Improvements in or connected with Reins, chiefly designed to Prevent Horses from Falling.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Dec., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 27th Sept.. 1894-Accepted, 10th Nov.,
1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Reins, chiefly designed to
Prevent Horses from Falling.
We, VITAL HOTTELART and LEON HOTTELART, both of Poix, (Nord) in the
Republic of France, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
Our invention relates to an appliance with reins serving to hold up a horse's
head and to prevent the animal from falling when from any cause whatever its
front feet happen to slip or stumble, the horse then being supported by its bit so
that it can immediately recover its footing.
According to our invention we employ what we term secondary or bearing-reins
which connect the branches of the bit with an attachment fixed on the crupper,
the said attachment consisting essentially of a box and its cover enclosing a coil-
spring having one of its ends fixed to a spindle held by a stud which prevents it
from turning and fixed at the other end to a metal ring around which is wound a
metal strip, the free end of which is attached to an angular bar which carries
a grooved roller over which pass the secondary or bearing-reins, the gudgeons of
which roller can slide in slots in the box and cover, the play of the roller being
limited by a key against which the angular bar abuts.
Our attachment can be made with a spiral spring adapted to be compressed or
distended to a certain extent between a tubular guide fixed to the crupper and in
which a slide works telescope wise, the end of the said slide being attached by any
suitable means to the roller over which pass the secondary or bearing-reins.
For connecting the said bearing-reins to the snaffle reins we provide an attach-
ment constructed of a cylindrical tube through which is passed the end of one of
the said reins, and a larger cylindrical tube or truncated conical extension formed
integral therewith and in which is screwed a stopper carrying the attaching ring.
Dated this 29th day of December 1893.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Reins, chiefly designed to
Prevent Horses from Falling.
We, VITAL HOTTELART and LÉON HOTTELART, both of Poix, (Nord) in the
Republic of France, Engineers, 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:—
Our invention relates to a spring appliance or attachment with reins serving to
hold up a horse's head and to prevent the animal from falling when from any cause
whatever its front feet happen to slip or stumble, the horse then being supported
by its bit so that it can immediately recover its footing.
In the accompanying drawing,
Figures 1 and 2 are respectively a longitudinal section on line 1-2 of Figure 2,
and a horizontal section on line 3-4 of Figure 1 of the spring attachment for the
secondary or bearing reins hereinafter described.

page_text: Figures 3 and 4 are respectively a longitudinal section and a transverse section
of a modified form of the attachment.
Figures 5 and 6 are longitudinal sections illustrating two methods of connecting
the bearing reins to the snaffle reins.
Figure 7 is an elevation of a key serving to regulate the tension of the spring
of the spring attachment.
Figure 8 represents a horse provided with our spring appliance and reins.
H is our spring appliance or attachment designed to be fixed on the crupper
of the horse, as shewn in Figure 8, or on the harness saddle (or on the riding
saddle if the horse is to be ridden); B indicates the reins which we employ and
which we call bearing reins; such reins are used to connect the branches of the
bit I with the attachment H and are passed round a grooved roller f¹ mounted in
this attachment and through a ring a on each side of the horse's head.
:
The attachment H is provided with a spring for allowing the horse to move
his head normally and to lessen the tension of the reins B. The attachment is
advantageously constructed (as shewn in Figures 1 and 2) of a metal box H one
end of which.is cylindrical and the other open, the bottom H' being fixed to the sides
of the box by means of screws and provided with a series of holes h whereby it can be
rivetted, screwed nailed or sewn to the crupper or saddle; the box H is cast or
otherwise formed with a top or cover H3; a steel spring is coiled within a
barrel or ring e to which it is fixed by one of its ends, its other end being attached
to a spindle e placed in the centre of the cylindrical part of the box H. The free
end of a metal strip secured to and wound around the barrel e is attached by
means of rivets, for example, to an angular barf which carries the grooved roller/
the gudgeons or trunnions of which slide in straight slots g, y'in the bottom
and top of the box H. On the spindle e is fixed a ratchet wheel which is
prevented from turning in one direction by a pawl acted upon by a spring.
In the upper end of the spindle e is a recess adapted to receive a square key E,
Figure 7, by means of which the required tension can be given to the barrel-
spring 6, the said key being also adapted for use in taking the apparatus to
pieces.
The bearing reins Bare passed round the roller and are always sufficiently
taut to allow the horse in case of its feet stumbling or of its knees giving way
to be firmly supported by the bit I held by the bearing reins and be thereby
prevented from falling.
Notwithstanding the tension of the reins B a horse provided with our improved
arrangement of reins and appliance or attachment connected therewith has a
certain amount of freedom in moving his head; if he wants to incline it forward
he can do so, as when, by this action, he pulls upon the reins B the roller 1 will be
drawn along and its trunnions will then slide in the slots g and g' and unwind
the strip until the trunnions abut against the ends of the said slots g and g'. The
metal strip in unwinding causes the barrel c to turn and wind up the coil spring b',
thereby presenting a certain resistance to the movements of the animal, which
resistance can be easily regulated so as not to distress the bars of the horse's
mouth. When the animal lifts his head the coil spring in unwinding winds
the strip on the barrel e the effect of which is to bring back the roller f¹
as well as the reins B.
To regulate the tension of the spring the pivot e is turned by introducing the
key E, Figure 7, into the hole el provided for this purpose; when the spindle e
has been sufficiently turned to give the necessary tension the key is withdrawn
when the pawl will prevent the spring from unwinding.
To readily connect the bearing reins B to the suaffle reins R we employ either
of the two attachments represented at Figures 5 and 6. The first of these
attachments consists of a cylindrical tube o having a cylindrical extension o' of
larger diameter; the bearing rein B is passed through the tube, and a knot is
made in its end and introduced into the larger part of the tube; as this knot

page_text: cannot pass through the smaller part o of the tube the rein will be securely held by
the said tube. A screw-stopper formed with a ring closes the part o' of the
tube and allows of connecting the tube with the rein B to the snaffle rein.
Instead of this attachment we can employ that shewn in Figure 6 which consists
of a cylindrical tube o provided with a contracted extension of of truncated conical
form which prevents the passage through the tube of the knot made at the end of
the rein B. The ring ¹ is here shewn formed integral with the attachment.
Another advantage of our apparatus consists in the horse being able to turn his
head to the right or left hand by reason of the reins B passing round the roller f.
We would observe that our attachment H can be made with a spiral spring S
as illustrated at Figures 3 and 4 adapted to be compressed or distended to a
certain extent between two tubes K and L, the tube L being fixed to the crupper C
or to the saddle and forming a guide within which slides the tube K in a frame
at the end of which is carried the roller f' over which pass the secondary or
bearing reins B.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is :-
:―
1. Apparatus for preventing horses from falling consisting of secondary or
bearing reins which connect the branches of the bit with an attachment fixed on
the crupper or saddle of the horse, the said attachment consisting essentially of
a box enclosing a coil spring having one of its ends fixed to a spindle held by
a ratchet and pawl which prevent it from turning and its other end fixed to a
barrel or ring around which is wound a metal strip the free end of which is
attached to an angular bar which carries a grooved roller over which pass the
secondary or bearing reins the gudgeons or trunnions of which roller can slide
in slots in the top and bottom of the box, substantially as hereinbefore described
and represented in Figures 1, 2 and 8 of the accompanying drawings.
2. Apparatus for preventing horses from falling consisting of secondary or
bearing reins which connect the branches of the bit with an attachment fixed
on the crupper or saddle of the horse, the said attachment consisting of two
tubes working telescopewise one within the other and between which is placed
a spiral spring, the inner tube carrying the roller round which pass the bearing
reins substantially as herein before described and illustrated in Figures 3, 4 and 8
of the accompanying drawings.
3. An attachment for connecting the bearing reins to the snaffle reins consisting
of a cylindrical tube through which is passed the end of one of the said reius,
such tube having a cylindrical extension of larger diameter formed integral there-
with, (in which extension is screwed a stopper carrying the attaching ring) or
an extension of truncated conical form (made integral with the attaching ring),
substantially as hereinbefore described and represented in Figures 5 and 6
respectively of the accompanying drawings.
4. The improvements connected with reins chiefly designed to prevent horses
from falling as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.