IMPROVEMENTS IN HEAD GEAR FOR HORSES AND OTHER LIKE ANIMALS
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Sir John Powlett Orde, of Kilmory House,
Loch Gilp Head, in the County of Argyll, Baronet, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN HEAD GEAR FOR HORSES AND OTHER
LIKE ANIMALS."
Scaled the 12th February 1853, and dated the 8th December 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Sir John Powlett
Orde at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 8th December 1852.
I, Sir JOHN POWLETT ORDE, of Kilmory House, Loch Gilp Head,
in the County of Argyll, Baronet, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN HEAD GEAR FOR HORSES AND
OTHER LIKE ANIMALS" to be as follows:-
My Invention consists, First, of an improved bit or bit bearer
for riding or driving, which dispenses with what are called the
cheeks of the bridle, requiring only a throat lash or neck shape to
keep it in its place. Secondly, of an improved head or neck strap
to be used with these bits or bit bearers, or for the purpose of tying
up a horse in the stable or elsewhere. My bit is made with a

page_text: curved part, which passes behind the chin, lying nearly where the
curb chain does, and from about the centre of this a branch
turned upwards at an angle of 100%, or thereabouts, by means of
which it is fastened to the throat lash or neck strap. The fore ends
of the curved piece above mentioned may be continued into the
mouth of the animal, so as to form a bit of any description, or they
may terminate in a hole or eye or slit, in or through which any
bit, as a willow snaffle, for instance, may pass, and it thus becomes
a. bit bearer only. Rings for the reins may be attached to this
curved piece. Branches carried downwards will form a curb, with
or without a chain or curb ring. A martingale strap may also be
fastened to the curved piece or the back branch instead of a cavesson.
And further, this bit cannot be drawn through the mouth, as often
happens with the ordinary ones in leading, &c., or with a trouble-
some horse who resists his rider.
My headstall consists of a strap or cord which passes over the top
of the head, and is connected below each car with a rather longer
piece, which crosses the forehead like a front; from one end or
bight of this a throat lash passes round to the other. The branch
of my bit may be secured to this throat lash by a small billet or
otherwise, as thought most convenient, or the horse may be tied up
by any part of it.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, filed by the said Sir John Powlett Orde in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 8th June 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
Sir JOHN POWLETT ORDE, of Kilmory House, Loch Gilp Head, in
the County of Argyll, Baronet, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the six-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-

page_text: cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Sir John Powlett Orde
Her special licence that I, the said Sir John Powlett Orde, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Sir John Powlett Orde, 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 nake, use, exercise, and vend, within the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and
Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN HEAD GEAR FOR HORSES
AND OTHER LIKE ANIMALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I; the said Sir John Powlett Orde, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and scal, 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 Sir John Powlett Orde, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement, reference being
had to the Drawings annexed, that is to say:
Firstly, my Invention consists of an improved method of con-
structing bits or bit bearers, and of securing the same in the mouth
of the animal, whereby I am enabled to dispense with the cheek
straps of the bridle, the bit or bit bearer being held and kept in the
mouth of the animal by means of what I term a "back branch,"
suspended from a throat lash or neck strap. My improved bit or
bit bearer is constructed of a ring or a portion of a ring, either
round or of any other shape suited to embrace the lower jaw of
the animal, and going behind it nearly in the place where the
common curb chain is usually applied, and from the back of which
ring or portion of a ring, either immediately or by a stem which I
call a back branch, this bit or bit bearer is suspended to the throat
ash of the bridle or other head gear, being attached thereto by a
strap, chain, or other contrivance. The back branch may be made

page_text: of various lengths, but I prefer that it should be generally from
one to three inches. Figures 1, 2, and 3, are perspective views
of different constructions of bits, with my improvements applied
thereto. Figure represents a plain ring bit: A, is the mouth-
piece or bit proper; B, the back ring; and C, the back branch by
which the bit is suspended; instead of this back branch a plain
eye might be used, but I prefer to employ the back branch.
Figure 2, represents a curb bit with an eye formed in the back ring
B, for suspending the same from the throat strap of the head gear;
and Figure 3, a similar curb bit having the back branch C, attached.
Figures 4, and 5, shew a plain ring bit, and a curb bit, with my
improvements applied thereto, as worn by a horse. Figure 6,
represents one of my bit holders adapted for being used with any
kind of bit: B, is the back ring, the ends of which are turned
up, as shewn in the Drawing, or may be otherwise suitably formed
to receive the bit to be used, and hold it securely in the mouth
of the horse or other animal; C, is the back branch, for which
an eye may be substituted. Figure 7, is another bit bearer,
with eyes or slits at the side, in which the snaffle D, is fitted.
Figure 8, represents a billet strap for connecting the bit or bit
bearer to the throat lash; a strap of this kind will be used for the
purpose where the bit or bit bearer has a back branch or only a
plain eye to suspend it. I would observe that the form of mouth-
piece or bit proper in bits, with my improvements applied, may be
greatly varied, and any approved form may be used in connection
with my improved bit bearers; and I am aware that plain ring bits
have been heretofore used, but they have in all cases been suspended
by cheek straps at the sides, whereas the addition of the back
branch according to my Invention enables the use of such cheek
straps to be dispensed with, and the bit to be suspended from the
throat lash, whereby additional control over the horse or other
animal will be obtained.
Secondly, my Invention consists of an improved headstall, to
be used in connection with my bits or bit holders as a bridle head,
or to tie up a horse or other animal securely in a stable or elsewhere.

page_text: I make my improved headstall with one band passing across the
forehead, and another band, somewhat shorter, passing over the
head behind the ears; the two bands uniting below the ears with
one throat lash, from which the bit or bit bearer is hung, or the
collar rein led. Figure 9, represents my headstall: E, is the fore-
head band; F, the head band, which passes behind the ears of the
animal; and G, the throat lash. The bands of the headstall may be
made of leather, cord, chain, or other flexible material, or the head-
stall may be composed of a metal wire framing, which may be
covered with leather or other material, or plated, or otherwise
concealed, or ornamented, &c.; in any case buckles, knots, or other
suitable fastenings must be applied for the purposes of opening and
closing it. Figures 4, and 5, shew the headstall as worn by a horse
in connection with bits constructed with any improvements.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is,―
First, the construction of bits or bit bearers with a back branch
or back eye and strap, as herein-before described; and,
Second, the peculiar form of headstall for horses and other
like animals, as represented in the Drawings, and hereinbefore
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Sir John Powlett Orde, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of June,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
תחז בו A
JOHN POWLETT ORDE. (L.S.)