GB2161689A

GB2161689A - Animal handling aid

Info

Publication number: GB2161689A
Application number: GB08515286A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Victor Francis Beasley
Original assignee: BEASLEY MARIANNE ELIZABETH
Current assignee: BEASLEY MARIANNE ELIZABETH
Priority date: 1984-06-16
Filing date: 1985-06-17
Publication date: 1986-01-22
Also published as: GB8515286D0

Abstract

The present invention relates to an animal handling aid 1 suitable for use in driving a quadruped 2 into a confined space. The aid 1 comprises a flexible elongate trace 3 disposable around the rear and sides 10 of the quadruped 2 and in front of said quadruped 2, with hand grips 4 at the forwardly projecting portion 5, and a support member 6 connected to respective side portions of said trace 3 disposed at opposite sides of the quadruped 2. The support member 6 is formed and arranged so as to be disposable across the back of said quadruped at a rearward part of said back so as to support said trace side portions adjacent the sides of said quadruped 2. At least part of the trace 3 has a roughened surface engagable with the sides and/or rear 10 of the quadruped 2 so as to produce a light irritation upon drawing thereof across the sides 10 by pulling on said hand grips 4. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Animal handling aid The present invention relates to an animal handling aid suitable for use in driving a quadriped into a confined space.

It is often required to drive an animal into a confined space for example when loading a horse into a horse-box. This operation can however involve great difficulty and be very time-consuming where the animal is reluctant to enter the box and many different solutions to this problem have previously been tried. In general though these methods involve a degree of risk of injury to the animal and/or the animal handler and/or the animal not responding positively to the means used.

It is an object of the present invention to avoid or minimize one or more of the above disadvantages.

The present invention provides an animal handling aid suitable for use in driving a quadriped into a confined space which aid comprises a flexible elongate trace means disposable in use so as to extend around the rear and sides of said quadriped and in front of said quadriped, with hand grip means at the forwardly projecting portion, and a support member connected to respective side portions of said trace means disposed, in use, at opposite sides of said quadriped, said support member being formed and arranged so as to be disposable, in use, across the back of said quadriped art a rearward part of said back so as to support said trace means side portions adjacent the sides of said quadriped, at least part of said trace means having a roughened surface engageable with the sides and/or rear of said quadriped so as to produce a light irritation thereat upon drawing thereof across said sides by pulling on said hand grip means.

In use of the aid of the present invention, the aid is placed over the back of the animal so that the support member sits on its back towards the rear thereof holding the rear parts of the trace means up at about the lower part of the flanks, the front parts of the trace means being held with the aid of the hand grip means through which a forward pull is applied drawing the trace means in around the hindquarters and holding the front parts up along the flanks. By varying the direction and force of the pull the trace means may be pulled back and forth around the hindquarters and flanks rubbing therealong and producing a light irritation. The animal's natural and often more or less immediate response tends to be to move forward and thus the animal may be readily moved in a desired direction.

It will be noted that the aid of the present invention is of relatively simple and economic construction and can be readily placed in the required position and does not require fastening to the animal. In order to maintain an effective position it will be appreciated though that the aid requires to be dimensioned to suit the size of the animal especially with regard to the size of the support member and the position of the connections between it and the trace means. In regard to the former the support member is desirably made to be adjustable in length e.g. by being formed in two parts connected by buckle means.In regard to the positioning of the support member-trace means interconnection it is preferred that this should be via a free sliding connection means such as loops at each end of the support member through which the trace means are threaded so that the reciprocal movement of the trace means does not significantly disturb the position of the support member on the animal's back e.g. so as to cause it to ride up and off the rear end of the animal. By providing stop means on the trace means either side of said sliding connection means the position of the support member may be remotely controlled to some extent through the reciprocal movement of the trace means.

Further preferred features and advantages of the present invention will appear from the following detailed description given by way of example of a preferred embodiment illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. lisa side elevation of an aid of the invention in use on a horse; and Fig. 2 is a plan view of the aid of Fig. 1.

Fig. 1 shows a handling aid 1 in use on a horse 2.

The handling aid 1 comprises a flexible elongate trace means 3 provided with hand grips in the form of loops 4 at each end 5, and a shorter support member 6 provided at each end 7 with sliding engagement means in the form of loops 8 through which the trace means 3 is threaded at opposite sides of the horse 2 (see Fig. 2).

The trace means 3 is also provided with two pairs of spaced apart stop means 9, conveniently in the form of lugs or discs or like members, secured to the trace means at positions in proximity to but slightly forward of each hind leg 10 when the trace means is supported around the horse 2 in use as shown in the drawings, for limiting relative movement between the support member and trace means beyond a predetermined extent thereby facilitating maintenance of the correct position of the support member on the horse's back whilst permitting the necessary free reciprocal movement of the trace means.

The trace means 3 is in the form of a hard rope for example a polypropylene rope such as a three stranded rope, which presents a relatively rough surface which when lightly drawn across the horse's skin produces a mild albeit distinct superficial irritation along the contact area. As may be seen in Fig. 2 the contact area (indicated by the arrows in Fig. 2) extends substantially along each side 11 of the horse as well as around its rear 12 and the resulting sensation tends to result in a rapid and positive response which is generally in the form of a brisk forward movement. An important advantage is that this positive response can be achieved with a relatively light rubbing action thereby avoiding the risk of any injury to the animal or its skin.Naturally the area of irritation can be varied by changing the contact area for example by including softer surface sections in the trace means and/or by bringing the trace means more or less into one side of the horse than the other thereby applying a stronger irritation to one side. This can be used to advantage to counteract an undesired sideways movement of the horse or induce a desired one. As the support member merely functions to support the weight of the trace means it may be relatively lightweight and of any suitable form e.g. a polyamide strap.

As may be seen in the drawings the trace means and support member are formed and dimensioned so that the support member supports the trace means along the lower edge of the flanks and at about the same level around the rear (either over or under the tail) and in particular so that the trace means does not fall down onto the lower leg or hocks of the horse.

It will be apparent from the drawings that the handler 13 stands at the front end of the animal enabling him better to control the direction of the animal and the aid does not require anyone to stand at the rear of the animal and be exposed to the danger of being kicked.

Although the above embodiment has been described with reference to equine species it will be appreciated that it may also be used with other quadripeds of generally similar configuration e.g.

bovine species.

The present invention also extends to a method of driving a quadriped animal in a desired direction comprising the steps of placing a handling aid of the invention onto the animal with the support member across the back, the trace means extending around the rear end and sides in contact therewith and holding the hand grip means at the front of the animal, and applying a pulling force to each end of the trace means alternately so as to induce a reciprocal movement of the trace means around the animal with a light rubbing action on its skin.

Claims

1. An animal handling aid suitable for use in driving a quadriped into a confined space which aid comprises a flexible elongate trace means disposable in use so as to extend around the rear and sides of said quadriped and in front of said quadriped, with hand grip means at the forwardly projecting portion, and a support member connected to respective side portions of said trace means disposed, in use, at opposite sides of said quadriped, said support member being formed and arranged so as to be disposable, in use, across the back of said quadriped at a rearward part of said back so as to support said trace means side portions adjacent the sides of said quadriped, at least part of said trace means having a roughened surface engageable with the sides and/or rear of said quadriped so as to produce a light irritation thereat upon the drawing thereof across said sides by pulling on said hand grip means.

2. A handling aid as claimed in claim 1 wherein the support member is formed and arranged so as to be adjustable in length for use of the aid on differently sized animals.

3. A handling aid as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the support member has sliding connection means provided at each end for substantially free sliding connection of the trace means therewith.

4. A handling aid as claimed in claim 3 wherein said sliding connection means comprise loops.

5. A handling aid as claimed in claim 3 or 4 wherein said trace is provided with spaced apart stop means at each side for abutment with said sliding connection means so as to limit the extent of the free sliding movement of said trace means relative to the support member.

6. A handling aid as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the trace means comprises a hard rope.

7. A handling aid as claimed in claim 6 wherein the rope is multistranded having a smail plurality of strands laid so as to present a longitudinally irregular outer surface on said rope.

8. A method of driving a quadriped animal in a desired direction comprising the steps of placing a handling aid according to claim 1 onto the animal with the support member across the back, the trace means extending around the rear end and sides in contact therewith and holding the hand grip means at the front of the animal, and applying a pulling force to each end of the trace means alternately so as to induce a reciprocal movement of the trace means around the animal with a light rubbing action on its skin.

9. A method as claimed in claim 8 wherein the trace is supported along the lower edge of the flanks of the quadriped.

10. An animal handling aid suitable for use in driving a quadriped into a confined space substantially as described hereinbefore with particular reference to the accompanying drawings.

11. A method of driving a quadriped animal in a desired direction substantially as described hereinbefore with particular reference to the accompanying drawings.