Improvements in or relating to Breeching for Horses.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Aug., 1896
Complete Specification Laft 25th May 1907 Secanted 10th lule
1907
NA
UIT
Improvements in or relating to Breeching for Horses.
I, CHARLES MELVILLE GONNE of The Old Rectory, Goring in the County of Oxford
a Retired Captain in the Royal Artillery, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
My invention has reference to breeching for horses. Hitherto the breeching
has usually been attached to the horse and has in fact formed part of the harness.
Now according to my invention the breeching forms part of the vehicle instead of
being attached to the horse.
For the purpose of my invention I make the breeching of a rod or bar of iron or
other suitable material bent at the middle into the form of the ordinary leather
breeching and turned back at the ends so as to fit into sockets or the like on the
shafts. The angle at which the ends are turned back or shaped so as to fit into the
sockets will depend upon the height of the shafts relatively to the proper height
for the breeching. In a dog cart for example the shafts are generally at almost
the height that the breeching ought to be; in a hansom cab they are higher and in
a four-wheel cab lower than the breeching. The portion of the rod or bar which
will constitute the actual breeching should be covered with india rubber, leather
or other suitable material.
The socket that receives the ends of the rod or bar are preferably fitted with a
spiral or other spring or cushion so as to allow the breeching a little play.
In a pair horse vehicle there will be a double breeching of two breechings, one
end of each breeching being attached to a socket or the like on the pole or on a
stay or projection near the middle of the splinter bar while the other end is attached
to a socket or the like on a stay or projection at or near the end of the splinter bar.
Dated this 28th day of August 1896.
J. C. MEWBURN & ELLIS,
55 and 56 Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Breeching for Horses.
I, CHARLES MELVILLE GONNE formerly of The Old Rectory, Goring in the County
of Oxford, but now of Dunkirk House, near Faversham in the County of Kent a
Retired Captain in the Royal Artillery, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention has reference to breeching for horses. Hitherto the breeching
has usually been attached to the horse and has in fact formed part of the harness.
Now according to my invention the breeching forms part of the vehicle instead of
being attached to the horse,

page_text: For the purpose of my invention I make the breeching of a rod or bar of iron or
other suitable material bent at the middle into the form of the ordinary leather
breeching and turned back at the ends so as to fit into sockets or the like on the
shafts. The angle at which the ends are turned back or shaped so as to fit into the
sockets will depend upon the height of the shafts relatively to the proper height
for the breeching.
In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the way in which my invention
may be carried out;
Figure 1 is a plan view, partly in horizontal section, of my improved breeching
as applied to a one-horse vehicle;
Figures 2, 3 and 4 are side elevations corresponding to Figure 1, and with the
treeching proper in section, illustrating three different shapes of the breeching to
suit sharts of as many different heights.
Figures 5, 6 and 7 are views on a smaller scale corresponding to Figures 2, 3
and 4, showing a horse harnessed in shafts of as many different heights relatively
to the proper height for the breeching.
Figure 6 is a perspective view, on a scale smaller than that of Figures 1, 2, 3
and 4, but larger than that of Figures 5, 6 and 7, of my improved double breeching
as applied to a pair-horse vehiclo.
Referring to Figures 1 to 7, A A are the shafts of a one horse vehicle to which
the improved brecening is to be applied; B is the improved breeching which
consists of a rod or bar B of iron or other suitable material bent at the middle as
shown into the form of the ordinary leather breeching, and preferably covered at
the actual breeching portion with india rubber tubing, leather or other soft
material C, so as to avoid chafing or otherwise hurting the hindquarters of the
horse. The breeching B is turned back at its ends B B which are approximately
parallel to the shafts A A, and fit into sockets D D that are attached by means of
screws d to the shafts.
The sockets D D are formed with slots D' through which project studs or pins E
screwed into the respective ends B' of the breeching B. These studs E, by striking
against the ends of the slots 1), act as stops to limit the range of movement of the
breeching in the forward and rearward directions. The sockets D are preferably
fitted at their rear ends with spiral springs F for the purpose of preventing jar
when the horse backs upon the breeching.
In order to have the actual breeching B at the proper height for breeching, the
ends B B must be titled or bent up or down to suit the relative heights of the
shafts and the proper position for the breeching B.
Thus, in a dogcart for example, illustrated by Figures 2 and 5, the shafts A A
are generally at almost the height that the breeching B ought to be, so that the
ends B B only require to be bent up to a slight extent as shown.
In a hansom cab, illustrated by Figures 3 and 6, the shafts A A are much higher
than the proper position for the breeching; consequently the ends B B have to
be bent up to a considerable extent as shown in the Figures; whilst in a four-wheel
cab, whero the shafts are much lower than the proper position for the
breeching, the ends P¹ B¹ must be bent down considerably in order to meet the
sockets D D on the shafts A A.
Figure 8 illustrate the arrangement which I prefer to employ in a pair-horse
vehicle, and which consists of a single bar bent into the form of a double breech-
ing B B. The outer ends B' B' of the double breeching B B are attached to
sockets D D on the respective ends of the splinter-bar I. The double breeching BB
is further supported at its centre by means of a socket H fixed at the centre of the
splinter-bar I. L is the pole.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
1. A breeching for horses, consisting of a rod or bar bent at the middle into the

page_text: form of ordinary leather breeching, and secured to the vehicle and not attached to
the horse or horses, substantially as set forth.
2. In combination with a vehicle, a rod or bar extending across the front of the
vehicle, and curved to serve as a breeching, and having turned back ends tilted at
a suitalde angle, and sockets on the vehicle to receive said ends, substantially as
set forth.
3. In combination with a vehicle, a rod or bar extending across the front of the
vehicle and curved to serve as a breeching, and having turned-back ends, sockets
on the vehicle to receive said ends, slots in said sockets, retaining studs screwed
into the said turned-back ends and projecting through said slots, and springs in
the said sockets to receive the impact of the turned-back ends of the breeching
substantially as set forth.
4. The improved breeching substantially as hereinbefore described and shown,
and adapted respectively for one-horse and pair-horse vehicles.
Dated this 25th day of Mer 1897
J. C. MEWBURN & ELLIS,
55 and 56 Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.