It began with one animal, a horse called Timmy or ‘Cause for Optimism’. He is the reason we are here today.
The product that saved horses' lives.
It all started when Timmy started frantically headshaking during ridden work shortly after he turned 5 years old. This lead to his owner, Margaret Donnelly, designing the Net Relief Muzzle Net to help him.
Word got out about the Muzzle Net and how it helped Timmy and many other horses. Horse & Hound featured it and the phones started to go mad! Who would have thought one person trying to solve a problem with their horse could have such a large impact.
Onwards and Upwards
After the success of the Muzzle Net, the Field Relief Max prototype was exhibited at the BETA International Trade Show in 2001. The retailers queuing to order these two products was phenomenal!
From then on, Margaret realised she actually had lots of product ideas – Timmy was a source of inspiration! His name was Cause for Optimism – which is some sort of divine inspiration. No matter what happens, you need to stay positive and keep trying to find a solution to move forwards.
March 2001 was when Margaret officially started working at Equilibrium Products – and not just in the evenings! Fast forward 25 years and we’re still here with our core message of ‘Making a difference to horses’ lives’ – inspired by Timmy and all the wonderful equines around us. We’re a team of horse owners who are passionate about our jobs, our company and our industry.
While Timmy is no longer with us, he lived a great life until the grand age of 27, his legacy will live on and its through his courage and determination that so many other horses have been helped around the world.
Extending our range to support more animals
Horses will always be at the heart of Equilibrium, but many of our customers, and our team, also share their lives with dogs and cats. So, it felt like a natural next step to bring the same values of quality, practicality and testing into the wider pet world.
With input from animal physiotherapists, our experienced product design team, and real owners, our pet products are carefully developed and tested on our own animals, as well as a wider group of pets, to make sure they’re practical, effective and fit for purpose.
It’s a new chapter for Equilibrium, but one built on the same approach we’ve always believed in: thoughtful design, trusted expertise and products created with animal wellbeing in mind.
