IMPROVEMENTS IN SADDLES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Jones, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Saddler, and Edward King Mason, of Birmingham, aforesaid,
Saddler for the Invention of 66 IMPROVEMENT AG
Sealed the 13th April 1866, and dated the 18th October 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Jones and
Edward King Mason at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 18th October 1865.
We, THOMAS JONES, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Saddler, and EDWARD KING MASON, of Birmingham aforesaid, Saddler, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SADDLES," to be as follows:-
Our Invention has for its object so to connect the stirrup strap with the
spring bar by which it is fastened to the saddle as to prevent the projection at
that part of the saddle which occurs in saddles of the ordinary construction,
and also to secure the free end of the said stirrup strap under the flap of the
saddle. At that part of the saddle where the spring bar is fixed we make
a depression for the reception of the buckle of the strap, the buckle being

page_text: placed under the spring bar instead of over it as is usual. The spring bar has
a shoulder by which the said bar is raised out of the plane in which the part
attached to the saddle is situated. Instead of the ordinary barred stirrup
buckle we employ a single plain buckle, the sides of which are slightly curved
so as to give the outer side of the buckle a convex figure. In connecting the
stirrup strap to the spring bar the buckle is placed underneath the said bar, its
convex side lying against the concavity of the depression in the saddle. When
the stirrup strap is connected to the spring bar in the manner described the
said strap and its buckle are nearly flush with that part of the saddle at which
the spring bar is fixed. A short distance below the spring bar a slot is made
in the flap of the saddle, through which slot the free end of the stirrup strap
is passed and concealed under the said flap.
By arranging the parts in the manner described the skirt of the saddle is
without those inequalities which ordinary saddles possess, and great comfort
in riding results.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Jones and Edward King Mason in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 16th April 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
JONES, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Saddler, and EDWARD
KING MASON, of Birmingham, aforesaid, Saddler, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters.
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Thomas Jones and Edward King Mason, Her special licence that we,
the said Thomas Jones and Edward King Mason, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Thomas Jones and
Edward King Mason, our 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN SADDLES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said Thomas Jones and Edward King Mason, our.

page_text: executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our or their
hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us or them, 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 we, the said Thomas Jones and Edward King Mason,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say:-
Our Invention has for its object so to connect the stirrup-leather or strap
with the spring bar by which it is fastened to the saddle as to prevent the
projection at that part of the saddle which occurs in saddles of the ordinary
construction, and also to secure the free end of the said stirrup leather or strap
under the flap of the saddle. At that part of the saddle where the spring bar
is fixed we make a depression for the reception of the buckle of the stirrup
leather or strap, and also the said leather or strap, the buckle being placed
under the spring bar instead of over it as is usual. The spring bar has a
shoulder by which the said bar is raised out of the plane in which the part
attached to the saddle is situated. Instead of the ordinary barred or roller
stirrup buckle we employ a single plain buckle, the sides of which are
slightly curved, so as to give the outer side of the buckle a convex figure. In
connecting the stirrup leather or strap to the spring bar the buckle is placed
underneath the said bar, its convex side lying against the concavity of the
depression in the flap of the saddle. When the stirrup leather or strap is
connected to the spring bar in the manner described, the said leather or strap
and its buckle are nearly flush with that part of the saddle at which the spring
bar is fixed. A short distance below the spring bar a slot is made in the flap
of the saddle, through which slot the free end of the stirrup leather or strap
is passed, and concealed under the said flap. By arranging the parts in the
manner described the skirt of the saddle is without those inequalities which
ordinary saddles possess, and great comfort in riding results.
Having explained the nature of our Invention, we will proceed to describe,
with reference to the accompanying Drawing, the manner in which the same
is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents a side elevation, and Figure 2 a front elevation of a
saddle, to which our Invention is applied. Figure 3 represents a separate
view of the buckle which we use, and a portion of the stirrup leather or strap

page_text: on a larger scale. In Figure 1 the skirt of the saddle is broken off, and in
Figure 2 a portion of one side of the saddle is represented in section for the
purpose of better exhibiting our Invention. We will describe our Invention
as applied to the stirrup leather or strap at one side only of the saddle,
as both stirrup leathers or straps are connected in a similar manner. a is
the stirrup leather or strap fastened to the spring bar 6 at the side of
the saddle; c is the buckle of the stirrup leather or strap for adjusting the
length of the leather or strap, and is the tongue of the buckle. At that
part of the saddle where the spring bar b is fixed we make a depression e (best
seen in the section of the saddle Figure 2) for the reception of the buckle c of
the leather or strap a, the said buckle lying under the spring bar b, as repre-
sented in the Drawing, instead of over it as is usual. The spring bar 6 has a
shoulder at 6 for the purpose of raising the said spring bar out of the plane
in which the part at 6 attached to the saddle is situated, the said spring bar
bridging or crossing the depression e. By raising the spring bar b'in this way
the buckle c can readily be placed between it and the bottom of the depres-
sion e.
The spring bar bis shown separately in plan and edge view at
Figure 1 A. The buckle c which we use is a single plain buckle (instead of
the ordinary barred or roller buckle), and has the convex figure represented,
the convex side of the said buckle when the stirrup leather or strap is con-
nected to the spring bar lying against the concavity of the depression e. Below
the spring bar 6 a slot f is made in the flap of the saddle, through which the
free end a of the stirrup leather or strap a is passed, and concealed under the
said flap, as best seen in Figure 2. By making and arranging the parts by
which the stirrup leather or strap is connected to the spring bar in the manner
described and illustrated, the said leather or strap and its buckle are nearly
flush with that part of the saddle at which the spring bar is fixed, and the
skirt of the saddle is in consequence without projections or inequalities. The
smoothness of the saddle at the junction of the stirrup leathers or straps with
the spring bars thus obtained secures great comfort in riding.
Having now described the nature of our Invention and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that we do not limit
ourselves to the precise details herein described and illustrated, as the same
may be varied without departing from the nature of our Invention, but we
claim as our Invention the improvements in saddles herein-before described
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, connecting the
stirrup leathers or straps with the spring bars by which they are fastened to
the saddle, substantially in the manner described and represented, whereby

page_text: the projections or inequalities which ordinary saddles possess at the junction
of the spring bars with the stirrup leathers or straps are avoided, and great
comfort in riding results; also securing and concealing the free ends of the
stirrup leathers or straps under the flap of the saddle.
In witness whereof, we, the said Thomas Jones and Edward King Mason,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Fourteenth day of April,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six..
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
THOMAS JONES.
(L.B.)
EDWARD KING MASON. (L.S.)