AN IMPROVEMENT IN TREES OF RIDING SADDLES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edmondson Jones, of Glades Spring, in the
State of Virginia, United States of America, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN TREES OF RIDING SADDLES."
Sealed the 8th January 1858, and dated the 8th July 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edmondson Jones
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 8th July 1857.
I, WILLIAM EDMONDSON JONES, of Glades Spring, in the State of Virginia,
United States of America, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN TREES OF RIDING SADDLES," to be as follows:--
My Invention consists in the introduction of a hinge at the apex of the
pommel and cantle, in combination with adjusting screws controlling the
movements of said hinge, whereby the saddle may be enlarged or contracted at
pleasure to suit the size of the horse to which it is to be applied; and in
the combination with hinged & adjustable pommel and cantle just described,
of self-adjusting side pieces, which are attached to the lower extremities of the
pommel and cantle by pivots or bolts, about which they are capable of move-
ment, so that said side pieces present the same surface to the back of the
horse however much the saddle may be contracted or expanded.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edmondson Jones in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 8th January 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDMONSON JONES, of Glades Spring, in the State of Virginia, United States
of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Willian Edmonson Jones, Her special licence, that I, the said William
Edmonson Jones, or my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Edmonson Jones, or 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 make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN TREES OF RIDING SADDLES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Edmonson Jones, or my
executors or administrators, 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 William Edmonson Jones, 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 accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters of reference marked thereon:-
The advantages of this saddle tree consist, firstly, in its capability of being
made wider or narrower, so as to adapt itself to horses of different sizes;
secondly, in its being lighter & more durable than the ordinary saddle tree;
thirdly, that the pressure on the saddle, to whatever degree it may be con-
tracted or expanded, will cause the side pieces to be flat on the horse.
To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my Invention, I will
proceed to describe its construction and operation. I construct the saddle tree
with a high pommel and cantle, each made of two pieces of spring steel from

page_text: an eighth to a quarter of an inch in thickness, according to the strength
required, and about two inches wide, shaped substantially as represented in the
Drawing. These pommel and cantle pieces are fastened together by the rivets
A and B, and are susceptible of movement about them. The bars C and D
have each a right-hand screw and nut on one end, and a left-hand one on the
other. Each of these nuts has a neck by means of which it is fastened to the
fork piece; and sufficient movement about this neck is allowed for the face of
the nut to remain perpendicular to the bar as the sides of the tree move out or
in. By turning these bars one way the sides of the tree are forced apart, and
by turning them the other way the sides are drawn together. The lower
extremities of the forks terminate in the round bolts F, G, and H, I, and those
corresponding on the other side. Each of these is fastened to the side pieces
by two flat iron staples Land M and N and O. These pass over the bolts and
through the side pieces, and are riveted on the under side. The bolts are
driven down next the side pieces to facilitate the rotary motion of the side
pieces, and they are enlarged at the extremities to prevent them from slipping
out of the staples. The loop S riveted to the side pieco is for the stirrup
leather.
Having thus fully described my Invention, what I claim under the above
in part recited Letters Patent is as follows:-
First, the introduction of a hinge into the pommel and one into the cantle,
in connection with screws, by means of which the saddle can be made to
enlarge and contract, and thus to fit any horse, substantially as described.
Second, the combination with the hinged pommel and cantle of tho self-
adjusting side pieces, for the purpose of preventing an unequal pressure upon
the edges of the side pieces, however much the saddle tree may be expanded
or contracted.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edmonson Jones, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, on the Seventh day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
WILLIAM EDMONDSON JONES. (L.S.)