AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVE- MENTS IN LADIES' SADDLES
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Ward, of Castle Bromwich, in the County of
Warwick, Farmer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVE-
MENTS IN LADIES' SADDLES."
Sealed the 7th August 1862, and dated the 21st February 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Ward at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 21st February
1862.
I, HENRY WARD, of Castle Bromwich, in the County of Warwick, Farmer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT OR
IMPROVEMENTS IN LADIES' SADDLES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of the improvement or improvements herein-after
described in constructing and fixing the leaping or third crutch frequently
employed in ladies' saddles; the object of my Invention being so to construct
and fix the said crutch that it may be adjusted to suit the convenience of the
rider. In the ordinary method of making the leaping or third crutch the said
crutch is fixed to the saddle by means of a screw on the end of the said crutch
taking into a hollow screw fixed in the saddle. In making and fixing the said.
leaping or third crutch. according to my Invention, I fix on the saddle a plate
in a horizontal or nearly horizontal position: The said plate has a dovetail or

page_text: undercut slide, in which slide a moveable or sliding plate works. The crutch
screws in the last-named plate, and a point on the end of the crutch screw
passing through the said plate engages in a hole in the bottom of the dovetail
slide. A series of holes are made in the bottom of the dovetail slide, and the
screw of the crutch may be made to engage in any one of the said holes. For
ordinary purposes the slide may be made five or six inches long, but I do not
confine myself to any particular length of slide. By this arrangement the
leaping or third crutch may be adjusted and fixed more or less forward, to
suit the position and convenience of the rider. Although I prefer to adjust
the crutch by making it slide in the manner described, yet the crutch may be
adjusted and fixed without the use of a slide, by being made to engage in any
one of a series of holes made in the plate fixed to the saddle; or the crutch
may be adjusted and fixed by a rack and spring, but I do not limit myself to
the particular mechanical arrangements described for adjusting and fixing the
crutch, the essence of my Invention consisting in making the crutch moveable
instead of fixed. The crutch may also be provided with a joint, so that, when
it is not required to be used, it may be placed nearly flat on the saddle. By
adjusting the leaping or third crutch the rider may more readily balance herself
in the saddle, and in a great measure prevent the saddle bruising the horse's
back. When the leaping crutch is. properly adjusted, the rider can sit with
the greatest case while descending a hill, and does not press upon the fore
parts of the horse, which allows the horse to do his work with greater case
and safety.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Ward in the Great Seal Patent' Office on the 18th 2
August 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
WARD, of Castle Bromwich, in the County of Warwick, Farmer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself; Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Ward, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Ward, my exe
cutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Ward,

page_text: my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and
Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN LADIES'
SADDLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Ward,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to
be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six. calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Ward, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following state-
ment thereof, that is to say -
My Invention consists of the improvement or improvements berein-after
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, in constructing and
fixing the leaping or third crutch frequently employed in ladies' saddles; the
object of my Invention being so to construct and fix the said crutch that it
may be adjusted to suit the convenience of the rider. In the ordinary
method of making the leaping or third crutch, the said crutch is fixed to the
saddle by means of a screw on the end of the said crutch taking into a hollow
scrow fixed in the saddle. The essence of my Invention consists in making
the crutch moveable without detaching it from the saddle.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings represents in side elevation the
saddle tree of a lady's saddle, to which a leaping or third crutch constructed
according to one of the arrangements of my Invention is affixed; Figure 2
represents a side elevation of the said crutch separately; Figure 3 is an end
elevation of the same; Figure 4 is a plan of the same (partly in section), and
Figure 5 is a longitudinal vertical section of the same.
The said crutch consists of a plate a fixed on the saddle tree by screws, or
otherwise, in a horizontal or nearly horizontal position, as represented. The
said plate a has a dovetail, or under cut groove, in which groove a moveable
dovetail plate or slide 6 works. The crutch c screws on the boss or collar d of
the slide b. A series of countersunk holes marked e is made in the bottom
of the plate a, in one of which holes the pin or contracted part c³ on the
bottom of the screwed end of the crutch c may engage and fix the crutch.

page_text: By partly unscrewing the crutch the pin c is raised from the hole in the
plate a in which it was engaged, and the slide carrying the crutch c can be
moved along the groove in the plate a to the required position. By then
screwing the crutch home the pin c on its lower end engages with the hole
opposite to which the said pin has been brought, and thereby fixes the crutch
in its adjusted position. For ordinary purposes the plate a may be made five
or six inches long, but I do not confine myself to any particular length of
plate. By the arrangement represented the leaping or third crutch may be
readily adjusted and fixed more or less forward to suit the position and con-
venience of the rider.
Instead of the arrangement last described, the crutch may be adjusted and
fixed by means of a rack and spring, or tongue; that is, the plate a, instead
of the series of holes e, may have transverse teeth made on its surface, and the
plate to which the crutch is fixed may have a spring or tongue on its under
side, which spring or tongue engages with the rack so as to fix the crutch in
any required position. The spring or tongue may be raised from the rack for
the adjustment of the crutch by means of a knob or thumb plate connected
with the said spring or tongue.
Figure 6 represents a form of my Invention in which the crutch is moved
by a screw; the said Figure 6 representing a side elevation of a saddle tree
with this form of my Invention attached thereto;Figure 7 represents the
same in plan, and Figure 8 represents the same in end elevation. f is the plate,
having a dovetail groove secured to the saddle tree. The dovetail slide or
plate g engages in the dovetail in the plate f; h is a screw working in bearings
in opposite ends of the plate f. The screw h engages with a concave screw in
the slide g, and by the rotation of the said screw h in one or other direction
the slide g and crutch i, screwed or fixed on the said slide, may be moved
towards either end of the plate f. The rotation of the screw his thus
effected. is a bevil toothed wheel on the upper end of the screw h, which
said toothed wheel engages with another bevil toothed wheel on one end of
horizontal shaft or axis m. The said shaft or axis m passes across the saddle,
and is terminated by a handle n. By turning the handle n the rider can move
the crutch in either direction, and adjust it as may be required. Instead of
a screw box in the slide g, two or three screws or projections on the under
side of the said slide may engage in the threads of the screw h.
Figure 9 represents in end elevation (partly in section), and Figure 10 in
plan, another form of my Invention applied to a saddle tree. In this forin of
my Invention the crutch o is bent or cranked in the manner represented in

page_text: Figure 9, and fixed on one end of the axis p. The said axis p crosses the
saddle horizontally, and works in bearings in the metal cross piece 7, which
said metal cross piece is screwed to the saddle tree. On the end p² of the axis
pan arm is fixed, through which a screws passes. Each end of the cross
piece q is terminated with a plate t having in it a series of holes. When the
end of the screws is made by the turning of the said screw to engage in one
of the holes in the plate t, the positions of the arm r, axis p, and crutch o are
fixed, and by unscrewing the screws until its end is raised above the plate t,
and moving the arm r in one or other direction tho cruch o may be moved by
the turning of the axis p, and when it is brought into the required position
may be fixed by screwing up the screw s so as to make it engage in one of the
holes in the plate t. The crutch o and arm r are fixed on the axis p by
means of screw nuts or other fastenings; by removing which screw nuts or
fastenings the positions of the crutch and arm may be changed; that is,
the crutch o may be put on that end of the axis p to which in the Drawing
the arm is represented attached, and the arm r may be fixed on the end to
which the crutch o is represented attached. The crutch o may thus be used
on either side of the saddle, and the rider may ride on either side; and the
curvature of the spine, which is sometimes produced by always riding on one
side, may thus be avoided.
I have represented and described the mechanical arrangements for adjusting
and fixing the crutch which in practice I have found most convenient; but I
do not limit myself thereto, as other mechanical arrangements may be used
for adjusting and fixing the crutch, the essence of my Invention consisting, as
herein-before stated, in making the crutch moveable without detaching it
from the saddle. By adjusting the leaping or third crutch, the rider may
more readily balance herself in the saddle, and in a great measure prevent the
saddle bruising the horse's back. When the leaping crutch is properly
adjusted the rider can sit with the greatest ease while descending a hill, and
does not press upon the fore parts of the horse, which allows the horse to do
his work with greater ease and safety.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not
limit myself to the details herein described, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I claim as my
Invention the improvement or improvements in ladies' saddles, herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings; that is to say,
making the third or leaping crutch of ladies' saddles moveable without

page_text: detaching it from the saddle, so that it may be adjusted and fixed to suit the
convenience of the rider.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Ward, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
HENRY WARD. (L.S.)