IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHOES FOR HORSES AND OTHER HOOFED ANIMALS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Tomlinson Bousfield, of Loughborough Park,
Brixton, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHOES FOR HORSES AND OTHER HOOFED ANIMALS."
- A communication from abroad by Rollin Austin Goodenough, of
Brooklyn, in the United States of America.
-A
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Tomlinson Bous-
field at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 30th January 1861.
I, GEORGE TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Loughborough Park, Brixton, in the
County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "Ix-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHOES FOR HORSES ADD OTHER HOOFED
ANIMALS," to be as follows: -
In order that a horse may throw his weight upon his shoe with ease to
himself, the hoof should be sustained immediately beneath that part thereof,
which an examination of the hoof shows is intended to sustain the blow in
stepping, or upon the outer crust.
The object of the present Invention is to construct shoes on the under side
with a projecting ridge immediately beneath the crust of the hoof, and across
this ridge is a series of perforated depressions which receive the nails and

page_text: protect their heads. When the shoe is applied to the foot the weight of the
horse is sustained immediately beneath the crust of the hoof by the indented
ridge, and as the indented ridge extends round the hoof it distributes the blow
in stepping to the whole of the crust instead of to three points only as the
ordinary triple cork shoe does; it also prevents slipping, affords a stable
support for the horse, and does not permit the foot to rock sidewise. The
perforated indentations permit the nails to be applied with facility by the
smith at points sufficiently near the rim of the shoe to enter properly into the
crust of the hoof, and at the same time each depression furnishes a socket
which receives the nail head, so that the latter is protected from being broken
off by the more protuberant portions of the adjacent ridge.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said George Tomlinson Bousfield in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 29th July 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Loughborough Park, Brixton, in the County of
Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, Her special licence that I, the said
George Tomlinson Bousfield, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, my executors, admi-
nistrators, 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 SHOES FOR
HORSES AND OTHER HOOFED ANIMALS," a communication to me from abroad
by Rollin Austin Goodenough, of Brooklyn, in the United States of America,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Tomlinson
Bousfield, 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

page_text: Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, 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:-
The following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference
being had to the accompanying Drawings, in which Figure 1 represents a
view of the under side of one of the improved horseshoes of the most simple
form; Figure 2 is a view of the upper side of the same; Figuro 3 is a side
view of the same; and Figures 4 and 5 represent cross sections of the shoe.
at the line X, X, and Y, Y, of Figure 3; Figures 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 represent
various views of two horseshoes embodying the Invention in a more compli-
cated form.
In order that a horse may throw his weight upon his shoe with case to
himself, the hoof should be sustained immediately beneath that part thereof
which an examination of the hoof shows is intended to sustain the blow in
stepping, or upon the outer crust.
The object of the present Invention is to construct shoes on the under side
with a projecting ridge immediately beneath the crust of the hoof, and across
this ridge is a series of perforated depressions which receive the nails and
protect their heads. Several shoes constructed upon this principle are repre-
sented in the accompanying Drawings to exemplify the application of the
Invention to practice. In the shoe represented at Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5,
the indented ridge A consists of a series of short ridges c, c, alternating with
the depressions d, and the latter are perforated to receive the nails. When
the shoe is applied to the foot the weight of the horse is sustained immediately
beneath the crust of the hoof by the indented ridge, and as the indented ridge
extends round the hoof, it distributes the blow in stepping to the whole of the
crust instead of to three points only as the ordinary triple cork shoe does; it
also prevents slipping, affords a stable support for the horse, and does not
permit the foot to rock sidewise. The perforated indentations permit the
nails to be applied with facility by the smith at points sufficiently near the
rim of the shoe to enter properly into the crust of the hoof, and at the same
time each depression furnishes a socket which receives the nail head, so that
the latter is protected from being broken off by the more protuberant portions
of the adjacent ridge.
In the shoe shown at Figures 6, 7, and 8, the indented ridge is combined
with a continuous inner ridge, and in that shown at Figures 9 and 10, it is

page_text: combined with a second indented ridge on the inner rim of the shoe. These
two modifications afford increased security to the horse, and show that the
Invention may be embodied in modified forms. The shoe shown at Figures 6,
7, and 8 is fitted upon its upper side with clips g, which take the lateral strain
from the nails; this addition is frequently made by smiths to ordinary horse-
shoes, and it may be applied with advantage to all shoes of this construction..
The shoes thus described may be formed of wrought metal, or may be cast in
moulds; in the latter case they may be made with advantage of malleable
iron or of hard brass. They may be formed with more or less depressions
according to the number of nails which are required to hold the shoe to the
hoof, and the ridges may be made more or less sharp as may be deemed
expedient, according to the nature of the road over which the animal is to be
driven.
From the above description taken in connection with the Drawings, it will
be seen that the ridge upon the lower side of the shoe is indented in such
manner that it is divided into a series of short ridges, and this form of shoe
must not be confounded with a continuous ridge scalloped laterally or made in
a zig-zag form without depressions, nor on the other hand, must it be con-
founded with a shoe having a rectangular section (instead of a ridge form)
with sockets at the rim (for the insertion of nails) which do not extend trans-
versely across the bent rectangular bar of which the shoe is formed.
What I claim as the Invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is a
shoe for horses and other hoofed animals, having upon its under side an
indented ridge as herein described, perforated for the insertion of nails at the
rim of the shoe.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of July, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.