According to a report, Gaylord Boutilier, the man behind the Equalizer race bike, acquired a patent on October 26 for a new bike which he says "isolates the horse from

the sulky and cuts down on the zig-zag running motion that adds side-to-side sway and wastes the horse's effort."

An article by the Sun Journal gives a lot of background on Boutilier, and also states that he sought the help of some engineers at the University of Maine to field test his invention.

Dennis Haszko, who practices patent law, was quoted as saying, "The test results helped hammer home to the U.S. Patent Office that Gaylord's invention worked as advertised."

(With files from the Sun Journal)