AN EXPEDIENT FOR STOPPING HORSES WHEN RUNNING AWAY WITH RIDERS OR IN CARRIAGES
Year: 1828

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
OTWAY of the Parish of Walsall, in the County of Stafford, Iron Master, sond
greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Twenty-first day of February, in the ninth year of His
reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Thomas Otway, His especial licence that I, the said Thomas Otway, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, (or such others as I, the said Thomas
Otway, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others,) from time to time and at all times during the term
of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
my Invention of "AN EXPEDIENT FOR STOPPING HORSES WHEN RUNNING AWAY
WITH RIDERS OR IN CARRIAGES;" in which said Letters Patent there is con-
tained a proviso, obliging me, the said Thomas Otway, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court

page_text: of Chancery within two calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference
being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Thomas Otway, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is described and ascertained
as follows, that is to say :-
The object of the Invention is to deprive an unruly or runaway horse of the
power of restiveness, or running away, by impeding him in his breathing. This
is accomplished by a pressure upon the nostrils by drawing a safety rein, so
as to close them either partially or entirely, and when the object is effected
the pressure is removed by slackening the rein. The Invention resembles in
appearance a common noseband of leather attached to the head of the bridle,
but rather lower than the usual position, as it is fastened by a small chain to the
cheek of the bit, instead of the check of the bridle. On each side of the noseband,
opposite the nostrils, a piece of the leather is cut out, leaving an aperture two
inches and half in length, and five-eighths of an inch in breadth, or thereabouts;
in each of these apertures is fixed a small box or coffer of brass or iron, plated
with silver or other metal, which contains a small iron lever padded with leather
on the part which is to press the nostril, and attached at one end by a joint-to
a.small.rod or piece of iron, which latter passes through a hole at the end of
the box, and terminates in a loop outside, to which loop the safety. rein is
attached. The lever and rod lie parrallel to each other in the box until the
safety rein is drawn tight, when by .that operation the padded end of the lever
is thrown out of the box in the inside of the noseband, and presses the external
membrane of the nostrils, and .so partially or entirely closes it as to impede
or prevent the animal from breathing; the effect of which will almost instantly
be to stop him if running away, and to control him. if restive: The box con-
tains a spring of steel, which, upon slackening the rein, instantly forces the lever
back into its place. It is, of course, material that the position of the noseband
should be exactly opposite to the nostrils, so that the levers shall press them on
the right part, and to adjust this properly, the usual ornamental strap which
passes down the front of harness bridles is fastened to the noseband by a
buckle which secures it in the proper situation. In the Drawing hereunto
annexed, the apparatus is shewn in several Figures.
Figure 1 represents a horse's head in profile, with the safety apparatus
affixed to the noseband at A, and the safety rein B. Figure 2 exhibits the
noseband upon a larger scale, as seen in front; and Figure .3, the same, as

page_text: seen edgewise.. a, a, on the boxes affixed to the noseband or leather strap
b; b, b, which boxes .contain the lever, springs, and. rods. above mentioned.
The peculiar construction of this apparatus will be best understood by
reference.to the section of the box containing the lever, spring, and rod,
shewn at Figure 4. In this last-mentioned Figure, .c is the lever, which
turns upon a fulcrum pin d, passed through it, and fixed into the sides of
the box; e is the tail of the lever, against which the end of a spring f
acts, for the purpose of shutting the lever down into the box, as shewn in
this Figure. 9 is the rod, sliding through an aperture in the back part of
the box. One end of the rod is connected with a joint to the lever, towards
the tail part, by means of a pin, and the reverse end has a staple or ring h
attached to it, to which the safety rein is fastened; i is a small pad of leather
fastened to the lever, which presses against the horse's nostrils when the lever
is projected outwards. The apparatus being attached to the horse by buckling
on the noseband in the manner shewn at Figure 1, when it is required to
restrain or to stop the horse, the safety rein B is pulled by the rider with con-
siderable force, which draws out the sliding rods 9, 9, and causes the levers,
with their pads, to be projected, as shewn in Figure 5, and also in the section,
Figure 6. The effect of thus projecting the levers, will be to pinch the nose
and force the pads i, i, into the cavities in the head through which the air
passes from the nostrils for the purpose of respiration. As soon as the tension
of the safety rein is relaxed, the springs within the boxes, acting upon the
tails of the levers, force them in again, as at Figure 3 and 4, when the animal
experiences no further impediment to breathing.
I have exhibited, in the Drawing which accompanies this my said Specifi-
cation, certain parts of a horse's bridle made upon the ordinary constructior,
and to which I lay no claim; but the boxes attached to the noseband con-
taining the levers, rods, and springs, as herein described, for the purpose of
stopping a runaway horse in the manner above explained, being to the best
of my knowledge and belief entirely new and never before used in this
kingdom, I claim the exclusive right to make, use, and vend the same by
virtue of the above-recited Letters Patent.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Otway, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of April, One thousand eight
hundred and twenty-eight.
THOMAS (L.S.) OTWAY.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Eighteenth day of April, in
the ninth year of the reign of His Majesty King George the Fourth, the
said Thomas Otway came before our said Lord the King in His Chancery,
and acknowledged the instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein
contained and specified, in form above written. And also the instrument
aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the
fifty-fifth year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Nineteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight.