Since launching on the App Store in 2016, Swedish–made Equilab has become the world’s pre-eminent equestrian app.

A go-to resource for over 1 million people, Equilab uses the latest technology to meet the needs of equestrians. It enables its users to track their rides and progress, and share their passion for the sport with one of the largest horse-riding communities in the world.

We spoke to CEO Adam Torkelsson about taking inspiration from his own daily horse-riding sessions, speaking to the users that inspire new features, and how the technology used in the app has transformed training for many riders.

Torkelsson isn’t only CEO of the company, he’s also an avid user of the app in his personal time. “Most days, I start with a riding session; it’s here where I try the latest version of the app and get inspired,” he says.

Equilab uses iPhone’s motion sensors to measure a horse’s movement. This means that you can analyze your riding session in depth: from gait to stride to distance. When your ride is finished, you can identify patterns recorded by the app and make adjustments.

Ensuring the app continues to cater to the very specific needs of riders is a priority for Torkelsson and his team. They actively seek out feedback from their app’s users, and that insight proves invaluable when deciding what they should focus on next.

One of Equilab’s most important components is therefore its community of riders. It’s a space to connect with others in the sport, including trainers, other riders, and veterinarians, to share knowledge and get motivated.

“Our users are some of the most dedicated in the world. They spend hours each day with their horses and we haven’t developed a single feature that wasn’t requested by one them,” he says.

Take the Posture Coach feature, for example. “This came about after a coach told us that she had tried to get her pupils to look up when riding,” Torkelsson explains. “As she only met her pupils once every second week, they had always forgotten it for her next training session. She needed a way to remind them to do this, even when she wasn’t there. That started an ideation process whereby we realized we could use AirPods to sense when a rider is looking downwards and remind them to look up.”

Members of the equestrian community have embraced Equilab because of the detailed information and actionable insights it provides. But the app offers much more than data—features such as safety tracking, whereby you can share your location with friends or family so they know you’re safe when out for a ride, show the team’s determination to offer riders exactly what they need.

As Torkelsson explains, building these essential elements wouldn’t be possible without technology. “We have a patented AI [artificial intelligence] that uses the motion sensors on iPhone to measure the movement of the horse. This allows the app to measure beat, energy consumption, turn distribution, and common things such as elevation and speed.”

Equilab packages vital information and resources for those who love to ride into one nifty app, enabling equestrians around the world to personalize their training experience and progress faster towards their goals. Before you next hop on the saddle, make sure you’ve added it to your Home Screen.

Equilab: Horse Riding App

Ride tracking for equestrians

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