AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF LADIES' SIDE SADDLE
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Greaves, of Gerrard Street, Soho, in the
County of Middlesex, Saddle-tree Manufacturer, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF LADIES' SIDE SADDLE."-A communication
from Henry Adams, of New York.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Greaves at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th November 1856.
I, JAMES GREAVES, of Gerrard Street, Soho, in the County of Middlesex,
Saddle-tree Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF LADIES' SIDE SADDLE," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to give horsewomen a safer, more elegant,
and comfortable seat on horseback than is now obtained by the use of the.
common side saddle, and at the same time to prevent the unequal pressure
of the saddle upon the borse's back, the effect of which is to strain the horse's
loins. These advantages are obtained by attaching the near-side horn to the
side of the tree near the front, and some distance below the head of the
saddle-tree, and also affixing the leaping horn to the near-side born.
In carrying out the Invention a tree is employed very similar in form to
that used in making a man's saddle. To this tree the near-side horn is
rivetted, so as to set on one side of the head of the tree, being attached to tho
front and side bars, in order to have a firm support; it may, however, be
attached simply to the side bar or front bar if thought desirable.

page_text: In sitting upon the saddle the legs of the rider are brought nearly close
together, ono over the near horn and the other under the leaping horn, her
right leg being neither twisted nor turned, her body is erect and in an elegant
posture, and she rides with the greatest ease and conscious safety, as she
can hug the horns with her legs in the firmest manner without the least
change in the position of her body.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Greaves in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th May 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
GREAVES, of Gerrard Street, Soho, in the County of Middlesex, Saddle-tree
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Iler
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
the said James Greaves, Her special license that I, the said James Greaves,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
James Greaves, 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 "AN IMPROVED
CONSTRUCTION OF LADIES' SIDE SADDLE," being a communication from Henry
Adams, of New York, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
James Greaves, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the samo was to be performed, and cause the same to be
filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
1
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Greaves, 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 tho
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,.
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
The object of this Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign.

page_text: correspondent, is to give horsewomen a safer, more elegant, and comfortable
seat on horseback than is now obtained by the use of the common side saddle,
and at the same time to prevent the unequal pressure of the saddle upon
the horse's back, the effect of which is more or less to strain the horse's loins.
These advantages are obtained by re-arranging the position of the horns on
the saddle. Thus, according to this Invention, the near-side horn is attached
to the side of the saddle-tree near the front, and some distance below the
head of the saddle-tree, and the leaping horn is attached to the near-side
horn.
In the accompanying Drawing the improvement in ladies' side saddles is
shewn in contrast with the old mode of arranging the horns. Figures 1 and 2
shew, in perspective and front view, a saddle-tree of the old construction; and
Figures 3 and 4 shew a saddle-tree with the improvement applied thereto,
both in perspective and front view.
In order to explain fully the merits of the improved saddle, the Inventor
remarks that ever since the Invention of the ladies' riding saddle the near-
side horn" a (Figures 1 and 2) has been secured in the head of the tree,
the "leaping horn" 6 being set some distance from and below it. This not
merely obliges the horsewoman to sit with her legs stretched uncomfortably
far apart, but her right leg is thrown up and turned in a very awkward and
tiresome position, while the left leg hugs under the leaping horn b. Sitting
thus in the saddle renders it necessary for the horsewoman to bend her body
ungracefully forward, in order to hug tightly to the horns with her legs, and
consequently the weight is thrown back too far, and the head of the tree
forced to the left side, and a strain is created across the loins of the horse
and on the off side of tho wither, as at c (Fig. 2). It is also necessary, owing
to the near born being so high, to pad the back part of the saddle several
inches, with the view to obtain (but without success) a horizontal seat, and
the saddle is thus rendered clumsy, and has its leverage increased to such
an extent that the weight and motion of the rider and her awkward position
causes the saddle very often to slip round and throw the rider.
Now, by the arrangement shewn in Figures 3 and 4, these defects in the
ladies' riding saddle are entirely removed. The near-sido horn 1, it will be
seen, is placed on the side of the tree near the front, and some distance below
the head of the same; and the leaping horn 2 is attached to the near-side
born 1, so as to give the rider a close grip instead of the wide spread she
has in the old style of saddle, shewn at Fig. 2. By reference to Fig. 4, it
will be seen, from the line drawn through the centre of the tree, that it is
impossible for this tree to hurt on the off-side of wither 3.

page_text: In carrying out the Invention a tree A is employed, very similar in form
to that used in making a man's saddle. To this tree is rivetted the near-side
horn, which is of the form shown at Figures 3 and 4. This horn is set on
one side of the lead of the trec, and is attached to the front bar 4 and side
bar 5, as shown, in order that it may have a firm support; it may, however,
if preferred, be attached simply to the side bar or to the front bar, as deemed
necessary or best.
When sitting upon a saddle fitted with a saddle-tree thus provided, tho
legs of the rider will be brought nearly close together, one over the near horn
and the other under the leaping horn, but the right leg will not be twisted or
turned; her body will be erect and in an elegant posture, and sho will ride
with the greatest case and conscious safety, as she can hug the horns with
her legs in the firinest manner without the least change in the position of
her body. Thus sitting upon the horse enables a lady to ride a greater length
of time without being fatigued or feeling lame for some time after riding.
It also saves the horse from being injured across the loins, as the weight is
not thrown so far back as when riding in the old style of saddle, owing to
the position of the right leg being brought below the head of the tree.
. Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "An Improved
Construction of Ladies' Side Saddle," as communicated to me by my foreign
correspondent, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited
Letters Patent I claim, arranging the near-sido horn, with the leaping horn
attached thereto, on the side of the saddle-tree near the front, and a short
distance below the head of the same, substantially as and for the purpose
herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Greaves, have hereunto set my
band and seal, the Fourteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
JAMES GREAVES. (L.s.)