CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SADDLES
Year: 1846

page_text: DICI
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES-
HENRY DICKSON, Esquire, Captain, Half pay, of Cheltenham, in the County
of Gloucester, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-third day of July, in the tenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
James Henry Dickson, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial license,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said James Henry Dickson,
my exors, admors, or assigns, or such others as I, the said James Henry
Dickson, my exors, adñors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in the Islands of
Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and also in all Her said Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
SADDLES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the
said James Henry Dickson, shall cause a particular description of the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
enrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent, as in.
and by the same, reference 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
James Henry Dickson, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, are fully ascertained and
described in and by the following description thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say:-
My Invention relates to improvements in saddles, which improvements
consists in the construction and application of an arrangement of springs and
sliding frames, which I herein-after denominate a lever bar, to saddles, to
which is fastened the girth or girths, and thereby giving great relief to the
horse when making any great exertion, such as leaping or coughing, and also
when he is distressed it enables him to regain his wind immediately. But
in order that this my said Invention may be better understood and more
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to give a description of the Drawings
hereunto annexed, the same letters of reference indicating similar parts on all
the figures:-
Figure 1 represents the side view of a gentleman's riding saddle,. with the
saddle skirt removed, in order to shew the part to which I apply my lever bar.
Figure 2 represents a full size view of the lever bar; and Figuró 3, a back
view of Figure 2, with the back plate removed. a, a; shews the outside
framing, which can be made of brass or any other metal, and furnished with
two eyes b, b, through which the iron pin c pásses; d is a leather strap or sup-
port, made with a loop, through which the iron pin c'likewise passes; the other
end of the leather strap d is nailed or otherwise secured to the saddle, tree; inside
this frame a, a, is another smaller frame e, é, seen separate in front view at
Figure 4, and in end view at Figure 5; this frame e, e, is made in such a
manner as to slide freely up and down, and to fit inside the frame a, a, as seen
in Figure 3, which shews the back view of the lever bar with the back plate
removed; f, in Figure 3, shews a plate, forming a part of the frame a, a,
which, is fixed at right angles with the front, the ends g, g, of which do not
touch the side framing a, a, but having a space in which the frame e, e, moves;
h and i are two strong curved steel springs, so fixed that the two ends of the
top spring bear against the top of the inside frame e,-e, and the tivo-ends of
the spring i bear against the plate f, which forms a part of the outside frame
a, a; two holes are made in the springs, through which the pin k is applied as s
a guide to prevent their 'moving about; 7, 7, are two small friction rollers,
fixed to the outside frame e, e, more clearly seen at end view, Figure 5, which
roll against the back plate m, Figure 2, to reduce the picture, and to allow the
inside frame to slide up and down more freely; n, n, n, are three buttons,

page_text: fixed to the inside frame e, e, and to which the girth straps are secured.
Now it will be obvious that any weight or force which may be put on the
straps o, o, o, which are fastened to the inside frame c, e, by the buttons n, n, n,
will, by any exertion of the horse, depress the springs, and the straps o, o, o,
to which the girth is secured, will therefore become elongated, but the spring
must be of a sufficient elasticity to allow the horse's body to expand, and still
to keep the girth close and tight against the horse's body, and to enable the
saddle to be kept in its proper position. Figure 6 represents the same
arrangement of lever bar, but having four springs instead of two. I intend
to apply this description of lever bar to ladies's riding saddles, but I fix only
one of these lever bars on the right side of the ladies' saddle, as it will assist
the counterbalance as the weight generally on ladies' saddles preponderates on
the left. I find that when it is necessary to fix only one of these lever bars, to
allow the same scope expansion of girth, as in the gentlemen's saddles, I make
the frames double the size of those described at Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, and
used in gentlemen's saddles, and instead of two springs I place four, thereby
allowing double the play of those used in gentlemen's saddles; but in case
of their application to gentlemen's saddles I wish it to be understood that I
may be at liberty to place either one or two of these lever bars, that is, one on
either the left or the right side, or ono on each side, as may be required.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the best
manner at present know to me for performing the same, I wish it to be
understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein described,
but I reserve to myself the right to vary the size and number of springs, so
long as I adhere to the principal features of my Invention. But I claim as
my improvement in saddles the arrangement of two or more steal springs fixed
inside sliding frames, which I denominate lever bars, which frames are fixed
to or against the saddle pad or pads, as herein-before described, to which the
girth is fastened, whereby uniform pressure will be given, and the girth will
accommodate itself to the muscular motions of the horse. And I also claim
the fixing and applying one or more of my arrangements of springs and sliding
frames, as above described, either to gentlemen's or ladies' saddles, as the
case may be.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Henry Dickson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.
JAMES HENRY (L.s.) DICKSON.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-third day of January,
in the year of our Lord 1847, the aforesaid Capt James Henry Dickson
came before our said Lady the Queen in Her 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.
Enrolled the Twenty-third day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.