GB2488030A - Girth strap - Google Patents

Abstract

A device 10 for securing a saddle to a horse comprises an elongate support member 12 with a central section 13 and connection means 15a, 15b in form of buckles 16 at each end for connecting the device to a saddle. Two side sections 17a, 17b extend between the central section 13 and respective connection means 15a, 15b and include guiding portions 20a, 20b. Positioned at the leading edge of each side section 17a, 17b, at the edge positioned closest to the front legs of the horse, the guiding portions 20a, 20b are made of a resilient deformable material such as foam covered in soft leather, and provide a guide or flap which adapts to the contours of the musculature of the horse, preventing excessive pressure on the tissues trapped between the girth and the horseâ s leg during movement.

Description

TtIe: A device for securing a sadde to: an eqthne 5: J»=ctJpJiqn QIJflVeflti�fl This invention:reated. tb a device for:secutit a saddle to an eqUin�. More : particulady, the: invëntIoP r&ätes to a gfrth (sOmetimes atso roferred to Em. a cinch) which is used to keep a saddle securely in position on an eqwne, e g a horse A girth typically takes the form of a generally elongate strap usually manufactured from Feather which includes at each end buckles or the like for connecting the girth to the saddle The girth passes under a barrel of the animal and i:s:tensi'oiled' to ensure that the saddle' IS' held securely in a: desired position on the horse's back.

In more detail, the girth is po&tioned towards a forward, usually short. .est in circumference, patt of the barrel of the equine,, behind the horse's elbows. As a result of its location, and the tension required to ensure that the.saddl.e remains in situ, prior art girths can, and often do, cause sores (known as girth galls) due to rubbing of the leather of the girth on the horse's skin behind its elbow, Prior art glrths: can also cause in juries to the muscles located around the barrel.�f the horse dueto entrapment between the horse's leg and the girth during gait Muscles: which experience such., entrapment and increased pressure during gait include but are not limited to the caudal deep pectoral, 25: external abdominal. obliqUe., rectus abdorninis and external intercostàls musoles.

In order to address these issues, various shapes of gwth have been proposed including versions with cut out sections to limit the amount of pressure experienced by these. muscles. Other designs. have included padding cushions, positioned. between the girth and the skin of the horse:,. so as to reduce discomfort caused by contact between the re. Jatively rigid, leather of a girth and. the skin. Such padding cushions are aimed. at improving "static" comfort for the horse, not dynamic comfort whilst the horse is being:, ridden.

Thus, whilst such priOr art girths may work to a limited extent: for some equines, they are not suited to all shapes and sizes, nor do they reduce greatly the focal point pressures: exerted on particular musculature of the' equine.

According to a first aspect of the invention we: provide a device as set forth in daimi.

Further features of' the device of the first SpOof of the invention are setforth in the d:e�endent Sims appended hereto.

According to a second aspect of the invention we provide a saddle system including a deviceaccording to the first aspect of the invention.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings of which: Figure 1 is a plan view Of a device in accordance with the first aspect of the invention: Figure 2 is an' underside view of the device of figure 1; Figure 3 is:a side vieW of aleading edge of the dece of figu re 1; Figure 4 is aside view of the device Of figure 1 in position on a standing horse; Figure 5 is a side view of a horsewearihg the device of figure i during gait; Figure 6 is a side: view corresponding to figure 5, but with th:e horse in a subsequent position of its gait; and Figure 7 is an end view of the device viewed from the leading edge direction, with the device curved as it would be in use extending around an. equine's barreL Referring to the figures there is shown a device: 10 in accordance with the first aspect of the invention The device is in ths example a girth' for securing a saddle (not shown in the figures) to an equine 30 (see figures 5 and 6) Whilst the device may be used for securing a saddle to any type of equine, the following examples have been described with reference to a horse It should be. noted that the device of:the, present ihvention could b,e used for securing any sadale in position on any appropriate arumal, whether equine or non-eqqine.

The device 10 is generafly elongate, as is necessary for its intended fUhction (to extend around the barrel of a horse), and includes a support member 12 which is made from: relatively thick and stif. lEather. It could be made from any other suitable natural or synthetic material.

The device 10 includes cob nection means 1 5aM, one positioned at. eabh end ofthe support me mber 12. in this example each connection means. inc,udes a pair of buckles 16 which (as can be seen n figures 4 through 6) connect to straps 25 which in turn are connected to a saddle (not shown) in order to fasten the'sadd,I.e tc:the horse.30 secUrely.. A's such buckles àt' well khdwn in the art, they will not be discussed in' any further detail hereifl,.

The support member has a generally central section 13 and a pair of side sections 1 7a, which are, positioned between the central section 13 and the coh:nection means' ttsa',b. In use, the' generally' central section 1.3. i's positioned directly underneath the larrel of the horse: and: engages the horse's. sternum.

The side sections 1 5a,h each extend from the central section 13 around the barrel upwardly directly behind the hors&s elbow and towards the saddle where the.connecflon means 1 5a,b connect to the sadde to secure it in position.

Advantageou&y, the device I U includes: a resilient deforrnable guide part 20.arb positioned a a leading edge:f each side section 1 7a,b. "Leading edge as used herein, refers to an edge of the girth which, when the girth is positioned on a horse faces a forward direction of travel of the horse The leading edge is a'so the edge of the device 10 which is positioned closest to the. front legs of the horse.

In the present example the guide parts 20a,b are part of a continuous deformable member which extends arouno the periphery of the support member 12 The deformable member/guide parts are made from a resilient ddfOrmable material., vhich in the present example is a foam ccvered in a soft leather. The foam is preferabjy a polystyrene butadiene rubber.

As can be seen from the figures. the deformable member/guide parts are connected to the support member 12 (they are stitched to it), but it.should be appreciated that they cOuld be integral wtth the support member 12 dependIng on the matedal of manufacture thereof.

As can be seen from figures 4 through 6 the deformable guide parts 20a b extend further forwardl.y from a periphery of the sUppbrt member 1.2 than the remainder. of the.deform.able member. Each guide part 20a,b has.a deformable guiding portion 21, compnsing a portion of the guide part 20a,b with increased width In embodiments, each guiding portion 21 is cisposed substantially midway (e.g. centrally) between the central section 13 and a respective conhectibn means I 5a,b. In alternative embodiments. the guiding pcrtion 21 is dIsposed. closer to the central section 13 than to the: connection means I 5a,b, In yet. further alternative embodiments the guiding portion.21 is : disposed closer to a respecUve connectibn means I 5,b than to the centrai section 13.

The gukiing portion. 21 provides "guiding" to the muscles of the ho. rse during g&t, and is shaped so as to lieS over the surface of the muscles aid deform with the musdes as they flex during movert. ent As shown in the figures1 each guide. part 2'Oa,b tapers in width, in the leading edge direction as: it extends towards' the central sectiOn 13. Each defo.rrtiable' guide part 20a,b also tapers in the opposite direction as it extends towards the connection means t5a,b The narrower thewidth of the guide. part 2Qab, the less flexible it is, in general terms, in relation to the support member 12 The width' where used herein, refers to the measurement outwardly from the edge 23a between the support member 12 arid çUide: part 20a,b in the direction of the outer edge 23bof:the respective guide. part 20a,b (as shown in Figure 2).

The guiding portion 21 of each guide part 20a,b provides a flap which is flexible relative to thE support member 12, and adapts to the cc.htours of the musculature of the horse.

Thus., the guide parts 20a,b in the present example provide. a resilient deformable guide, having a generally centrally located flap which is nighly advantageous in spreading and distributing pressure exerted by the girth over a larger area of the surface of the horse so as to prevent or at least inhibit excessive:pres:sure on the. muscles/tissue of the: horse Which during git are entrapped between the: girth and the horse's leg Figures 4 thrOugh 6 shOw views of the device. 10 ih use positioned around the barrel of a horse 3ft Figure 7 also shows the' device 10 substantially' in an "in use" curved configuration, but without the horse shown, so that the position and shape ofthe guide parts 20a,b can more easily be seen. In figures 4 to 6 the front legs of the horse are indicated leff and "hght', and its front elbow indicated by the letter E. The muscles of thehorse which tend to be entrapped are indicated generafly by the letter M. : 5 DurIng gait, it can be seen particularly when the. :hors&s left (or indeed right) front leg has moved rearwardly, thernus les M are compressed bsty.een the girth 10 and the horses leg In pnor art girths compression in this area can lead to excesswe pressure on those muscles which can lead to skin sores and potentially muscle injunes Some forms of pnor art girth include a form of ciishiohing between the girth and the skin of the horse, btt do not have flaps as provided byte present i:nventjon so as to guide the musculature of horse smoothly under the girth1 and to distribute the pressure in the area of the muscles Thus such prior art girths have at most a marginal effect in redUcing these: p'rOblatn.. However, the construction of the device' 10, Of the present invention significantly reduces the pressure exerted on the musculature M during gait. This is because; as the left leg (shown in the example) moves rearwardly, the resiliently deformable guiding portion 21 deforms downwardly'and outwardly (away from the barrel of the. horse.30) and acts so as to guide the muscies underneath the guide part 20b. and. under the.

support member 12. When the left lag' moves forwardly, the resilier ce of the guiding portion 21 and guide part 20b means that it substantially resumes it original positiOn. This also provides additional cushioning and comfottto the *hcrsé This guiding functionality as provided by the present invention greatly reduces the chance of injury and also provides for a much more comfortable nding experience for the horse The device of the present invention has also been shown to increase range of a movement of the' horse's front legs, thus providing gains in performance of the horse. The, device has also been shown to reduce pressure peaks on the horse's muscles during gait by redistributing pressure more evenly over the muscles located behind the hors&s elbow. The device has also been shown to improve the symi etry of gait of the horse, Many variatiOns can be made to the device 110 as shown CboVe without departing from the scope of the present inventIon. in particular, it is not necessary for the central section 13.to be positioned further forwardly than the side sections 17a,b Instead, the device 10 could take the form of a generally straight support member instead of the profiled support member 12 as shown in the examples: aboVe. It should also be ncted that other shapes of support member could be provided without departing from the scope on the invention so long as thse devices included deformable guiding portions on the side sections thereof, which are, in use, aligned wIth the horse's eWows..

Claims (3)

1. CLAD MS1. A device for securing a saddle to an equine, the device including a generafly elongate support member,having a generany central section;.connection means at or near eact. end of the support member for connecting the device to a sadde;.two side. seoflons, ech of which extends between the central section and a resp'eciive connection meabs; and a resi.lieh.t guide att posItioned at a leading edçe of each side. section., each guide part incluthng a portion of increased width forming a deformable guldhig portion for guiding. the equine's musculature underneath the support member.
2. 2 A device according to claim I wherein each guiding portion is disposed substantially midway between the central section and a respective. connection means.
3. 3. A device according to claim I wherein, each guiding portion is disposed 20.c1ser to the central section than to its. respective connection means.

   4 A device according to claim I wherein each guiding portion is disposed closer to its' respective ccnnection means than to the central section.

   5 A device according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the deformable guide parts are integral with the support memoer 6:. A device. according to any one cf c,laftns I tc. 5 wherein the d.eformàble guide parts are connected to the support member: 3d 7. A device according to any preceding claim whern the support member isstiffer than the deformable guide parts.8. A device àcdording to any precedThg claim wherein the defOrmable gUide parts are: re&liehtlydeformable.9. A devc.e according to any preceding claim wherein each:deformable guiding portion is positioned such that, in use it is adjacent arid rearwardly of a respective elbow of the equine. 1:0A device according to any preceding ctairn wherein the guide parts positioned at the leading edge of each side section are connected by a further guide part 1.1. A devibe accOrding to any preceding Ota till wherein the guide: parts are part of a continuous: guide part positioned at a leading edge of the �jce, the guide part extending from one side section of the device to the other side section of the device..12 A dece according to any preceding claim wherein the generally central section extends further forwardly in the direction of the leading edge than the side:sections 13 A device according to any preceding claim wherein each guide nart tapers in width,..as it extends' ire mthe sidesection towardsthe. centrat section.14. A deylde: according to any preceding claim wherein each guide part tapers in width, a's' itektdhds from the side sectiOn towards the conhection means. 10.15. A device according to any preceding daim wherein each guiding portion extends further fonwardy from the support member at a position which in use IS substantially rearwardly of the equine's elbow.16. A device accOrdkg to any precöding claim wherein the guide carts are a covered foam material.17. A device according to daim 14 wherein the foam is cove.: red. with soft Feather.18 A device according to any preceding dawn wherein the support member is leather.19. A saddle system fOr an equine induding a device according to any one of the preceding claims.20. A device substantially as hereinbelore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying.drawirigs.: 21.. Any novel feature or novel combination of features described herein and/or in the accompanying drawings.