IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MILITARY AND OTHER SADDLES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Newton, of Walsall, in the County of
Stafford, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF MILITARY AND OTHER SADDLES."
Sealed the 11th November 1873, and dated the 8th September 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Newton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th September 1873.
I, THOMAS NEWTON, of Walsall, in the County of Stafford, do hereby
5 declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF MILITARY AND OTHER SADDLES," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to the construction of military and other riding
saddle trees, and to the method of fixing the saddle, seat, and pannels
thereon, and of attaching the girths, stirrup leathers, strapping, and the
O various appendages of a military saddle.
According to my Invention I make the tree for a military saddle
entirely of metal. The head and cantle of the saddle tree I cast in iron,

page_text: steel, or brass, or I make them of wrought or malleable iron or sheet
metal stamped out and cupped hollow at back to impart the necessary
strength and rigidity. The head and cantle may be plated with another
metal if desired. The head of the saddle tree is made of peculiar shape,
being carried backwards obliquely in order to keep the back cool. It is
so shaped also as to carry the cloak and wallets in a proper horizontal
position. The cantle is also made of peculiar shape to enable the leather
seat to be fixed thereto without nails, rivets, screws, or lacings, both
head and cantle being made with a number of slots for various purposes
hereafter mentioned. The side bars of the saddle tree are made of
wrought iron or steel plates, slightly concave, and are each fitted with
elastic pads or pannels of cork, india-rubber, felt, or other suitable
material or combination of materials of rounded form, and covered or
not with canvas or other fabric, and attached one near each end of the
side bar by cementing or otherwise. The saddle tree thus bears at four
points on the horse's back, the object being to make the centre part of
the side bars somewhat clastic to keep the horse's back cool, and to
ensure the bearing at the proper points thereon. The head and cantle
are fixed to the side bars by lugs and screws or otherwise.
The blocked leather seat is attached to the head and cantle by means 2
of tabs around the edge of the leather seat passed through loops or slots
in the head and cantle, and doubled back underneath the leather seat
and secured by sewing, thereby ensuring great strength and durability
without the use of rivets, screws, or nails.
I also purpose to make holes or recesses in the saddle seat to make an a
casier seat for the rider. Metal links or buckles are permanently
attached by leather loops to the lower part of the head and cantle, to
which the girths are connected, instead of being attached to the side
bars as hitherto, the links or buckles being so made as to enable the
girths to be tightened by a downward pull.
The stirrup leathers also, which have hitherto been sustained by the
side bars, are attached to the head of the saddle tree, which is provided
with an oblique slot, to which the stirrup leather is attached, so that it
will have its proper bearing, a single leather only being employed.
The head and cantle are also provided with loops, to which the 3
shabracque is attached, and other holes or loops are also provided in the
head for the wallet straps and breast plate.

page_text: The carbine bucket straps, carrying the saddle bags or forage nets,
picketing gear, baggage, valise and crupper straps, are passed through
holes provided for the purpose in the cantle.
The saddle flaps are also provided with metal plated eyelet holes to
retain the carbine bucket, which is also fixed to the centre loop in the
cantle.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 7th March 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
NEWTON, of Walsall, in the County of Stafford, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Thomas Newton, Her special licence that I,
the said Thomas Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Thomas Newton, my executors, admini-
strators, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MILITARY AND OTHER SADDLES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Newton, my executors or admi-
nistrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain 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 Thomas Newton, 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

page_text: in and by the following statement, reference being had to the accom
panying two Sheets of Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say) :-
My Invention relates to the construction of military and other riding
saddles and saddle trees, and to the method of fixing the saddle seat
thereon, and also to the attachments of the girths, stirrup leathers,
strapping, and the various appendages of a military, riding, or hunting
saddle.
My Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, in which
Figure 1 shows a side elevation of a military saddle constructed with
my improvements; Figure 2 is a view of the "saddle tree," the seat,
saddle flaps, and panels being removed to show more clearly the attach-
ments of the girths and stirrup leathers; Figure 3 is a side elevation;
and Figure 4 a plan of the saddle tree head detached provided with
spring bars, from which the stirrup leathers and saddle straps are
suspended instead of as in Figure 1; Figure 5 is a front elevation; and
Figure 6, a cross section on line 1-1, Figure 5, of the cantle detached;
Figure 7 is a front view of a cantle for a hunting saddle; Figure 8 is an
under side view of one of the side bars showing the pads attached;
Figure 9 is a top side view of same showing the strengthening pieces
for attachment to the head and cantle; and Figure 10 is a cross section
of the side bar on line 2-2, Figure 8, showing its concave form;
Figure 11 shows the seat laid out flat; and Figure 12 shows a sheet of
steel or wire gauze cut out in the proper shape for strengthening the
seat, shown in Figure 11.
According to my Invention I make the "tree" for a cavalry or
hunting saddle entirely of metal. The "head" A and "cantle " B of
the saddle tree I cast in iron, steel, or brass, or I may make them of
wrought or malleable iron, or of sheet metal stamped out in the proper
shape. Both the head and cantle are in all cases made slightly con-
vexed or cupped hollow at back, as shown in the cross section, Figure 3ª,
taken on line 3, 3, Figure 3, for the purpose of imparting the necessary
strength and rigidity. The head A of the saddle tree is made of peculiar
shape, as shown, being carried back obliquely at the upper part from
A¹ to A2, which is the pommel of the saddle. The object of this peculiar
shape is to enable the seat to be suspended as hereafter described in the
required position. The object is also to clear the horse's withers and

page_text: keep the back cool, and to enable the stirrup leathers to be carried at
the correct bearing, and the girths to be attached at the proper point of
pull. In a military saddle moreover a "head" of this shape serves also
to carry the cloak and wallets in the proper horizontal position, and
away from the horse's withers.
The "cantle" B, Figures 5 and 6, is also made somewhat peculiar in
shape to enable the leather seat (of the proper shape) to be attached
thereto without nails, rivets, screws, or lacings, the seat being suspended
from the head and the cantle as shown. For this purpose the cantle is
made with a series of barred holes a, a, a, each being a double hole or a
hole with a cross bar b, as shown in Figure 6", which is a cross section
on line 4-4, Figure 6. To these holes the saddle seat is attached, as
hereafter described, and the face of the cantle is recessed or indented to
receive the thickness of leather forming the seat, the edge of which
comes up as far as the line c, which is the top of said recess, all the
holes a thus being covered by the seat when the saddle is made. The
cantle may be provided with shanks H formed in one therewith, and
having a slot h, to which the girth is attached, the end of the shank
being riveted down to the side bar, as shown in Figure 2. I do not
however always provide the cantles of the smaller sized saddle tree with
these shanks H, as the girth straps may be put round the side bars
instead. C, Figures 7 and 8, are the side bars of the saddle tree; they
are made of wrought steel plates, and are slightly concave, as shown in
Figure 10, in order that they may have sufficient strength and rigidity.
Each side bar C is provided with pads D, D, one near each end of
rounded form, and made of felt with a backing of cork or of other
suitable material or combination of materials covered with leather,
canvas, or other suitable fabric. These pads are fixed to the inner or
concave sides of the side bars by means of glue, copper wire, or thongs.
There are thus four pads, and the saddle tree consequently bears at four
points on the horse's back, the object being to leave the centre part of
the side bars somewhat springy or clastic to keep the horse's back cool,
and to ensure the bearing of the saddle at the right points thereon. The
head A and cantle B are fixed to the side bars O by rivetting, and to
strengthen the side bars at this point, the plates of which they are
formed are cut in one piece with strips d of any suitable shape, which
on being folded down on the under side, as shown, make a doubie
thickness at the point where the head and cantle are attached.

page_text: E, Figure 11, is the seat, made of one or more thicknesses of leather,
and lined or not with a thin steel plate or sheet of wire gauze F, such
as that shown in Figure 12 to strengthen it. The seat E is cut out with
a number of tabs or tags e, e, and f, f, by which it is attached to the
head A. and cantle B, the seat being consequently suspended therefrom.
Tabs e, e, are passed through the slots g in the head A, as shown, and
tabs are passed round the bars 6 of the holes a in the cantle B, the
whole of the tabs being doubled back and sewn to the under side of the
leather seat E, whereby great strength and durability are ensured
without the use of rivets, screws, or nails. G are holes cut out in the
under thickness or foundation of the saddle seat to form recesses therein
to receive the "anal" bones, and so make an easier seat for the rider.
The holes G, which are made in the under linings of wire gauze or
steel plate, would be concealed by the upper thickness or covering of
leather, the sheet of steel or wire gauze lining (Figure 12) being sewn
between the two leathers when the saddle seat is composed of two
thicknesses of leather. I are the girths, which are attached both to
head and cantlc by means of metal links or loops fixed to the head and
cantle by short straps sccured by copper wire or other fixings. Hitherto
the girth straps have been attached to the side bars, but I attach them
to the head instead. i, i, are the girth "chapes," and ", ¹, the chape
links or buckles, by which the girths are tightened as required. The
girth chapes i and buckle are suspended, the one from the shank H
of the cantle, and the other from the head, as shown, the object being to
tighten the girths by a downward pull. K is the stirrup leather, which
is made single instead of double as usual, and instead of being attached
to the side bar as hitherto it is attached to the head A, so that it will
have its proper bearing, the stirrup leather being made in one piece with
the girth strap i with a screw h at the bend. x is the buckle, by which
the length of the stirrup leather is adjusted. L is the saddle flap
provided with loop holes / strengthened with steel plates at back of
flap L, said plates being covered with leather sewn to the back of flap L.
These loop holes k serve to retain the carbine " bucket," which is
attached by straps passing through holes k, and is also connected by
straps to the loops of the cantle.
The other holes in the head and cantle are each for a special purpose
as follows:-Holes g¹ in the head are for seat tabs or skirt tabs; holes m
for wallet coupling straps; holes n for breast plate strap; holes o for

page_text: shabracque straps; and holes p for wallet strap. In some cases I
dispense with holes m, o, p; holes q in cantle are for holding valise
straps; holes r, for seat of shabracque; holes 8 and t, for baggage
straps; holes u, for crupper straps.
The saddle tree head, shown in Figures 3 and 4, is provided with
spring bars w cast in one with the head and provided with or without a
spring latch v, the essential feature of novelty in respect of such "bars'
being the casting them in one with the head.
In some cases the cantle may be divested of its head piece or "spoon,"
as shown in Figure 7.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention to be
protected by the hercin-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
1st. Making the head and cantle of a riding, military, or hunting
saddle tree in cast metal (steel, iron, or brass), whether of the shape
shown, or of other shape, for a suspended saddle seat.
2nd. A saddle tree head when made of the peculiar shape shown, and
with holes substantially as and for the purposes herein described.
3rd. Making the cantle in the peculiar shape shown with holes for
attaching the seat and the various attachments, substantially as shown
and described.
4th. Suspending the blocked leather saddle seat from the head and
cantle by means of tabs attached to the head and cantle and secured by
sewing, substantially as shown and described.
5th. Providing the saddle seat with holes G, substantially as and for
the purpose specified.
6th. Lining the saddle seat when made with steel plates or wire
gauze, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
7th. Making the side bars of concave steel plates with pads attached,
substantially as and for the purpose specified.
8th: Attaching the girths and stirrup leathers to the head of tree,
substantially as herein shown and described, the stirrup leather being
made single and in one with the girth strap, substantially as and for
the purpose specified. I also claim attaching the girths to these cantles

page_text: and heads by means of metal links, leathered and wired thereto as
fixtures.
9th. Providing the cantle with shanks H, made in one therewith,
and attaching the girth strap thereto, substantially as shown and
described.
10th. Providing metal lined holes in the saddle flap for retaining the
carbine bucket, substantially as described.
11th. In army and hunting saddle heads, casting the spring bars in
one solid piece with the head, substantially as specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Third day of March in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.