IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND APPLIANCES FOR ARRESTING VICIOUS OR RUNAWAY HORSES, WHETHER RIDDEN OR DRIVEN
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Arthur Charles Henderson, of 6, Southampton Buildings,
Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND APPLIANCES FOR ARRESTING VICIOUS
OR RUNAWAY HORSES, WHETHER RIDDEN OR DRIVEN." A communication from
abroad by Jérémie Garnier and Madame Veuve Lecertisseur, née Marie
Adélaide Justine Lecertisseur, both of the City of Paris, in the Republic of
France.
Sealed the 19th February 1878, and dated the 21st August 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Arthur Charles Henderson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 21st August 1877.
ARTHUR CHARLES HENDERSON, of 6, Southampton Buildings, Holborn, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND
APPLIANCES FOR ARRESTING VICIOUS OR RUNAWAY HORSES, WHETHER RIDDEN OR
DRIVEN." A communication from abroad by Jérémie Garnier and Madame Veuve
Lecertisseur, née Marie Adélaide Justine Lecertisseur, both of the City of Paris, in..
the Republic of France.
The object of this Invention is to check restive or runaway horses promptly and
effectually, and consists in the addition to the usual bit of an auxiliary bent branch
placed inside the ordinary branches, a spiral spring is mounted on this piece which
is described as a brake; this brake is brought into action when required in the
following manner:-It terminates in a ring to which an extra rein is attached,
which is held by the rider or driver with the usual reins, with which it is inde-
pendent. When this rein is drawn in the spiral spring is compressed and the brake
or curved branch is drawn over the nostrils of the horse, and pressing them or
closing them causes the stoppage of the animal, and when quiet the rein is slackened
and the spring released, the branch or brake, as it is termed, resumes its primitive
position.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Arthur Charles Henderson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 19th
February 1878.
ARTHUR CHARLES HENDERSON, of 6, Southampton Buildings, Holborn, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND
APPLIANCES FOR ARRESTING VICIOUS OR RUNAWAY HORSES, WHETHER RIDDEN OR
DRIVEN." A communication from abroad by Jérémie Garnier and Madame Veuve
Lecertisseur, née Marie Adélaide Justin Lecertisseur, both of the City of Paris, in
the Republic of France.
This Invention consists in the addition to the ordinary bridle bit, and in the
combination therewith, of a special piece destined to act as a brake to the horse,
with the object of checking it when vicious or runaway. The construction and
characteristic disposition of this brake are a perfect guaranty of its instantaneous
and efficacious action.
The bit comprises the mouth-piece or bar retained in the horse's mouth and the
two branches which support it, and are on either side of the mouth; these branches
are furnished with the rings serving to connect the bit to the uprights of the bridle
rings, to which the guide reins are attached and rings to which the ends of the curb
are connected. To this ordinary disposition is added the brake, which consists of
a. V shaped piece surrounding the bit, and attaching itself thereto by two support
guides fixed to the branches; this piece at rest is submitted to the action of springs
which keep it away from the horse's nose, and when drawn by an auxiliary rein
advances quickly to the nose by sliding in the supports of the branches of the bit,
and seizes the nose by the bent end of the bit and compresses the nose of the
animal, more or less, according to its nature and its physical condition at the
time.
The horse thus invincibly attacked at its most sensitive part, whilst also kept in
hand by the guides and reins, is surely subdued and mastered whatever may be
its fury. In acting on the nose the break occasions no suffering to the animal, and,
besides, is not inconvenient, nor does it interfere with the elegance of the bridle
and harness as it is unnoticed unless pointed out.
It can be economically adapted to all kinds of bridles, is free from deterioration,
is simple in action, always at hand and at the command of the rider or driver, as
the case may be. Thus, gifted with all the requisite advantages, it is an absolute
security to equestrians or drivers, and so effectually preventing the accidents liable
alike to horses, riders, drivers, or pedestrians.
The Invention will be readily understood on reference to the accompanying
Drawings, and by aid of the following description of the construction of the
apparatus, which admits of some modification, without departing from the principle
on which is based the claim.
Fig. 1 represents a full-sized bit with the brake, seen front view, in the position
of repose; Fig. 2 is the corresponding side view; the dotted lines show one of the
positions of the brake when in action.
Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are details of the principal parts; Fig. 3 is a side view of one.
of the branches of the bit; Fig. 4 shows one of the branches of the brake partly in
section; and Fig. 5, the ring piece to which the guide of the brake is attached.
The bit consists, as already described, of the mouth-piece or bar a and the side
branches b, b, rendered solid one with the other by the bar a, this is straight or bent
above, as shown in the Drawing, to allow the horse's tongue to pass beneath.
The branches b are pierced with a square hole a¹ to receive the bit a, which has its
ends rivited above the branches. The general form of these branches may vary
so long as they have beneath the bar a the rings d to attach the guide reins above,

page_text: and the rings c for connecting the uprights of the bit and for fastening the curb,
and, finally, below the rings f to attach the guide reins when not desired to buckle
them to the rings d, d.
Between the bit a and rings c the branches bare pierced with a hole e, in which
an axis h is adjusted in connection with the support g. The supports g are
traversed by the branches p, p, of the brake; these are connected by the bent
part pl; the branches p, Fig. 4, are pierced through their longitudinal axis with a
hole, in which a strong spring is placed, r, at the ends j; they are screw-cut to receive
by screwing the threaded ends of the parts p¹ at the opposite ends i; these branches
are threaded and screwed to the bases of the pieces q with rings q1; to these latter are
connected the ends of two reins, which unite above the neck of the horse in a single
guide actuating the brake. The base q serves as stay to the supports g. The
branches p of the brake are arranged outside those, b, of the bit, so as to offer to the
latter an elastic rest which renders them solid one with the other; with this view
the ends of the branches b are bent externally and hollowed in accord with the
branches p, so that with an excess in the outward projection k of their extremities
they press against the branches p, thus slightly exerting the elasticity of the
branches b.
The bent part p¹ has an undulated form with two projections 8, 8, symmetrically
placed; this curve can be made of a piece with the two branches p, or soldered
with them, or it may be uniform, and the projections added, whose object will be
hereafter explained. Finally, it remains to mention two screws t, with rounded
heads screwed into bosses made beneath the supports g: internally the screws
continue to present their ends in grooves of the branches p, and form abutments to
each spring, with which these branches are provided. The grooves run the length
of the springs, so that the latter may be compressed by the screws t to the furthest
limit.
To comprehend the action of the brake the bit must be supposed to be in the
horse's mouth, and connected by its rings c, c, to the uprights of the bridle, and
embracing the lower jaw by the curb hooked to these rings c, c; then suppose the
guide reins buckled to the rings d, d, or f, f, of the bit, and the rein or guide to the
brake, buckled by two guides to the rings q', q¹, then the rider or driver of the
carriage, if the horse is so used, in firmly holding the guiding reins with one hand,
works the brake in the following manner:He keeps the bit sustained by drawing
the reins of the rings d, d, or f, f, he then draws the rein of the rings q¹, q'; this
has the effect of first liberating the ends k, k, of the branches b, b, from those p, P ;
secondly, to cause the branches p, p, to rock more or less on the centres e, e, of the
branches b, b, by a rising of the bent portion p¹ and. by a corresponding lowering of
the parts of with rings q'; and, thirdly, to raise the brake by causing it to slide by its
branches p, p, in the supports g, see the dotted lines, Fig. 2. The consequence of
this triple motion is to lead the bend p¹ to the nostrils of the horse, and by the
undulated portions 8, 8, to embrace and compress the whole of the fleshy portion of
the nose.
This system therefore produces mechanically the same effect as is daily
effected by hand on horses without bridles, it has therefore indubitably the same
energy and a superior efficacy.
When the brake has effected its purpose the driver slackens the rein of the rings
q, q, the springs r, r, lead back the branches p, p, to their normal position, and
the pace of the horse does not hinder re-hooking at k, k, the branches of the bit and
brake.
Without restriction to the form, materials, and dimensions of the component
parts, what is claimed as the Invention is, ―
1. The addition to the ordinary bit of a special piece or break, destined under
the traction of an auxiliary rein to seize and embrace the horse's nose and to press
it sufficiently to subdue the vicious or startled animal whether ridden or driven.
2. The method of construction above described, and illustrated by the accom-
panying Drawings.

page_text: 3. The mode of construction producing the same effect, especially that con-
sisting in the single use of one brake to a simple branch p and sinuous bend p'.
In witness whereof, I, the said Arthur Charles Henderson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.
A. C. HENDERSON. (L.S.)