CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF CONSTRUCTING AND APPLYING HORSE SHOES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Harris, Veterinary Surgeon, of Shiffnall, in
the County of Shropshire, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MODE OF CONSTRUCTING AND APPLYING HORSE SHOES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Harris at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 18th
April 1857.
I, THOMAS HARRIS, Veterinary Surgeon, of Shiffnall, in the County of
Shropshire, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention for "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF CONSTRUCTING AND APPLYING HORSE SHOES,"
to be as follows (that is to say):-
The nature and object of my improvements in horse shoes, arc, firstly, to so
construct them that they shall be capable of being applied to the feet of horses
without the use of nails.
Secondly, by the applying of such shoes partly by nailing and partly by the
aid of metallic straps.
And, thirdly, to so construct horse shoes that pieces of suitable iron or steel
may be readily applied or removed from the toes and heels of such shoes,
a quality much required in frosty weather.
And the manner in which I purpose to carry my several improvements into
effect will be understood by the following description
In the first place, I form suitable holes on the sides of such shoes near the

page_text: heels, through which a piece of soft wire must be passed, which also passing
around over the hoof of the horse, and through or over a strap extending up
from the toe of the shoe, and from thence to the other hole, when the two ends
of the wire must be brought together and twisted, either at back or front,
as preferred. And when I purpose securing the shoe by partly nailing, the
strap or toe-piece may be omitted, and in that case I propose, first, to secure
the shoe to the foot by two or more nails in front, and subsequently further
secured by wire, as before described..
And the manner in which I carry out the third part of my improvements is
by making or forming three sunken cavities or holes through the toes and
heels of the shoes, and by forming corresponding projections or pins on
the pieces of iron or steel I propose applying to these parts, which pins
terminate with a broad shoulder, and form a bearing for them to rest on; and
these pieces of iron or steel are held in by pins passed through holes formed
odgeways through the shoes; or, instead of using pins, a composition of tin
and lead or zinc in a molten state may be run in, and at the same time
it holds the pieces of iron or steel firmly in. Such fastenings will readily yield
or break when it may be desired to remove such pieces of iron or steel from
such shoes."
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Harris in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th October 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
HARRIS, Veterinary Surgeon, of Shiffnall, in the County of Salop, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Thomas Harris, Her special license that I, the said Thomas Harris,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Thomas Harris, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully, might inake, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVE-

page_text: MENTS IN THE MODE OF CONSTRUCTING AND APPLYING HORSE SHOES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Harris, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, 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 dato of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Harris, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, that is to say :-
It is well known that the feet of horses of all kinds are subject more or less
to disease in several forms, but none so common as navicular lameness; this,
as well as ossification of the lateral cartilages, are in a great measure pre-
ventable, and in all cases of the former curable, and would soon be unknown
were horses shod in a proper manner. And the purpose of my improvements
(in the construction and mode of applying horse shoes) have for its object the
remedying of these distressing complaints, which not only causes great pain to
the poor animals so affected, but greatly deteriorates their power or sureness
of foot either for riding or draught purposes; in fact, the present mode of
shoeing horses is the inciting cause of these disorders, for it so confines the foot
that it entirely destroys the natural expanding and contracting action when
pressed on and lifted from the ground, and these defects I entirely remedy, not
only by the manner of constructing but also in the mode of applying such
shoes; but as my several improvements will be best understood by referring to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, I will proceed to describe the same, reference
being made to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-

page_text: secured to a bar formed on the other end of the plate, as at d, d. The shoe is
also provided with projections on each side marked c, e, which projections
imbed themselves in tho horn of the hoof from being applied hot, whichi also
has the effect of burning away the horn and bedding the shoe fairly in the
hoof. F is a toc-piece formed or forged on the front of the shoe, and extends
up on the front of the hoof, and is secured by passing under the strap A. Thus
a diseased or tender footed horse may be so shod that, while it affords every
protection to the hoof, it allows of free expansion to the foot, and the shoe may
be removed or applied at pleasure by any ordinary person or groom without
the aid of a smith.
Figure 4 represents a section of the heel part of the shoe (as taken through
the dotted line of Figure 2), marked 9, 9, and in this view the plates to which
the leather straps are attached are also shewn partly in section, bent around
the angular slots of the shoc, through which they pass to connect or attach
them to the shoe.
Figure 5 also represents the side view of the foot of a horse, exhibiting
another mode of attaching shoes when nails are not used. In addition to the
strap formed on the front part of the shoc two projections are formed on cach
side, marked h, h; those projections secure the shoe from any undue lateral
action or shifting forward from the hoof. The straps i, i, are here represented
of iron (but they may be made of any other suitable material), the ends
of which are passed down through slots formed close to the edge of the shoe,
which may be made slightly to project at this part, if desired. On the insido
of the straps pieces of vulcanized india-rubber are secured, by which means a
yielding or elastic pressure is imparted to the connexion of the shoe to the
hoof, which is very desirable and beneficial to the horse. In the application of
these shoes I recommend the use of a tool or instrument that clips the heel
of the hoof, and which clip is connected with a bar extending forward from
beneath, having an angle piece passing up over the toe, and, by means of a
screw and clips bearing on the front of the strap or straps, the shoe may be
firmly held on the hoof, and the india-rubber and the straps tightly compressed,
in which state they are to be secured to the shoe by drilling or punching a hole
through their ends for receiving the pins, as at j, j, when the instrument may i
removed from the foot, and the shoe will be thoroughly secured.
be
Figures 6 and 7 represent a top and edge view of a horse shoe, so con-
structed that it has a joint on one side which allows of a slight amount
of expansion, and in some instances a joint may be formed on both sides. The
front part of the shoe is pierced with holes, by which means it is intended to
be secured to the foot, the hind part being secured by a iron, leather, thong, or

page_text: other suitable strap passing over the front of the foot, and which strap'is
intended to be attached to the heels of the shoe, as at Figures 1, 5, and 8, or
in any other suitable way that will allow of the free expansion of the foot,
which takes place most at this part; but if a proper mode be adopted
for attaching the straps to the heels of such shoes, the expansion of the foot
may take place on the shoe instead of allowing the shoe to expand with the
foot. This latter mode I have exhibited at Figures 8 and 9. And in this
Figure I have also exhibited the mode in which I propose securing pieces of
iron or steel to the shoes of horses, suitable for hard frosty weather, to prevent
their slipping. One of these pieces I have represented detached at Figure 10,
and the manner in which I effect this will be understood by this following
description:-That part of Figure 10 which is jagged or notched is passed up
from the bottom of the shoe through corresponding mortices or slots, which
slots or inortices are larger on the top side, that when the pieces are placed in
molten metal, such as lead or tin, or, what perhaps is best for this purpose,
molten zinc may be used, as it is harder in its nature than the other metals
named; or, if molten metal cannot be readily obtained, gutta percha may be
melted and used instead. This shoe, so treated, is secured to the horse's foot, as
represented at Figure 8, namely, partly by nails around the front, and partly by
the buckle and strap passing over the hoof, and attached to metallic loops marked
1, and which loops are attached to the shoe by pins or screws, which form also
a further additional security to the pieces of iron or steel before described, by
not only passing through the loop m, but also through the tenans of the pieces
so applied, the ends of which are exhibited in Figure 9 marked with the same
letter, while the space between the two lines, marked n, n, &c. represent the
molten metal that surrounds them. The screws or pins are marked p. The
leather strap has a piece of india-rubber secured on its inside, which constantly
affords an elastic pressure, and yet hold the strap in a state of tension.
Having thus described the nature and object of my Invention, and the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it understood that I do
not purpose confining myself to any exact size, shape, or proportions of the
several parts, as the whole will require general diversification to suit the great
variation of form and size that appertain to the feet of horses generally,
and to the diseases to which they are subject; but what I do claim as my
Invention is,―
First, the form of construction and mode of attaching horse shoes without
the use of nails, as exhibited at Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, without. confining
myself to the use of one or two straps, as exhibited in the latter Figure.

page_text: Secondly, the form of horse shoe and mode of attachment, as exhibited at 6,
7, 8, and 9.
And, lastly, I claim the mode, herein exhibited and described, of attaching
pieces of iron or steel, or part iron and part steel, to horse shoes, for the
purpose of better enabling the horse to stand to his work.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Harris, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
JAMES S. COCKINGS, Patent Agent,
Birmingham.
THOMAS HARRIS. (L.S.)