Safety Halter for Horses

The invention relates to an improved halter primarily for use on horses.

Many horse owners put halters on horses when they are at pasture or in corrals so that when they are caught for riding or other purposes it is a simple matter to attach a lead rope to the halter and to lead the horse to the place where it is to be saddled or put to some other use.

Past experience has shown that horses with bridles sometimes catch portions of the bridles on fence posts or other anchored structures and in an attempt to pull free often injure themselves. Furthermore, even though the horse may not be injured, the struggles of the animal to free himself frequently cause damage to or destruction of the halter.

It is a general object of the invention to provide a halter construction which, when the animal becomes entangled by the halter with some anchored object, the struggle of the horse to free himself will create sufficient force to permit parts of the halter to separate so that the horse can free himself of the halter and neither the animal nor the harness will be injured.

The above and other objects will more fully appear from the following description in connection with the accompanying drawing.

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of an embodiment of the invention with the head and neck portions of a horse shown therewith.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged detail, with portions broken away and portions shown in alternate positions in full and broken lines, this view being taken approximately on the circle 2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken approximately on the line 3--3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but with the halter shown caught over a post and parts of it separated due to the tension applied by the horse.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a portion of the structure shown in FIG. 3 with the halter strap connections shown in a different adjusted position.

There is illustrated a halter which includes a nose band 6 and a headstall 8, the latter being in the form of a strap-like portion which encircles the forward or upper part of the neck of the horse just behind the head, a ring 10 being located in the encircling strap of the headstall 8 at both sides (only one being shown). This ring is provided for the connection of a cheek piece 12 in the form of a strap at each side leading from the ring 10 to a "square" 14 connected in the nose band strap 6 in the customary manner. There is also a throat strap 16 which is connected from the lower section 18 of the headstall 8 to a ring 20 in the lower portion of the nose band strap 6.

The headstall 8, in its upper portion, includes a strap section 22 having a series of holes 24 which are adapted to selectively receive a tongue 26 pivotally mounted on a cross-bar 28 extending between the vertical spaced sides 30 of a conventional buckle generally indicated at 32. The buckle 32 is shown fastened to the headstall strap section 22 with the buckle tongue 26 in the secured position in broken lines and in its released position in full lines in FIG. 3.

Secured about the cross pin 28 on buckle 32 and extending upwardly from the buckle is a folded strap section 34 whose upper portion is folded over the lower horizontal or base portion 36 of a spring metal separable fastener element 40. This fastener element or spring clip 40 has a pair of spaced legs 42 which terminate at their upper portions in outwardly and oppositely disposed leg ends 44 adapted to be received in sockets 46 formed in the inner surfaces of spaced side pieces 48 which may if desired constitute portions of a conventional buckle.

Thus it will be seen that the headstall, including its two rings 10 located on respective sides of the horse's head and also including the lower or throat latch portion 18 thereof in addition to the crown member 8, 34, completely encircles the neck of the horse. On one side of the horse's head, seen in FIGS. 1 and 4, the headstall 8 includes overlapping strap portions 34 and 22. The lower end of strap portion 34 is permanently attached to a buckle 32 formed as part of ring 10. A separable fastener element 40 is permanently secured to the upper end of strap portion 34. The upper end of strap portion 22 is permanently attached to that portion of the headstall 8 which passes over the top of the horse's neck. The upper end of strap portion 22 also has a buckle 46, 48 permanently attached thereto. Holes 24 are formed in the lower end of strap portion 22. Movable tongue 26 secured to buckle 32 may be selectively attached to strap 22 by means of one of the holes 24, and separable fastener element 40 secured to the upper end of strap portion 34 may be selectively attached to the buckle 46-48 carried by strap 22. It therefore follows that both of these attachments may be made, or only one of them, or neither of them.

It is important to note that the sockets 46 and the leg ends 44 of the spring metal clip or fastener element 40 are angled somewhat downwardly and inwardly relative to the clip base 36. The walls of the sockets 46 comprise camming surfaces and the outwardly bent leg ends 44 of the spring fastener element 40 comprise cam followers. The angularity of the walls of sockets 46 and the bent leg ends 44 is such that a considerable amount of pull or tension can be applied to the headstall 8 of the halter without causing separation of the spring fastener 40 from the sockets 46. In other words, the headstall strap will not become unfastened due to the rubbing of the horse against another animal or against a tree or fence post or the like, but will become unfastened, however, should the animal get the halter entangled with some stationary object such as the post 50 which may be a stanchion post in a stall or on a feed trough in a barn or in the field. Of course, any other object upon which the halter might be caught would result in the animal attempting to pull away. In so doing it would place the headstall 8 under tension or torsion and a sufficient amount of either or both will result in displacement of the bent leg ends 44 of the spring fastener element 40 from the sockets 46 as illustrated in FIG. 4 and as shown more in detail in broken lines in FIG. 2.

The separation of the headstall strap portions which encircle the neck of the horse will occur of course only when the conventional or secure buckle 32 is in its unfastened position with the tongue 26 of that buckle in the position shown in full lines in FIG. 3. This is a condition of the halter when the animal is let out to pasture or is let loose in a corral. On the other hand, when the halter is being used to lead the horse or if reins are attached to it and it is used to control the horse when riding then the buckle 32 is secured to the strap 22 with the buckle tongue 26 in the broken line position of FIG. 3. When in this position any strain imposed on the headstall 8 is carried by the fastened buckle 32 which connects straps 18 and 22, and the separable fastener element 40 with its retainer sockets 46 is not subjected to any strain whatsoever. In other words, the secure buckle 32 and the breakaway buckle 36-48 are operatively coupled in parallel, with the fastening load normally being carried entirely by the secure buckle. In order to make the safety feature of the halter operative it is necessary only to remove the buckle tongue 26 from one of the apertures 24 in the strap 22 which it then occupies.

While I have shown the spring fastener element 40 as being retained in the sockets 46 in the sides 48 of a conventional buckle, it should be understood that the sockets 46 can be formed in any type of separable receiver for the spring connector element 40. The receiver need not be part of a conventional buckle.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a safety halter for horses wherein the halter can be used in the ordinary manner for leading or guiding a horse and the halter can be then kept in such condition that the person who leads or rides the horse can remain in complete control insofar as the strength of the halter is concerned. When the animal is placed to pasture the halter can be left on it and should the horse get the halter entangled in some object the automatic safety release will come into play and neither the animal nor the harness will be injured.

It should, of course, be understood that various changes can be made in the form, detail, arrangement, and proportions of the various parts without departing from the spirit of the invention.