said Richards: "was strong in character and who maintained a steady belief in our organization [Jockeys' Guild]. Incidentally, he was one of the greatest riders of my time, the first switch-hitter in our business and the one from whom I copied switch-hitting."
Frank "Frankie" Lovato Jr. is a retired American Thoroughbred jockey, inventor, and educator of horse racing. His racing career spanned from 1979 until 2004. Including one additional race in 2012, Lovato rode a total of 15,604 mounts, with 1,686 wins and finishing in the money on another 3,506. This total included wins in 111 stakes races at 25 different tracks. The horses he rode earned a total of $41,795,367. In 1980 he won the Eclipse Award for Apprentice Jockey. He later went on to invent a horse riding simulator called the Equicizer and founded an educational and training program called Jockey World.
Horseback riding simulators are intended to allow people to gain the benefits of therapeutic horseback riding or to gain skill and conditioning for equestrian activity while diminishing the issues of surrounding cost, availability, and individual comfort level around horses. Horseback therapy has been used by many types of therapists to advance their physical, mental, emotional, and social skills.
Antonio "Tony" Vega was a Puerto Rican American Thoroughbred jockey and community activist from New Brunswick, New Jersey. He was a graded stakes winning, three-time champion jockey who competed in North American horse racing from 1982 to 2012.
Samuel Jesse Doggett was one of the leading American Thoroughbred horse racing jockeys of the 1890s and a founding director of the Horsemen's Protective Association who went on to train and own racehorses.
In Seabiscuit: