IMPROVEMENTS IN HORSES' BITS AND STIRRUPS
Year: 1867

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Henry Francis Gardner at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the-3rd
December 1867.-A communication to me from abroad by William
Dale and George Henry Gardner, residing at Boston, Massachusetts,
United States of America.
I, HENRY FRANCIS GARDNER, of Boston, in the United States of America,
now of 4, Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross, in the County of Middlesex, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN HORSES'
BITS AND STIRRUPS," a communication to me from abroad by William Dale
and George Henry Gardner, both resident at Boston, Massachusetts, United
States of America, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in the construction of bits and
stirrups for riding and driving purposes, the object of the improvement in
the bit being to afford the rider a complete control of the horse, without the
use of the curb chain acted upon by the leverage of the arms of the ordinary
bit, and which tends to injure the lower jaw of the horse, the improvements
in the stirrups having for its object the prevention of the foot of the rider from
becoming fixed or entangled in the stirrup, so that in the event of the rider

page_text: being thrown the foot becomes immediately freed from the stirrup, and the
rider is released from the danger of being dragged by the horse. The bit
consists of a curved bar of a circular or other section extending on each side
of the bit from the nose strap or other portion of the head strap (to which it
is attached by a ring) to the mouth of the horse, at which point it is connected
to the bit bar, by means of a bit through which it passes, and is then attached
to the bridle rein by a metal loop or ring. A disc or small plate of leather
or metal is fixed on each internal side of the bit to protect the horse from
injury by the sliding movement of the curved bar in conjunction with the bit
bar. The operation of this form of bit allows of the combined bar or snaffle
bit and a perfect substitute for the curb bit in one and the same arrangement.
For example, in using the bit as a snaffle there is no occasion for stress to be
laid on the bridle rein, and the bit therefore rests in the horse's mouth as easily
as an ordinary snaffle, but the moment the horso becomes restive or attempts to
overpower his rider, the reins being pulled with a proper degree of force, the
curved bar is drawn upwards and backwards and from the bit bar forming
an arc with the bit bar whose centre is always in line with the arc or
differential curve of the bit bar; the other extremity of the bit bar then
.remains in place, while the bit itself is drawn against the commissure of the
horse's mouth, opening his mouth wide, throwing his head upwards. and
backwards, thus preventing his kicking or running. It therefore follows that
the more the brindle rein is pulled the greater the leverage on the bit bar,
which leverage instead of being upon the lower jaw of the horse is constantly
in a line with his mouth and tends to brings his head upwards and backwards
towards the rider without injuring his mouth.
The improved stirrup consists in the application to the vertical side bars
on the stirrup rest of rollers of metal, wood, vulcanite, ebonite, or other
suitable material, and of such diameter as to permit the foot of the rider to
pass through the stirrup merely to a sufficient extent to effect the proper
bearing of the foot, so that the boot cannot pass through beyond its widest
part which is in front of the instep. In case of the rider being thrown
his foot will be immediately-released by the action of the rollers, whereas by
the use of the ordinary stirrup, the foot can be passed completely through
so that the arch of the boot rests on the bearing surface, and the foot of the
rider therefore becomes caught or entangled in the stirrup and he is liable to
be dragged and subjected to injury. The stirrup may be forined with four
uprights or in the ordinary form of two standards on the rest bar, two on
each side; the uprights nearer the rider may be left as usual, but those

page_text: further should be provided with the rollers, which can be made of any
diameter, and narrow or wide rollers can be applied as required by unscrewing
the lower portion of the uprights from the base of the foot plate rest bar,
which is easily done by an ordinary driver.