ATTACHMENTS TO SADDLES TO ASSIST YOUNG RIDERS IN ACQUIRING 'LIGHTNESS OF HANDS' AND TO INSURE A STRONG SEAT' DURING THE RIDING, BREAKING, AND TRAINING OF HORSES, THE SAME BEING SPECIALLY ADAPTED TO VARIOUS MILITARY EXIGENCIES
Year: 1881

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Edward Purdon at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 30th September 1881.
"F
JOHN EDWARD PURDON, of 103, Wellington Buildings, Chelsea Bridge, in the
IMPROVED
County of Middlesex, Surgeon Major Army Medical Department.
ATTACHMENTS TO SADDLES TO ASSIST YOUNG RIDERS IN ACQUIRING 'LIGHTNESS
OF HANDS' AND TO INSURE A STRONG SEAT' DURING THE RIDING, BREAKING,
AND TRAINING OF HORSES, THE SAME BEING SPECIALLY ADAPTED TO VARIOUS
MILITARY EXIGENCIES."
The object of this Invention is an attachment to military and other saddles so
that the rider's feet can be held under a curved and archod bar forming part of
said apparatus or attachment, to give confidence, and to enable him to become an
efficient horseman in much less time than by any known system of teaching.
According to my Invention I attach a curved and slotted bar or plate by bucklo
or other fastening to the under flap of a saddle on each side, and I connect the
two lower ends by a girth strap, so that they aro fixed in position.
To the slotted portion of each I bolt or otherwise secure one end of a bent
plate, which plate projects away from the slotted bar, and has a curved and arched
portion as part of same.
The curved and arched portion is shaped to fit the upper or instep part of the
rider's foot, and is also set at the angle which the foot has to assume to make an
efficient rider.
The slot in the first named bar or plate enables the other plate to be adjusted
at the desired height, to correspond with the length of the rider's legs.
Several modifications of appliances can be adopted in connection with the first
named bars, and in the arrangement of the arched plates. The two appliances
may be made from one piece of metal, or one may be pivotted to the other, or the
arched plate may have a hinged, a swivel, or a telescopic action, and may be con-
nected to and be used in conjunction with certain types of stirrups as found
desirable.
As a part of the apparatus which can be used without the slotted bar or iron or
steel strap, the Invention includes a stirrup specially applicable to military
purposes, as, for instance, by mounted infantry, or in the removal of an injured

page_text: man. It consists of a stirrup with an arch of curved metal made to fit the instep,
to be used if required in holding the rider firmly in the saddle while assisting
another man to mount and retain his position on the same horse, and to enable the
rider to pay attention to a wounded man with the certainty of a perfect seat.
This stirrup has also attached to it on the inner side a ring, which may be either
fixed at the inside of the stirrup below or move up and down in a slot on the
inside bar of the stirrup, so as to enable the rider to adjust the attachment of a
snap book or other contrivance for holding a leather, which passing under the
horse's chest is also attached to the corresponding stirrup on the opposite side.
The stirrups when not so connected may be used in the ordinary way, being 1
hung from leathers.