The tester of Garrett Ford's new shoe was an Arabian racehorse named Clunk. There's no question that the decision must be respected, but sharing this story will show everyone what entrepreneurs go through and what some of the upfront costs and time expenditures are in getting a new product to the market. The problem: the racing stewards at the track vacillated over whether or not it was legal racing equipment. What started out as a curious R+D project led him to tinker with a lightweight hoof boot until it ceased being called a boot and for all intents and purposes became a glue-on shoe. This summer, Garrett moved his company into new territory: he pursed his desire to race a horse in a product his company could design and manufacture. Over the years, Eas圜are has probably inspired hundreds of people to try their hands at building a better mousetrap, hoof boot, horseshoe or some piece of tack that will help a trail horse move more comfortably or safely across the landscape. His company, Eas圜are, now makes 18 different kinds of hoof boots and, perhaps more importantly, sets a standard for continual innovation and product development. I've watched Garrett Ford build an empire based on the original EasyBoot over the last 25 or so years. The Hoof Blog's ongoing series of occasional "guest bloggers" continues today with a timeline narrative about product development, based on a series of correspondence over the past few weeks from our friend Garrett Ford. But horseshoe entrepreneurs may spend as much time with lawyers, patent drawings and getting approval from show organizations and track officials as they do around horses. (© Garrett Ford photo) The process of modifying prototypes is complicated when even a small change requires creating a new mold, but that is the reality of designing with plastic.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |