Equicizer Identification

Did you know that each and every Equicizer has an identification number unique to that specific Equicizer? Equicizer creator, Frankie Lovato, created this identification system back when he made his very first Equicizer in 1981. The identification system has remained largely the same, with some small variations as the Equicizer has evolved through the years.

As you may already know, Frankie created his very first Equicizer in 1981, out of pure necessity, to help himself rehab from a badly fractured leg sustained in a racing accident. (You can learn more about how and why this Equicizer came to be by reading more here.) After that first Equicizer creation, Frankie had no intention of building more but word slowly got out and other riders began seeking a tool that would allow them to rehab and stay in shape, so in 1984 he built his second Equicizer, for Hall of Fame Jockey Laffit Pincay. Some more time lapsed but word was continuing to spread and by 1988 Lovato had more Equicizer requests from fellow jockeys.

The 100th Equicizer built in 1991 belonged to
Hall of Fame Jockey, Eddie Maple. This was before
the development of the body motion. It is now used
in the Jockeys' Room on the New York Racing circuit.

In these early years, there were few options, aside from body color, and there was only one Equicizer model. This model did not have body motion and was sold primarily to others jockeys. The identification numbers for the Equicizer in these early years were comprised solely of a series of numbers.

In 1993 Frankie created his very first Equicizer with body motion, which gave customers the option to choose between the original model that featured neck motion only and the newer model with body motion. By 1994 almost everyone was choosing the latter. These two Equicizer models were differentiated between with the letters "T" for traditional or "M" for motion.

By the end of the 90's, partly due to the addition of body movement in the Equicizer, interest from riders of every discipline all around the world had increased dramatically. At this time Frankie introduced an Equicizer model with a fully hand carved and detailed face and a more basic model without these additional details, for those that were concerned only about the benefits the Equicizer offered, as opposed to the finer artistic features. For record keeping, these were defined as the G1 model and the G2 model, which has morphed into what we know today as the Equicizer Elite and the Equicizer Classic models, respectively.

Upon the completion of each Equicizer, before it is packaged and leaves our workshop, it is assigned an identification code which identifies the model ("E" for Elite or "C" for Classic), the year and month it was built, as well as the order it was built in regards to the number of Equicizers that came before it. Every Equicizer is also personally signed by Frankie himself (as seen in above photo).

Do you have your own Equicizer at home or at the barn? If so, take a peek underneath the rear back panel of your Equicizer and you will see his or her unique identification code as well as Frankie's autographed signature!

by Kayla Jarvinen

www.equicizer.com