Patent Application
20240116747
The present disclosure relates to an articulating riding saddle and a pad for a riding saddle having a contoured shape to provide for continuous, conforming, supportive contact between the saddle and the back of a horse.
Traditional saddles have a solid backbone or “tree”, made of wood (more recently materials have included fiberglass, metal and plastic), round which leather (or synthetic equivalent) is mounted. Inevitably such a rigid structure placed on a moving surface raises difficulties with the fit of the saddle to the horse. In the case of the military and western saddles this is partially addressed by using a thick saddle blanket. However, with close contact saddles the issue is addressed by attention to fit, either by having a bespoke saddle made for the horse (which is very expensive), or by careful selection from a range of off the peg designs. It is estimated that a saddlery wishing to carry a basic range of off the peg saddles, covering the three main saddle styles (dressage, jumping, general purpose), in one single color option, and to fit most sizes of horse and rider, would have to stock in excess of 72 different saddles.
Even when a rider invests in a bespoke saddle, the traditional, static design based on a rigid tree does not allow for the changes in a horse's shape that occur as it moves, or as there are variations in its fitness. Even the best fitting saddle cannot distribute the pressure evenly throughout the range of a horse's movement, and even a well-fitting treed saddle will inevitably create pressure points on the horse's back, especially when turning tightly, where the saddle tree acts somewhat as a splint longitudinally on the spine, or when riding up or down hill or jumping, where the load is focused by the tree towards the front or back of the saddle. This can cause pain and restrict movement, and can potentially leading to a range of physiological and behavioral problems such as bucking, rearing, lameness, bruising of the muscles, muscular atrophy and in more severe cases, tissue necrosis.
Over the last thirty years several new designs of saddle have been developed, both to try to address the problems enumerated above, and to facilitate newly evolved riding disciplines such as endurance and vaulting. Most still use a static method of mounting the saddle on the horse. Many of these new designs are described as “treeless”, but in practice most are semi-treed, in that they have a rigid internal fitting at either the pommel or the cantle of the saddle. This can lead to weight being distributed over fewer points than a standard tree, which, in some circumstances, can exacerbate the problem. Saddles that have no tree at all do nothing to spread the pressure of the girth and the stirrups, the full force of which is therefore concentrated immediately over the mounting points. There is also a perception that such saddles are not as secure on the horse, as many treeless designs do not include a gullet, which has the effect of reducing lateral stability. A further disadvantage of many such saddles is that it is difficult to design them to look like the traditional English saddle, a look that is very popular in the market.
Thus, the present disclosure addresses the issues of comfort and the stability of the saddle when the horse is moving. Conventional devices suffer from several shortcomings such as those described above.
In some examples, a saddle tree having a longitudinal axis, a proximal end and a distal end, the saddle tree includes a proximal-most segment, a distal-most segment, at least one intermediate segment disposed between the proximal-most segment and the distal-most segment, a first articulation mechanism coupling each of the at least one intermediate segment to proximal ones, and a second articulation mechanism coupling each of the at least one intermediate segment to distal ones.
Various embodiments of the presently disclosed saddle tree are shown herein with reference to the drawings, wherein:
Various embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the appended drawings. It is to be appreciated that these drawings depict only some embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope.
Despite the various improvements that have been made to saddle trees and their methods of use, conventional devices suffer from some shortcomings as described above.
There therefore is a need for further improvements to the devices, systems, and methods of forming saddles. Among other advantages, the present disclosure may address one or more of these needs.
Specifically, saddle tree 105 may include a proximal-most segment 110a, at least one intermediate segment (two segments are shown and labeled 110b, 110c), and a distalmost segment 110d. Each of the intermediate segments are joined to neighboring segments on its proximal end and it distal end via articulation mechanisms.
In the example shown, the proximal-most segment 110a is joined to segment 110b via a pair of articulation mechanisms 140a disposed on contralateral sides of the longitudinal axis L1. The pair of articulating mechanisms may be symmetric and form a mirror image about longitudinal axis L1. Intermediate segment 110b is joined to proximal-most segment 110a via articulation mechanisms 140a and to intermediate segment 110c via articulation mechanisms 140b. Intermediate segment 110c is joined to intermediate segment 110b via articulation mechanisms 140b and to distalmost segment 110d via articulation mechanisms 140c. In some examples, each of the intermediate segments are joined to two pairs of articulation mechanisms and each of the terminal (e.g., proximal-most and distal-most) segments are joined to only a single pair of articulation mechanisms.
In some examples, each of the articulation mechanisms may be in the form of a hinge or slidable member so that the two adjacent segments may move, articulate, slide, rotate and/or translate relative to one another. In the example shown, articulation mechanism 140a includes a slot 146 of between 4 to 1 inch formed in the upper segments and a pin 147 fixed to the lower segment, the pin being moveable within the slot. Slot 146 may be linear or curved, and the shape, length and/or curvature of the slot may affect the movement of the segments relative to one another. In some examples, the segments are capable of articulating between 5 and 10 degrees relative to one other as shown by dashed lines M1, M2 in
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Although the invention herein has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it is to be understood that these embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles and applications of the present invention. It is therefore to be understood that numerous modifications may be made to the illustrative embodiments and that other arrangements may be devised without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.
It will be appreciated that the various dependent claims and the features set forth therein can be combined in different ways than presented in the initial claims. It will also be appreciated that the features described in connection with individual embodiments may be shared with others of the described embodiments.
