IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR ATTACHING HORSES TO CARRIAGES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Ashley, of 13, Grosvenor Place, Bath, Doctor
of Laws, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR ATTACHING
HORSES TO CARRIAGES."
Sealed the 16th April 1862, and dated the 4th November 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Ashley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th November 1861.
I, JOHN ASHLEY, of 13, Grosvenor Place, Bath, Doctor of Laws, do hereby
declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
ATTACHING HORSES TO CARRIAGES," to be as follows:-
The shafts and poles at present in use for attaching horses to carriages in
single and double harness cause great distress to the horses, and are attended
with considerable inconvenience and risk, especially in turning. To obviate
the evils and the risks arising from the use of the long shafts and poles here-
tofore employed, and to relieve the horse from the strains to which it is liable
when using ordinary shafts or poles, according to the present Invention very
short shafts are used, coming only to the horse's waist or middle, and requiring
the pad to be placed on the lowest part of the horse's back. The effect of
these is to enable the horse to set more round to its work in turning, having
no shaft obstructing it at the blade bone, and to step round accordingly with
greater freedom and facility, and to turn in a small space, as well as with more
ease and rapidity. As these shafts cannot touch the trace tugs, the harness
will be saved from being defaced by the shafts, and the leather on the shaft
points from being injured by the tugs; all risk of catching
bit, or trace round the point of the shaft is also removed.
the rein, the bar,
These shafts are

page_text: constructed without stops, their forward ends being bent somewhat downwards
and outwards, and with fixtures on the fore side of the back band tugs to
receive the belly band, which is thus attached on each side of the horse to the
shafts before the tugs, and is separate from the tugs and the rest of the
harness altogether, thus leaving the tugs on descending a hill, or stopping, at
liberty to ease back on the shaft as the horse drops back, relieving the
horse from the heavy strain occasioned by shafts with stops on his dock and
forelegs. The breeching is passed round the horse on each side through the
kicking strap, and is attached to the shafts far enough behind the back band
tugs to allow them plenty of play on the shafts in going down hill or stopping.
By the application of two pairs of the improved safety shafts instead of a
pole to a pair-horse carriage, all the difficulty and wear and tear of the horses
consequent on the use of a pole is avoided. The carriage may be turned with
ease and safety in a much smaller space than can possibly be done when a
pole is used, and in single harness, from the horses being unfettered by the
shafts forward, they walk or trot round with much greater freedom and ease.
Another advantage arising from the use of the improved safety shafts instead
of the pole is, that they afford perfect safety from all kickers, inasmuch as
each horse is under the same loin or kicking strap he would have in single
harness, which improves the appearance of every horse. When for four-in-
hand, the shafts being so short, are altogether out of the way of the trace
buckles, therefore, to these buckles the leaders may be attached in.long traces,
but only long enough to leave room for work. Leaders' traces are usually far
too long, they need only just room to work clear of the wheelers for going
down hill; if the leaders are gathered up short on an easy trace, the wheelers
also drop back as much, and thus the same distance is preserved. The
wheelers on this plan, like the leaders, have no weight on their withers or
necks, both are equally free. The draught of the leaders too is to assist and
not distress the wheelers. The inner shafts in double harness are fitted with
a coupling strap immediately before the breeching fixtures. Room must be
left for the back band tugs to ease back on the shaft on descending a hill, or
on "pulling up." Besides the coupling strap the inner shafts are armed each
with a guard or fender. This consists of a piece of iron from an inch and a
half in width. It is firmly attached to the shaft on the outside, or that side
which comes next to the adjacent shaft, and should present a flat surface to
that shaft. It should extend about three inches above and the same distance
below the shaft, which will make it altogether about eight inches in length,
partaking of the form of a segment of a circle, or slightly curved backward.
It is to be fixed on the fore side of the kicking strap, where the shafts begin

page_text: to diverge from each other, and may be thickened in and made very strong on
the side of the shaft to which it is attached. Each inner shaft is to be armed
with this, and these guards are to be so adjusted to the shafts that the two
flat surfaces of iron may meet and work evenly together. The slight curve
backward in the guards will make them work together under the action of the
horses. Thus each horse will work independent of the action of the other in
his own shafts, whilst the guards in the event of one horse breaking from his
trot and plunging in the direction of the other, will prevent the shafts from
over-riding each other. The coupling strap will prevent one guard from out
topping the other, and will at the same time connect and hold the whole
apparatus together. The inner shafts are prepared with hooks for both
breeching and kicking straps to receive eyes, which are to be buckled on
those straps on the inside.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Ashley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd May 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
ASHLEY, of 13, Grosvenor Place, Bath, Doctor of Laws, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Ashley, Her special licence that I, the said John Ashley,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Ashley, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and.
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain.and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
ATTACHING HORSES TO CARRIAGES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said John Ashley, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that 1, the said John Ashley, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
The shafts and poles at present in use for attaching horses to carriages in
single and double harness cause great distress to the horses, and are attended
with considerable inconvenience and risk, especially in turning. To obviate
the evils and the risks arising from the use of the long shafts and poles here-
tofore employed, and to relieve the horse from the strains to which it is liable
when using ordinary shafts or poles, according to the present Invention very
short shafts are used, coming only to the horse's waist or middle, and requiring
the pad to be placed on the lowest part of the horse's back. The effect of
these is to enable the horse to set more round to its work in turning, having
no shaft obstructing it at the blade bone, and to step round accordingly with
greater freedom and facility, and to turn in a smaller space, as well as with
more ease and rapidity. As these shafts cannot touch the trace tugs the
harness will be saved from being defaced by the shafts, and the leather on the
shaft points from being injured by the tugs; all risk of catching the rein, the
bar, bit, or trace round the point of the shaft is also removed. These shafts
are constructed without stops, their forward ends being bent somewhat down-
wards and outwards, and with fixtures on the fore side of the back band tugs
to receive the belly band, which is thus attached on each side of the horse to
the shafts before the tugs, and is separate from the tugs and the rest of the
harness altogether, thus leaving the tugs on descending a bill, or stopping, at
liberty to ease back on the shaft as the horse drops back, relieving the horse
from the heavy strain occasioned by shafts with stops on his dock and fore
legs. The breeching is passed round the horse on each side through the
kicking strap, and is attached to the shafts far enough behind the back
band tugs to allow them plenty of play on the shafts in going down hill,
or stopping.
Figure 1 of the Drawings shews a shaft constructed as above described,
without a stop, and with a loop to receive the belly band in front of the portion
of the shaft which receives the back band tugs. This Figure is drawn to a
scale of 2 inches to a foot, and represents the length of shaft I prefer to
employ for a horse of 17 hands high. The shaft is covered with leather two
feet back from the extreme point, and
the back part of the loop is 8 inches
measuring over the bow of the shaft. The belly band is, as before stated, only
passed through the loops, and is entirely separate from the rest of the harness.
the belly band loop a is fixed so that
from the back of the point leather

page_text: The back part 6 of the point leather receives the loop of the back band tug
(or tug which connects the shaft with the pad), and as there is no stop on the
shaft this back band tug can move to and fro on the shaft, and thus on going
down hill or when stopping no strain can come on it, but the horse will hold
back the carriage or other vehicle by the breeching. The strain on the
breeching will tend to lift the fore part of the shafts, but they are prevented
from rising by the belly band. The breeching is attached to each shaft by the
loop c upon it, and the kicking strap is connected to the shafts by the loop d.
For very light vehicles the breeching need not be employed when the part 6 of
the shaft is made curved, as shewn in the Drawing. The back band tug after
moving back some distance on the shaft will be prevented by the bend of the
shaft from moving further back. In such cases as where dog carts are already
fitted with long straight lancewood shafts they may be altered by removing
the stops, and adjusting the pad and belly band to work in the same manner
as when using short bent shafts, as above described. This will afford great
relief to the horse's fore legs, although all the advantages of the short shafts
will not be obtained. By the application of two pairs of the improved safety
shafts instead of a pole to a pair horse carriage, and arranging the harness as
before described, all the difficulty and wear and tear of the horses consequent
on the use of a pole are avoided, as the horse will be relieved from the strain
on the withers which is occasioned by the pole being connected to the collar;
and by which he holds back the whole weight of the carriage when stopping
or when going down hill. The carriage may also be turned with ease and
safety in a much smaller space than can possibly be done when a pole is used,
and as in the single harness just described, from the horses being unfettered
by the shafts forward they walk or trot round with much greater freedom
and ease. Another advantage arising from the use of the improved safety.
shafts instead of the pole is, that they afford perfect safety from all kickers,
inasmuch as each horse is under the same loin or kicking strap he would have
in single harness, which improves the appearance of every horse.
When for four-in-hand the shafts being so short are altogether out of the way
of the trace buckles, therefore to these buckles the leaders may be attached
in long traces, but only long enough to leave room for work. Leaders' traces
are usually far too long, they need only just room to work clear of the
wheelers; for going down hill if the leaders are gathered up short on an easy
trace, the wheelers also drop back as much, and thus the same distance is
preserved. The wheelers on this plan, like the leaders, have no weight on
their withers or necks, both are equally free. The draught of the leaders too,
is to assist and not distress the wheelers.

page_text: The outer shafts in double harness are the same as the shafts used for single
harness; the inner shafts are fitted with a coupling strap immediately before
the breeching fixtures, as shown at Figure 2. This Figure shews the two
inner shafts, and the coupling strap is marked e. Room must, however, be
left for the back band tugs to ease back on the shaft on descending a hill, or
on "pulling-up," as before described with reference to the single harness.
Besides the coupling strap e, the inner shafts are armed each with a guard or
fender f. This consists of a piece of iron from an inch to an inch and a half
in width. It is firmly attached to the shaft on the outside, or that side which
comes next to the adjacent shaft, and should present a flat surface to that
shaft. It should extend about three inches above and the same distance
below the shaft, which will make it altogether about eight inches in length,
partaking of the form of a segment of a circle, or slightly curved backward, as
is shown. It is to be fixed on the fore side of the kicking strap where the
shafts begin to diverge from each other, and may be thickened in and made
very strong on the side of the shaft to which it is attached. Each inner shaft
is to be armed with this, and these guards are to be so adjusted to the shafts
that the two flat surfaces of iron may meet and work evenly together. The
slight curve backward in the guards will make them work together under the
action of the horses. Thus each horse will work independent of the action of
the other in his own shafts, whilst the guards, in the event of one horse
breaking from his trot and plunging in the direction of the other, will prevent
the shafts from over-riding each other. The coupling strap will prevent one
guard from overtopping the other, and will at the same time connect and hold
the whole apparatus together. The inner shafts are each prepared with a hook
c¹ for the breeching strap, and with a hook d for the kicking strap; the hooks
receiving eyes which are buckled on to the straps on the inside. These hooks
are to facilitate the putting-to on the inside.
Figure 3 shows a plan of the bar I prefer to use for a pair-horse carriage,
but the ordinary straight or any other bar may be employed in place of it.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Ashley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this First day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
JOHN ASHLEY. (L.S.)