MENTS IN HARNESS AND SADDLES
Year: 1880

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Leckie at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 29th January 1880.
JOHN LECKIE, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain.
MENTS IN HARNESS AND SADDLES."
"IMPROVE-
This Invention comprises various improvements in harness and saddles.
One improvement relates to the connection between the pole of a two-horse
vehicle and the breast collar of each horse, and is designed to prevent displacement
or undesirable strain of the harness when the front end of the pole is raised or
lowered or moved from side to side. For the purpose in view a kidney-shaped open
link is fitted to the breast collar with a horizontal swivel joint, and the ring to
which the pole strap is connected is free to move from end to end of the link, whilst
either end of the link can be raised or lowered. The link may be made free to
swivel round to any extent, or its swivelling movement may be limited by stops.
An improvement in saddles consists in obtaining adjustability by hinging the
points of the saddle-tree at the gullet top. The parts are held in position by looped
thumb screws or other movable fastenings which secure a rigid iron or plate, and
two or more of such irons or plates are furnished with each saddle for fitting
different horses.
A second improvement in saddles, and also designed to allow of a saddle being
altered to fit different horses, consists in applying a bolster of cork or other suitable
material of a wedge shape, to be inserted between the belly of the saddle-tree and
the pannel of the saddle. This bolster may be of two or more sizes, and may be
covered with leather or other suitable material; and it may be fixed by looped
thumb screws or other fastenings admitting of easy removal or adjustment.
A third improvement in saddles consists in providing a back rest to give support
to the rider's back on long journeys. This rest resembles the back of a low-backed
chair, and is adapted to the cantle or back of the saddle, to which it is to be fixed,
when required, by means of looped thumb screws or other movable fastenings.
A fourth improvement in saddles consists in making the pannel or inner bearing
part of a saddle in two distinct pieces, with sockets or eyelets corresponding to the
[ Prins G71

page_text: various looped thumb screws or fastenings, and so as to preserve the graceful contour
of the saddle free from the fans, burs, or other appendages hitherto used when
attempting to obtain similar results. This improvement allows of the pannel being
easily removed or changed at pleasure for drying or repairs.
A fifth improvement consists in making a saddle pannel of specially prepared
sheep skin, such pannel being in many respects superior to those in use, and of a
character to dispense with a saddle cloth. The sheep skin is taken with short wool
on it, such as what is known as "second growth," and is steeped in a solution of
salts of tartar and ammonia. The skin is afterwards steeped in a solution con-
taining saltpetre, vinegar, and oatmeal, and is next dried, and finally birch tar is
rubbed into the inner side of it; or any suitable modification of the ordinary
tanning process may be applied, and carbolic acid or other suitable antiseptic may
be used instead of the birch tar. The skin is applied with the wool in contact with
the horse's back, the wool absorbing perspiration and preventing overheating.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said John Leckie in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 28th July 1880.
JOHN LECKIE, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain.
MENTS IN HARNESS AND SADDLES."
"
IMPROVE-
My said Invention comprises various improvements in harness and saddles, and
the nature of these improvements and the manner of performing my Invention will
be most readily understood by the following particular description, in which
reference is made to a sheet of explanatory Drawings hereunto appended. In these
Drawings the same reference numerals are used to mark the same or like parts
wherever they are repeated.
One improvement relates to the connection between the pole of a two-horse
vehicle and the breast collar of each horse, and is designed to prevent displacement
or undesirable strain of the harness when the front end of the pole is raised or
lowered or moved from side to side. For the purpose in view a kidney-shaped
open link 21, as shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying Drawings, is fitted
to the front of the breast collar 22 with a horizontal swivel joint 23, and the ring 24
to which the pole strap is connected is free to move from end to end of the link
whilst either end of the link can be raised or lowered. The link 21 may be made
free to swivel round to any extent, or its swivelling movement may be limited by
stops. In the modification shown in Figure 1 the link 21 can swivel completely
round, and Figure 3 is a sectional view showing the construction. A headed centre
pin 25 is passed through an eye in the back of the link 21, and is fixed by a screw
nut to a metal plate inserted between the inside of the breast collar and its inside
lining. In the modification shown in Figure 2 the swivelling movement of the
link 21 is limited, and Figures 4 and 5 are sectional views showing the construction,
the last Figure being enlarged. The link 21 is formed with a short spindle 26
which passes through the breast collar to an inside plate 27, and has a washer or
head riveted or otherwise fixed on it at the back. The opening in the plate 27 is
made with sector-shaped lateral parts, in which projections on the spindle 26 or on
its back washer have a limited movement, and the link can be swivelled or turned
only to that extent.
An improvement in saddles is shown in Figures 6 to 9 of the accompanying
Drawings, Figure 6 representing certain adjusting details, whilst Figure 7 is a front
end elevation, Figure 8 a side elevation, and Figure 9 an inverted plan view of a
saddle tree. The improvement consists in obtaining adjustability by connecting
the front parts of the saddle tree by a hinge 31 at the gullet top. The parts are
held in position by looped or ringed thumb screws 32 (or it might be by other
movable fastenings). I proposed to apply a rigid iron or plate under the hinge 31
into which to screw the fastenings 32, and to furnish two or more of such irons or
plates with each saddle for fitting different horses, but I now prefer the modification
shown in the Drawings, in which a single piece 33 is provided for the fastenings 32
to screw into. The fastenings 32 are made one with a right-hand screw and the
other with a left-hand screw, and the coupling piece 33 is tapped correspondingly;
and on turning the coupling piece 33 by means of a key 34 inserted in a cross hole
at the middle the sides of the saddle-tree gullet can be drawn closer together or be
allowed to separate, so as to fit different horses without any pieces requiring to be
removed or changed.
A second improvement in saddles is shown in Figures 10, 11, 12 of the accom-
panying Drawings, and consists in providing a back rest 36 to give support to the
rider's back on long journeys. This rest 36 is shown in place in Figure 10, and as
detached and in front and back view in Figures 11, 12; it resembles the back of a
low-backed chair, and is adapted to the cantle or back of the saddle, to which it is
to be fixed when required by means of looped thumb screws 37 or other fastenings.

page_text: A third improvement in saddles is shown in Figures 13, 14, 15 of the accom-
panying Drawings, and consists in making the pannel 40 or inner bearing part of a
saddle in two distinct pieces, with sockets or eyelets for looped thumb screws 41, 42,
at the front and back upper corners arranged so as to preserve the graceful contour
of the saddle free from the fans, burs, or other appendages hitherto used when
attempting to obtain similar results. This improvement allows of the pannel being
easily removed or changed at pleasure for drying or repairs.
In my Provisional Specification relative hereto two other improvements in
saddles are described, but having decided to abandon any claim respecting them, 1
do not include them in this present Specification.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I have to state that I do not restrict myself to the precise
details herein described or delineated, but that what I believe to be novel and
original, and claim as the Invention secured to me by and in terms of the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
1. The fitting of kidney-shaped links, with an unlimited or limited swivelling
movement, to the breast collars of horses, substantially as and for the purposes
herein before described.
2. The hinging of the points of a saddle tree at the gullet top, to render the
saddle adjustable for different horses, and the fixing or adjusting the same by means
of screw fastenings applied substantially as hereinbefore described.
3. The application to a saddle of a removable back rest, constructed and fixed as
herein before described.
4. The making of the pannel of a saddle in two distinct pieces, and the fixing of
such pieces by looped thumb screws or equivalent fastenings, the parts being
arranged substantially as hereinbefore described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Leckie, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Twenty-sixth day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty.
JOHN LECKIE. (L.S.)