AN IMPROVE- MENT IN ADDITION TO THE SHOEING OR STOPING AND TREATMENT OF HORSES' FEET
Year: 1823

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
DICKINSON, of Park Street, Southwark, in the County of Surrey, Esquire,
send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of that part of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland called England, bearing date at Westminster,
the Fifth day of August, One thousand eight hundred and twenty-three, in
the fourth year of His reign, give and grant unto me, the said Robert
Dickinson, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, His especial licence, full power,
sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Robert Dickinson, my exors.
adiñors, and assigns, during the term of years therein mentioned, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales,
and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "(AN IMPROVE-
MENT IN ADDITION TO THE SHOEING OR STOPING AND TREATMENT OF HORSES'
FEET"); in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso that if
I, the said Robert Dickinson, shall not particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and cause
the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent, that then the said Letters Patent, and all liberties and
advantages whatsoever thereby granted, shall utterly cease, determine, and
become void, as in and by the same, relation being thereunto had, will more
fully and at large appear.

page_text: .
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Robert Dickinson, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained as follows, that is to say :-
It consists in the formation or construction of peculiar implements, which
I call resters, and in the application of the same to the feet of horses, for
the purpose of supporting them and producing ease and comfort to such
animals, as well as for promoting the healthy state of their feet by affording
them protection, and maintaining a proper degree of moisture, and likewise
of certain additional parts to be used in the shoeing of horses for work, as
herein-after described in all the ordinary constructions and applications of horses'
shoes. The iron shoe is so placed and fixed to the hoof that the whole weight
of the animal, when standing bears upon the outer edges of the sole, and the
frog or tough elastic centeral part of the foot, which nature evidently intended
should bear a portion of the weight, is raised and removed altogether from
contact with the ground. By this means one of the most considerable
members of the foot is thrown completely out of action, and the whole
weight of the animal is suspended or hung (as it were) upon the crust or
front circumference of the hoof. The proper distribution of pressure upon the
foot, by throwing a portion of it upon the frog and sole, is very generally
admitted; and it is a want of proper attention to this circumstance that
produces some of the disorders to which the feet of horses are liable.
The principal objects of my Invention are therefore to produce this pressure
on the frog and sole to make its quantity variable, according to the exigency
of the case, and to maintain such a proper quantity of moisture at all times
upon the foot as shall prevent its growing hard and cracking, and as shall
insure the healthful expansion and growth of its parts. To produce these
desirable ends I use the appratus or implement shewn flatwise, or in plan at
Fig. 1, and in section, or as it would appear if cut through longitudinally, in
Fig. 2, its sise, from, and dimensions varying with that of the foot to which
it is to be applied, or the exigencies of the case. And this apparatus I call
a rester; it consists, in the first place, of a base or stiff piece of material a, b,
for the purpose of giving strength and consistance to the apparatus; and on
this account I form it of thick buff or tanned leather, carpet, or woollen cloth
painted on one side, felt such as is used for hat making, canvass stiffened or
strengthened by painting, varnishing, or cement, or tarpolin; or floorcloth,
or any similar materials that will bend, so as to permit its introduction into
the shoe, and yet is sufficiently rigid or stiff to maintain its place when once
put in. To the upper part of this base or that which goes next to the horse's

page_text: foot, I sew, stitch, or otherwise attach and fix two pieces of spronge, thick and
porous felt, sheep's skin tanned with the wool upon it, or other soft, elastic,
and absarbment terial, as at c, c; or else I form the whole of one piece,
in which case the triangular portion d, d, must be cut out and removed so as
to make room for the frog of the foot to enter and bear upon the base of my
apparatus. The projecting pad c, c, formed as aforesaid, must fill up the
whole sole and hollow of the foot, and surround the frog as nearly as possible;
consequently it will require more or less projection, according to the depth of
the foot to which it is applied, and which it should fit as neatly as possible,
its intention being to retain water or any other fluid with which it may be
moistened in contact with the foot, and thus to keep it in a damp state as long
as may be required. To the under side of the said base a, b, or that side
which is next the ground, I also sew or otherwise attach a pad or cushion e, e,
Fig. 2, which must be of such size as to be contained within the opening of
the horseshoe, and of such thickness as to exceed that of the shoe or its
elevation above the ground; consequently, whenever the foot is put to the
ground, the bottom of this lower pad e, e, will come into contact with it, and
will receive the pressure which will be transferred to the base a, b, and from
thence to the frog and sole of the horse's foot. In order to apply these
resters to horses' feet the stiff projecting edge of the base a, b, is to be intro-
duced into the hollow space that occurs between the arch of the sole of the
horse's foot and the top surface of the shoe, as shewn in Fig. 3, which is a
general section of the horse's foot with the shoe and the rester applied within
it; in some cases, where, from want of space between the shoe & the foot,
or other cause, it may appear desirable to use a base or middle piece
a, b, of little rigidity or stiffness,-as, for instance, when it is made of hat
felt, I then cause small metal projections, such are shewn at f, f. f, in
Fig. 4, to be riveted upon such sole, their length being just sufficient to
take sufficient hold of the inside of the shoe, to hold the rester in its
proper place, and in other cases, particularly in disordered feet, when it
may be desirable to remove and replace the rester frequently, I make use of
the holdfast of thin plate iron or other metal, shewn in different forms at Figs.
5, 6, and 7, in which the fixed points 9, 9, pass between the foot and the iron
shoe, while those at k, k, are moveable upon the rivets i, i, as centers, and
may be turnned backwards and forwards to remove or fix the rester at plea-
In some cases likewise, instead of attaching the pads c, c, Fig. 1, to
the base a, b, I make them of the same materials as aforesaid, but loose and
detached as at Fig. 8; and in this case, after causing them to fill up the
hollow of the foot fully and properly, I introduce a base either with a stuffing
sure.

page_text: or padding of uniform thickness, or without any padding or stuffing at all on
the inside, and I fix and attach it by any of the means aforesaid. All the
above-described apparatus it must be understood is required to be applied
only to horses in the stable, and not when they are at work. In order to
meet and give support and pressure to feet of the greatest depths, I form a
double bag, that is, a bag with a division or partition between the two sides,
with a strong stiff projecting edge, rendered so by paint or varnish, see
K, K, K, Fig. 9, which rim or margin is for the purpose of passing between
the foot and the shoe to hold the apparatus in its place as aforesaid. The
mouth or opening of these bags or pockets are at the heel, and by these I
introduce first a sufficient quantity of packing or stuffing of sponge, felt,
wool, shavings of leather, or other soft absorbent and elastic materials, either
to fill up the hollow of the foot, and to produce the requisite pressure &
moisture. I then introduce into the lowest pocket or division, or that next
the ground, a small pallet or piece of wood, leather, or other sufficiently hard
substance, cut into the form shewn at m, Fig. 9; or else I fill such pocket or
division with shavings of leather, bits of rag, hay, or other substances, until
I have produced the necessary pressure upon the frog. When the wooden or
other pallets or packings m, Fig. 9, are made use of, it will be necessary to
have them of different degrees of thickness, in order to suit different depths of
feet, and make them project beyond the shoe. Another means which I make
use of is shewn at Fig. 10; it consists of an artificial frog of iron or other
material p, q, having a spring of steel or hammered iron fixed transversely across
it, as at n, o, n; the ends n, n, of this spring go between the shoe and the foot,
and as the spring itself is arched or bent upwards, having its ends inclined
towards the shoe, and is fixed to the artificial metal frog p, q, it will of course
bear that artifial frog upwards against the real frog of the horse's foot, with a
degree of strength or pressure equivalent to the power of the spring, which
of course may be made greater or less at pleasure. By the application of the
aforesaid Inventions, or such of them as are most suitable to the particular
case, it will be seen that a much more efficient stopping of the foot pressure on
the frog and sole, and application of moisture, are obtained than by any of
the means now used for such purposes. I not only, however, extend my
Invention and improvements to horses' feet when in the yard or stable, but
likewise apply it to them when at work, by the following means:- In
the first place, having prepared and cleaned the foot, and put it into a proper
state for receiving the shoe as usual; if the foot is very hollow, and I find
it expedient, I stop round the frog, and fill up the hollow of the horse's sole
with a detached padding, so thick as will make it nearly level when the shoe

page_text: with its appurtenances is put on, and this is best formed of sheepskin tanned
or tawed with the wool on it, and attached either simply to the iron frog before
mentioned by riviting, or stitched at its margin to a piece of cloth, strong
leather, or other material, to give it stiffness and protection, and in which I
form a pocket, if necessary, wherein to introduce stuffing, as before described,
for the purpose of filling up a more than usually great hollowness of the foot;
in which case the iron frog is to be fastened, by riveting or otherwise, to the
under material or piece of cloth, as before described, or to a piece of thick
felt, painted canvass, or any of the strong substances herein-before named
as proper for making the base, or any other substance which may be fit and
proper for the purpose; this must be cut to the exact form of the external
edge of the foot, as shewn at Fig. 10; and I then strengthen or protect the
under side of such piece of material by an artificial frog or centre piece of iron
or other material, either with or without the spring n, n, shewn in Fig. 10.
This metal plate or artificial frog is to be fastened with rivits having wide
washers or plates to render them more secure to the said piece of material, and
having, if necessary, first stopped and prepared the foot as aforesaid, I next
place the piece of material, so cut out and protected, over the same, and then
apply the shoe over this, as shewn by the dotted line in Fig. 10, and nail it to
the hoof in the usual manner, when the nail will pass through the said piece
of protected sheepskin, leather, or other material, which will thus be firmly
attached to the foot, and will be immoveable until the shoe is removed. The
foot and shoe, when so prepared and finished, will have the appearance shewn
at Fig. 11 when viewed from the under side. In a foot so prepared and shoed
it is evident that any required degree of pressure, or none at all, may be pro-
duced at pleasure by adopting the spring shewn in Fig. 10. It will also be
evident that, from the absorbent nature of the materials or stopping introduced
into the hollow of the foot, it will always be kept moist, from which the most
beneficial results may be expected. I likewise occasionally turn down the
edges of the metal plate or false frog p, q, Figs. 10 and 11, not only to give it
greater strength, but because it is an excellent preventive against slipping.
This artificial frog might be made in one piece, as at Fig. 11, or as shewn
detached from the shoe at Fig. 12, having a hooked point at s, which may be
used or not, but by making them in two and rivitting them together, as at
Fig. 10, the substance and strength of the spring, or the depth, shape, and
substance of the frog, may be suited exactly to the exigency of the case.
Lastly, I declare that although I have described the various forms or shapes
of the several parts of my Invention and apparatus, and the materials of which
I conceive they are best made and constructed, yet, as my Invention does not

page_text: consist of these alone I do not confine myself to them, inasmuch as it may be
necessary to vary them to suit particular cases.
The essence of my Invention, and the only part of the same which I claim
the whole and exclusive right and benefit of under my aforesaid herein-before
in part recited Patent is, the apparatus last above described, namely, the arti-
ficial frog of iron or other metal, with or without a spring, and the soft and
elastic packing of sheepskin with the wool upon it, or other fit material, as
herein-before mentioned; and I therefore claim the use of all such materials
as possess the requisite properties of retaining moisture, and protecting and
assisting the foot, when used and applied in the manner described by Figs. 10,
11, and 12, that is to say, when used and nailed upon the foot in conjunction
with the shoe, as aforesaid.
The varnish before alluded, which I make and use, is the formed of 5 ounces
of shell lac with 1 ounce of turpentine, and thirty-two ounces of alcohol; and
the paint which I prefer is that known by the name of the Ribblesdale's rock
cement, when mixed with common oil paint.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Dickinson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifth day of February, in the year of our Lord
housew night hundred and twenty-four
ROBT (L.S.) DICKINSON.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fifth day of February, in the
year of our Lord 1824, the aforesaid Robert Dickinson came before our
said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to
the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Fifth day of February, in the year of our Lord One thousand