Harness for working animal – Breaking and training devices
Patent
1991-10-03
1993-08-03
Swiatek, Robert P.
Harness for working animal
Breaking and training devices
54 61, B68B 100
Patent
active
052318184
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to an equestrain training aid, specifically a gymnastic weight for encouraging correct head carriage, and promoting correct muscular development.
In training horses and ponies for the saddle, or draft, it is important for the animal to learn correct head carriage and bit contact, so that guidance given by the rider via the reins may be effective even when applied gently. With correct carriage, the mouth remains sensitive to the bit without pain, so that gently applied pressure will suffice to guide the horse. If the head is carried incorrectly, particularly too high and forward, the mouth becomes damaged and loses sensitivity due to scarring so that gentle guidance becomes difficult.
The head carriage can be influenced, both in riding and in lungeing (that is walking, trotting and cantering the horse in a circle on the end of a long rein held by the trainer who stands at the centre), by devices such as side reins, running reins, or martingales. Disadvantages of the martingale and its variants are that it restricts the natural head movements of the horse and when removed the horse is encouraged to resume its faulty head carriage, so that the martingale becomes a permanent necessity.
Side reins are a useful aid, but their main disadvantage is that being unyielding in tension, the head is unable to move forward beyond the fixed rein length when it would need to do so, e.g. for the horse to maintain its balance, and secondly, as they work only in tension, they do not prevent the horse from overbending to avoid contact on the bit. The first can be overcome partly by the use of elastic side reins, but the second cannot be overcome by any sort of rein, and at present no aid which avoids overbending is available. All present aids may be characterised as tensile restraints which the horse pulls against.
An object of the invention is to provide an equestrian training aid which will help to develop correct head carriage and contact on the bit which can avoid or overcome the disadvantages of martingales, side reins, and similar devices.
A second object of the invention is to promote and accelerate correct muscular development along the top line of the horse, i.e. the upper neck, withers and back. In standard training on the lunge the horse is encouraged by means of aids from the lunge line and whip to lower his head and neck during which the greatest activation of top line muscles occurs, in addition to which the act of raising and lowering the neck is achieved by the action of the same muscles thus promoting this development. This activity is not easily achieved by the trainer and often quite small periods of correct action occur during the lungeing session. The invention produces the required result without aids from the trainer.
A third object of the invention is to produce free forward going action, normally described as the horse working "through" correctly.
A fourth object of the invention is to encourage even and symmetrical action and posture. In common with all vertebrate animals, including man, horses are not naturally endowed with perfect bilateral symmetry. Consequently, unless corrected, they will move in a manner which favours the weaker areas, further accentuating the asymmetry to the detriment of the horses athletic ability and making him unpleasant to ride. The most noticeable manifestation of this problem is when horses bend the neck to carry the head to one side. This is particularly undesirable as even contact on the bit is not achieved making precise control impossible. In established training methods, the correction is achieved, or attempted, by subtle adjustments to the rider's seat and aids. This is difficult and is only achieved by expert, sensitive riders. The invention provides a corrective stimulus while the horse is lunged and may be used in a special manner to correct specific faults as described below.
A fifth object of the invention is to discourage tight grasping of the bit in the horses's jaws; a serious fault which, when learned, enables the horse to evade the
REFERENCES:
patent: 1529471 (1925-03-01), Edwards
patent: 1932910 (1933-10-01), Powers
patent: 2349375 (1944-05-01), Ray
patent: 3306005 (1967-02-01), Stafford
patent: 4813213 (1989-03-01), Nicowski
Litman Richard C.
Swiatek Robert P.
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