US1001542A

US1001542A - Combination saddle-blanket and horse-cover.

Info

Publication number: US1001542A
Application number: US59975710A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jesse Mccomas; James F S Howland
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1910-12-28
Filing date: 1910-12-28
Publication date: 1911-08-22
Anticipated expiration: 1928-08-22

Description

J. MoGOMAS & J. F. S. HOWLAND.

COMBINATION SADDLE BLANKET AND HORSE COVER.

APPLICATION FILED DBO. 28, 1910.

Patented Aug. 22, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. McCOMAS & J. P. S. HOWLAND.

COMBINATION SADDLE BLANKET AND HORSE COVER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 28, 1910.

Patented Aug. 22, 1911.

2 SHEETEP-SHEBT 2.

zuoawl e W/VW Mr- Monw COLUMIIIA I'LANOGRAPII 60., wnnmnma. In L UNITE dTATES PJtTENT FFTQE.

JESSE McCOll/IAS, OF LOS ANGELES, AND JAMES F. S. HOWLAND, OF INGLEWOOD;

CALIFORNIA.

COMBINATION SADDLE-BLANKET AND I-IORSECOVER.

To all whom "it may concern:

Beit known that we, Jnssn MoGoMAs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, California, and Janus F. S. .ITKHVLAND, a citizen of the United States, residing at the town of Inglewood, California, have invented a new and useful Combination Saddle-Blanket and Horse-Cover, of which the following is a specification.

Among the objects of this invention .is to provide a horse cover, especially adapted to military uses, of such acharacter that the same may at all times be conveniently kept with the horse so as always to have at hand means to afford the protection from cold and inclement weather which is most essential to the good health of the animal. This purpose is accomplished, in part, by adapting the horse cover to be folded up into a pad which may be conveniently carried over the saddle pad proper, the latter desirably being a relatively thick pad of hair or woolly material.

Our combination blanketand horse cover can be opened out into a perfect cover for the horse by slightly lifting the saddle from back of horse, said cover being converted from a saddle pad to a blanket while still on the back of the horse. The saddle can be placed on horscs back over hair pad and horse cover and the horse can then be ridden with the horse cover in use to protect him from the weather.

An important feature of the invention is that neither the surcingle straps nor any of the other attachments of the cover come under the saddle when said cover is folded up to form a pad.

By means of a thong the blanket is always held up from the withers of the horse in such a manner that it is absolutely impossible for either the pad or the blanket to slip to the rear under the saddle. The saddle pad being removably attached to the horse cover proper, it is held in place under the horse cover so that said pad can be turned over and used with first one side uppermost and then the other.

When employed for military purposes, this combination blanket not only provides warmth and protection for the horse at all times, but it removes from the wagon transportation one horse cover for each horse which, for a troop of cavalry at war strength, amounts to about 515 pounds.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 28, 1910.

Patented A11 22, 1911.

Serial No. 599,757.

Moreover, should the wagon transportation become stalled on the road and the troop or battery con'nnandcr wish to make camp during excessively cold weather, the horse has immediate protection by the use of this combination device. The combined weight of our horse cover and a suitable pad for placing thereunder scarcely exceeds the weight of the woolen saddle blanket now in use in the United States army. The cost of manufacturing this horse cover, including a suitable saddle pad to accompany same, will be considerably less than cost of manufacturing the horse cover and woolen saddle blanket now in use in the United States army.

The invention is primarily for military purposes, but is by no means limited to army use. llcretofore, so far as we are aware, no horse cover has been devised which is adapted to so great a variety of uses. Our horse cover when folded up makes a suitable saddle pad or is, at least, adapted to be placed upon a saddle pad and form a desir: able addition thereto.

\Ve believe that this invention embodies many broadly new features and many important advantages and we are aware that various modifications thereof may be made without departing from the general principles of the invention as embraced within the scope of the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings which illustrate the invention in what is at present deemed the preferable embodiment, Figure '1. is a side view of the body of a horse showing the cover in place in the extended position; Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective detail showing the pommel of the saddle and illustrating the means for securing the cover thereto to prevent the same from slipping to the rear; Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective of the horse cover .--l1()\\'l1ig the same folded up to form a saddle blanket and showing a saddle pad in place under said cover. This view also shows a fragment of the saddle cloth illustrated in Fig. 4t Fig. 4t is a perspective view on a reduced scale of a saddle cloth; Fig. 5 is a crosssection on line or of Fig. 3 on a still larger scale than that of Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is a plan view of the upper side of the entire horse cover showing the same in extended position; Fig. 7 is a cross-section on line :12 of Fig. 6.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the horse cover is designated in a general way by the numeral 1 (particular parts of said blanket will be specifically described and lettered). Said blanket is shown fully extended in Fig. 1 to protect the horse but in Fig. 2 it is shown folded up to for n a pad of restricted area which may be completely covered by saddle cloth 2 shown in detail in Fig. 1, said saddle cloth being also shown under the saddle 3 in Fig. 1. In order to keep said horse cover 1 from slipping toward the rear from under the saddle when the same is folded up as shown in Fig. 8, and also to prevent a tendency to slip to the rear such as would cause it when ext-ended to bind the chest of the horse, said horse cover 1 is provided with a fastening device desirably consisting of a strap 4t secured to said horse cover near the front edge thereof and adapted to cooperate with a stud 5 to which it is fastened, said stud being formed on the front side of the pommel 6 of the saddle as best shown in detail in Fig. 2. The saddle cloth 2 is provided with an opening 7 through the central part of the front portion thereof through which said fastening strap t. may extend. Said saddle cloth 2 is itself provided with a fastening strap 4, which may be withdrawn through the opening 7 and extended back under the saddle cloth as shown in Fig. 3, except when the cloth 2 alone is used under the saddle.

- The horse cover is provided with a front marginal portion or flap 8 and with a rear marginal portion or flap 9, said flaps being adapted to fold over upon the body portion of said cover when the same is folded up to form the pad shown in Fig. 3. The front flap 8 is provided with an aperture 11 through which the fastening strap 1 may extend when said flap is folded down upon the body portion of the horse cover, and the rear flap 9 is provided with a corresponding aperture 12 which comes into register with the front aperture 11 when both flaps are folded down upon the body of the horse cover. Either flap may lie on top of the other, the flap first folded down coming under the one last folded down, it being immaterial which is folded down first.

The horse cover is also provided with marginal side portions or flaps 13 and 14. As illustrated in the drawings, the flap 13 will come on the off side and the flap 1 1 on the near side of the horse when the horse cover is extended over the body of the horse. hen the side flaps 13 and let. are both folded down upon the back of the horse they will meet under the center of the saddle but will separate slightly over the withers and at the rear of the saddle on account of the two latter points being a little higher than the middle of the horses back. There will,

therefore, be room for the attaching strap 4 to extend up between the side flaps through the openings 11 and 12 in the horse cover and also through the opening 7 (see Fig. 4:) in the saddle cloth in order that said fastening strap 4 may be connected to the stud 5 carried by the pommel of the saddle. The lines along which the four flaps just described fold are dotted in Fig. 6.

In Fig. 1 the saddle is shown provided with the

usual quarter straps

15 and 16 which are connected to the surcingle 17. The horse cover is provided on each side with an elongated reinforced slit or aperture 18 through which the cinch may pass.

In order to hold the side portions of the extended horse cover down upon the body of the animal a. front surcingle 1.9 and rear surcingle 21 are provided. Said surcingles are formed on one side by means of surcingle straps 22 (see Fig. 6), carrying buckles 23 at their free ends and are attached at their other ends to the horse cover at points designated 24, said points being spaced away from the edge of the horse cover. Plain surcingle straps 25 are provided onto which the buckles 28 buckle to hold the horse cover in place. The latter straps 25 are likewise attached at points 26 spaced away from the margin of the flap on the near side of the horse so that when the surcingle is buckled under the horse the lower edges of these flaps hang free on each side to avoid interfering with the movements of the legs of the horse. At the front end of the horse cover the same is provided on one side of the horses neck with front buckles 27 and on the other side with strap ends 28 to hold the flap in place across the chest of the horse. As already stated the fastening strap 4 which is connected to the pommel of the saddlekeeps the connection formed by the straps 2S and buckles 27 from binding upon the chest of the horse. An important function is therefore secured from the combination of these two fastening elements and this is one important feature of the invention. At the rear of the horse cover a crupper strap 29 is provided to keep the rear portion of the cover in place. The ends of said crupper strap are attached to the cover by means of pivot rivets 36 which permit said strap 29 to straighten out as shown in Fig. 6 when the cover is folded up to form the pad, thus preventing said crupper at such time from projecting out into view.

The body portion of the horse cover is provided along its mid-width with main gussets 31, and along the mid-width of the rear flap is provided an auxiliary gusset 32. lVhether the saddle blanket is extended or folded up under the saddle the main gusset 31 causes the body of the cover to fit the hollow part of the horses back under the saddle. When the horse cover is extended the auxiliary gusset 32 causes the rear flap to fit over the swell of the back along the haunches, but when the rear flap is reversed by reason of being folded forward under the saddle, the convex side thereof fits into the concavity formed by the main gusset 31. Thus a perfect fit of the cover is secured both in the folded and unfolded positions. The latter feature of our invention we also consider to be broadly new.

The horse cover is provided on its under side with four keepers :53 consisting of connections having their ends attached to the cover to form loops. Said keepers are each adapted to receive one of the corners of an under pad 3st. It will be noted that these keepers S3 permit the insertion of the pad 34: either side up and also permit .its ready removal for cleaning. l urthermore said keepers perform their retaining function equally well whether the horse cover is in its folded or extended position. The cloth 2 (see Fig. -il-) may be provided with similar keepers 33, to hold another pad thereunder when a pad is used under the saddle without the horse cover.

The

surcingles

19 and 21, in addition to perforn'iing the function of holding the cover in place on the horse, serve to keep the flaps of the cover in place when said tlaps are folded to form a saddle pad as shown in Fig. 3. This result is accomplished largely by means of clasps 35 which contain sockets and are secured to the ends of the side [laps 13 and 14, the straps being provided with studs to cooperate with said sockets in the clasps.

o claim:

1. In combination, a horse cover provided with a strap extending from a. point located approximately at the mid-width of one face thereof when said cover is converted into a saddle pad to secure said cover to the saddle.

means for securing said strap to the saddle,

and a saddle-cloth adapted to lie between said cover and the saddle, said cloth having an aperture through which said strap extends.

2. A horse cover having a strap secured thereto, said horse-cover being adapted for folding upon itself to form a thicker cover of smaller area, there being an opening through an upper fold through which said strap may project when said cover folded. to form a saddle blanket and a cooperating securing means on the saddle for the said strap to keep said cover in place.

3. In combination, a horse cover provided with front and rear marginal portions or flaps adapted to fold over upon the body portion of said cover, said cover being also provided with marginal side portions or tlaps adapted to fold over upon said front and rear [laps after the same have been unfolded. means to fasten said front flap around the breast of the horse, means to fasten said rear llap down upon the horse, and means to engag: an upright stud on the ponunel of the saddle to keep the central or body portion of said horse cover in place, the parts being connected and arranged to hold said cover free from the withers of the horse.

-'l. In combination, a saddle pad, and a horse cover having on one side keepers into which the corners of said pad are adapted to slip, and on the reverse side means to at tach said cover to a saddle.

In combiinition, a rectangular saddle pad, and a, horse cover having on one side four connections attached thereto to form keeping loops adapted to receive the corner portioi'is of said pad. and on the reverse side means to attach said cover to a saddle.

(3. A horse blanket adapted to be folded into a saddle pad having a t\\'opa1't connection adapted to form a. surcingle, the two parts of said connection being adapted to be connected together to hold said cover folded into a. pad form, and fastening devices to connect an intermediate portion of said connection with said cover when folded into a pad.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto signed our names in the presence of two subscribing witnesses at Los Angeles, California, this 21st day of llccember, 1.5)10.

JESS l) M( :Ct )MA S. JAMES F. S. IIOWI'ANI).

lVitnesses ALnnn'r ll. Ml-iuni'nn, FRAN Ii l V. IlovnY.

Copies of this patent; may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C.