business profile Bo Lofvander and Back On Track


“Ceramic fabric” weaves good health into great performance I


Space Station from being punctured by cosmic debris.


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Back on Earth, Back On Track recognized how ceramic particles reflect body heat as infrared waves (a form of energy with documented pain- relieving effects). Reflected heat helps ease inflammation, reduce muscle pain, and increase blood


o Lofvander isn’t just back on track. He’s never left. Te Swedish-born dealer for one of the fastest-growing


companies in the equine performance industry is a lifelong horseman whose greatest reward is hearing how Back On Track products help horses and their humans.


“It’s great to read emails from customers thanking us because they and their horses have never felt better. In this business, if a product doesn’t work, you don’t stay around long,” says Bo, whose parents rode and instilled their love for horses in him. By the time Bo was nine, he was competing ponies in Swedish driving derbies, and finishing squarely in the ribbons. He came trackside to the United States in 1983, as a Standardbred groom.


Meanwhile, in 1999, a Swedish company called Back On Track was launching a line of blankets and leg wraps designed to relieve pain and muscle tension, melding state-of-the-art textile production with the lessons of ancient Chinese wisdom and modern science to create a polyester/ polypropylene fabric with ceramic powder melted into the weave. Woven ceramic fabric was already being used to enhance industrial thermal and electrical performance, and to keep the International


8 | www.holistichorse.com


circulation; in a blind study conducted on horses with chronic back problems, more than 50% improved after three weeks using Back On Track products.


“Te products can also be used to warm up muscles before exercise,” Lofvander explains, “thus reducing the risk of strains or injury. Teir dual capacity to prevent injury, as well as ease and expedite recovery from present injuries, makes these products unique. Our genuine aim is to contribute to your horse’s well being in the easiest and most comfortable way. For those looking for a more natural way, there is also no drug testing to worry about.”


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ack On Track began offering its line of products for horses, dogs and humans


in the United States in 2003, debuting in Wellington, Florida. Tack stores were initially not interested in carrying what looked like just another line of blankets and leg wraps. “Skeptics said they looked too simple to work,” Bo recalls. “Tey were accustomed to ‘fancier,’ heavier, more expensive versions. So I began giving the products to riders to try out, and they came back, wanting more. Now, most tack shops sell us.”


ndeed. Today, Back On Track products are available in more than 25 countries,


with sales particularly strong in such highly competitive countries as Germany, Sweden, and the USA. “Despite the present economy our sales have been very strong for the last three years,” Bo claims.


Now Wellington’s wisest – and Olympic medalists – number among Back On Track’s biggest fans. US Olympic show jumping team Gold medalist, Chris Kappler says, “Our magnetic blanket had broken, so a friend lent us his Back On Track back pads. We felt they worked remarkably well. Te horses do not sweat in the pads, but have an area of real warmth on the particular muscle group that you target.”


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ellow Olympic show jumper Margie Engle agrees: “We started using Back


On Track on our grand prix horses with such great results that I tried the back brace on myself. Now, I use Back On Track all the time with our horses, and for myself.”


U.S. Olympic dressage individual Bronze medalist Michelle Gibson says Back On Track is easy to endorse: “Te blankets keep my horses supple and loose. When their bodies feel good, they are happy and ready to work.” She is also a proponent of No Bow wraps: “Tey are fantastic. Te horses’ legs feel tight and clean after using them. Back On Track’s products have helped my horses – and myself – stay sounder.”


Richard Mather, DVM, with Woodland Run Equine Veterinary Facility in Ohio, which serves sport horses as well as Standardbred and Toroughbred race horses, confirms: “I highly recommend this product. Te reduction in inflammation is excellent.”


Bo concludes, “Keep the body sound and the legs will follow.”


Good health – and performance – is all about staying on the right track.


Holistic Horse™ • October/November 2010 • Vol.16, Issue 69


Back on Track


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