HORSE RIDING SAFETY SYSTEM AND METHOD

Description

Background to the previous technical situation.-

[0001] It is unknown so far as background is concerned about the previous technical situation of a set of devices that can solve at the same time the following security demands for a horseman in his training period or for a horseman doing high-risk horse riding:

a) To use a safety harness so the rider keeps on the saddle his isostatic balance with three attachment points preventing the rider from losing his balance and stopping his fall in any direction.

b) The safety harness must allow the rider to go upwards and downwards on the horse during the trot preventing his movement from being slowed down.

c) It has to be formed by a cervical protector and a spinal-column protector that can work at the same time in the event the rider falls if he comes off or separates from the harness that keeps him fixed on the saddle or when the horse falls during the jumping or when the horse slips on the paving although the rider does not fall.

d) The safety harness contains a vertical sensor to open the safety lock making possible to the rider to free himself from the saddle attachment device and however to keep at the same time in that case on his body the cervical protector and the spinal-column protector.

e) The system includes a device to avoid stirrups dispersal in the event the rider loses them in a sudden movement to help him to get them back with his feet.

f) It makes the rider fix his knees to the saddle without losing his position.

[0002] Patent FR2552065 (ZINZINDOHOUE) is a belt fixed to the saddle and to the rider's waist and although it guarantees a balance in the case of risk of a fall however it prevents him from going upwards and downwards during the trot and restricts rigidly to the maximum his movements and his learning, it has no cervical protector nor spinal-column protector, it does not help the rider to get the stirrups back with his foot and it does not have a device that allows him to keep the knee fixed in its position on the saddle in the event of the rider's sideways fall.

[0003] Patent EP08600397 (BOHN) consists of a rider's safety belt that only has two attachments, a front one and a rear one, to the saddle and so if the fastening straps (n° 62 and 64 of said patent) are long enough to allow the rider to go upwards and downwards during the trot they does not prevent him from sideways falling to one side or another, and in that case he will remain hanging from the two straps because there is not a third attachment that guarantees his isostatic balance on the saddle and so in the case of sideways fall the rider will have an enormous difficulty to go back onto the saddle with a serious danger not only in the event of a fall in the moment of the obstacle jumping but also if there is a horse bolt. Likewise said attachment system doesn't have a system in which the rider frees himself from the fastening harness in case of horse fall and it does not protect the cervical vertebrae nor the rider's spinal column, it does not contain a stirrups fastening to go them back with the foot if the support fails nor a fastening of the knees to the saddle. Said patent uses the inner channel of the saddle for a strap to go from the saddle's front pommel to the rear cantle but only using two attachment points, the front one and the rear one, being insufficient to secure the rider's isostatic balance on the saddle.

[0004] Patent EP 0974549 (ODDONE) only considers two rear attachments of the rider to the saddle but not an opposite third one to guarantee isostatic balance on the saddle and so it protects him from the sideways falls and from falling forwards but in the case of obstacle jumping or in the case the horse moves off suddenly at a gallop, it does not prevent the rider from falling backwards and because of that the proposed system adds some risk of keeping the rider hanging for an indefinite time on the horse rump not allowing him to recover his position on the saddle. Said patent also adds two lateral reels for the fastening braces to the rider saddle to allow their extension in the moment the rider rises on the saddle during the horse trot and their rewinding in the moment the rider comes down to sit on it, but on account of the extreme fastness of that movements during the riding, the proposed reels retard or slow down the rider's movement since he is who has to extend them with his body when he raises and a brief retard of a second fraction is enough in order that their accumulate effect during the horse riding makes the rider movement get out of time with the horse movement, and so the proposed technical solution has negative effects for the riding and it avoids a correct learning for a novice rider. Said patent includes a metallic deck plate that uses forwards to backwards the saddle channel with a rear semicircular arch wherein it is attached but its function is only to perform as a fastening system of the two lateral reels and it does not include any front attachment opposite to the other two ones that guarantees isostatic balance and it makes the product become more expensive since to fix only two attachments to the saddle there are other means like blankets or surcingles that do not need a metallic deck plate , and this attachment is only necessary for a highly resistant attachment in a high-difficulty riding. On the other side, said patent does not have a cervical protector or a spinal-column protector nor stirrups leather fastening system, or a system to fix the knees to the saddle.

Disclosure of the invention.-

[0005] The proposed invention consists of a safety harness formed by a security belt and a harness with a cervical protector and a spinal-column protector, harness which is formed by two braces that join at shoulder level to a cervical protector that consists of a ruff that goes around the neck with a security chinstrap to hold the chin and that leans on two rigid pectoral wings, making possible that when the braces are fastened forwards, the ruff is fastened to protect the rider's nape, braces which in their front part attach at their end in the same security lock of the belt which is provided with four insertion attachments that come free if the belt lock is opened by means of a button to be pressed allowing every attachment of the belt comes free at the same time by opening the belt lock and in that case when the rider falls or moves away from the horse of his own free will, or by the automatic action of a verticality sensor, the harness with the cervical protector and the spinal-column protector remains attached and fasten to the rider's trunk and protects him from torsions or impacts of the spinal column or of the cervical vertebrae. The harness is formed by the belt with three fastening loops with a ring and by a trunk harness with the braces. The belt is attached to the saddle and to the horse by three attachment points, because three supporting points are essential to guarantee the isostatic balance of a body in the space, two of them are always situated in a rear position at both sides of the rider and one of them is in front of the saddle pommel, allowing that isostatic balance of the rider under a force in any direction. The belt attachment to the saddle is produced by means of the three loops that are joined to three tensors consisting of springs or elastic straps that are joined at one end by means of karabiners or hooks to the loops with steel rings placed in the belt and at the other end to three rings joined to the saddle. These loops can be attached to a leather blanket of a parallelepiped shape placed under the saddle pads, having two of the rings in the angles of the back lower base of the blanket and the third one in the centre of its front lower base; or they can be attached alternatively to a leather strap in the cantle to hold in both sides the two back lateral rings, and in this case the third one fastened to the horse's neck with a front strap that could be a breastplate or a collar on the horse; or instead the three loops can be attached to a metal plate formed by a longitudinal axis that goes from the front part to the rear one across the inner channel of the saddle. This metal plate has the front end curved upwards with a ring and the rear end has a bifurcation in two curved-up branches that are ended with a ring placed at both sides of the rider. This metal plate can be adjusted by pressure on the saddle because of their curvature and it is an attachment which is appropriate to a high-risk, violent riding because of its resistance and hardness. The three loops, instead of the above-mentioned fastening means can also be attached to a mixed device formed by two rear levers at both sides of the rider with a return spring in a box of metal or another material held at the two sides of the saddle tree by means of a fastening strip that goes over the cantle. This box that contains the return spring has an opening with a buffer to prevent the lever from moving forwards beyond a previously defined arch, and each lever being curved to avoid the rider's gluteus muscles to be pricked. The third loop has a front strap fastened to the animal's neck which could be a breast plate or a collar, fitted with another ring. Or the mixed device with the two rear levers can be instead attached to a surcingle on the animal's belly that apart from holding the two rear rings it has the particular effect of inhibiting it by fastening in the case of falling because the pressure on the belly causes that sedative or inhibiting effect to the animal and joined with a similar front strap fastened to the horse's neck that could be or a breastplate or a collar. Or finally the two rear levers can be attached to a strap that goes from the back cantle to the front part of the saddle across the saddle channel which allows to hold in the rear part two attachments separated between them by means of a transversal bar with rings joined to its ends, with the strap joined to the bar at its centre and fitted at the front end of the strap that goes through the saddle channel with a front ring that projects over its front end to be used as a front attachment. The proposed invention includes a harness fastened to the rider's body by means of hooks or adjusters and holds a cervical protector and a spinal-column protector. The cervical protector is joined to the braces at chest and shoulders level and it is a piece of rigid, resistant and light material like carbon fibre or similar, that is formed by a rigid vertical ruff in the nape or neck, a safety chinstrap in the chin joined to the ruff and the ruff is joined to the braces on the shoulders and by two pectorals wings joined to the ruff and to the chinstrap that protect the neck and the chin. The wings are joined to the braces by adjusters on the chest to allow the cervical protectors set lean on it and making possible that when the front tensor of the security harness tightens the ruff of cervical protection tightens too and thus increases the nape protection. The spinal-column protector is formed by a set of two or four articulated plates joined on the rider's back to the two braces that go over the shoulders, and every plate is designed with a profile that has an edge or groove in the line of contact of each plate with the next one to allow the articulation between them and at the same time to allow the spinal-column bends forwards but preventing the spinal-column from bending backwards because of the plates profile design as a means of the spinal-column protection. The plates of this spinal-column protector are joined on the back to the braces and are covered with a padding that is reinforced in the plate that protects the sacral lumbar area because of the frequent falls on this corporal area, and the harness remains fastened under the main security belt. The spinal-column protector can be formed either by two plates, one of them aimed at protecting the twelve dorsal vertebrae and its shape adapts the dorsal curve, and the other one is to protect the five lumbar vertebrae and the coccyx, since they two are sufficient for moderate riding effort such as that involved novice riders, and they have a lower cost, or the protector can be formed by four or more plates, two of which at least have to be dorsal to protect dorsal vertebrae, another one has to be lumbar to protect lumbar area and another one has to be sacral to protect the coccyx, and the set adapts precisely to the spinal-column if it is subjected to a heavy jolt forwards while practising obstacle jumping or high-risk riding, and the plates are made of a rigid, light material, highly resistant to impact like carbon fibre, Kevlar or similar and adapted in every case to the dorsal, lumbar and sacral vertebrae. The first of the plates is placed at the base of the cervical protector and every plate is also covered by a padding that is reinforced in the plate that covers the sacral-lumbar area because of the frequent falls with impacts on the coccyx area. So that the set of plates resist and cushion frontal impacts on the back, protecting the rider's spinal-column from bending sharply backwards in the case of obstacle jumping or horse falling and in the case of the rider falling head-first on the ground or against an obstacle, the set of articulated plates joined to the cervical protector and to the harness of the braces deflect the impact load onto the rider's shoulders and thus protect the spinal-column, and in the case of impact because of a fall on the sacral area of the spinal column the structure of the articulated plates absorbs the impact and distributes it through the braces tightened to the rider's trunk, reducing the transmission of the impact to the cervical zone and preventing dislocation of the coccyx.

[0006] The security system includes two semi-rigid sleeves or covers of the stirrup leathers -which are the stirrups suspension straps-, to group the two branches of every stirrup leather and to keep the stirrup leathers rigid, making it easier to the rider to get the stirrup back. The covers consist of a broad band made of leather or another material in a parallelepiped shape fitted in its mid-longitudinal axis with a wire guide to keep it extended at all times and that is fastened on itself, containing in the inside the two branches of every stirrup leather, when one of the bigger bases of the parallelepiped of the cover is closed over the other bigger base by means of hooks or another closing system. The cover is of a suitable length to cover two thirds and to join together the two branches of the straps of leather of each stirrup. Every cover is fitted with a Velcro strap to adhere at a point to Velcro on the cover of the saddle skirt where the knees are leaned on and that is described later, and so in the case of the rider losing the stirrup, it would stay in the same position on the saddle skirt and avoid swinging and losing its normal position due to the effect of the animal moving in order to allow the rider to find the stirrup again quickly with his foot, which is extremely important in a learning process because of the lack of security caused to the rider due to the difficulty to get the stirrup back quickly. The security system also includes two covers for each lateral saddle skirt to fix the rider's knee, which are made of leather or another flexible, resistant material that cover each saddle skirt, and that are held with fastening straps to each side of the cinch which have Velcro or a similar material on the outside. The security system includes two knee guards or knee cases to be fastened onto the saddle skirt covers and to be fastened by means of hooks or buttoned up or inlaid in the rider's leg at knee level with Velcro on the inside of a suitable size to help the rider to adhere and fix his knees to the saddle when the Velcro on the saddle skirt covers and that on the knee guard meet. The knee guards also have on the outside of the knee a hook for a strap that at its other end hooks or attaches to the clasp of the principal belt of the harness to tighten with the trunk and to help the knee to exert the necessary pressure on the saddle and to prevent the knee from becoming separated from the saddle while mounting but which comes free should the rider undo the clasp on the safety belt to allow it to separate from the saddle in case of the horse falling, so the combination of the covers of the saddle skirt and the knee guards helps the rider to keep his knees in position and helps to prevent him from falling from the horse should he lose his balance on the saddle and however it does not impede the separation of the knee from the saddle by exerting a perpendicular force to the Velcro in the event of the rider having to free himself from the harness and jump off the horse.

[0007] The invention solves the principal problems that horse riding learning and high difficulty riding with nervous temperament horses causes and offers the rider a set of means adaptable to every kind of saddle and used simultaneously in the whole or partially according his progression.

Instructions as to the best way of bringing the invention into effect.-

[0008] It is proposed as to the best way of bringing the invention into effect aimed at protecting the horse rider in his training periods or doing high-risk horse riding, the set of movable harnesses and accessories usable at the rider's discretion with every kind of saddle essentially characterized because it is formed by a fastening harness of three points formed by a safety belt and a harness fastened to the rider's trunk wearing a cervical protector and a spinal-column protector, a cover in each saddle skirt to be joined to a knee guard in each rider's leg and a sleeve or cover to get together and fix every stirrup leathers.

[0009] The fastening harness with three points prevent the rider from falling to the ground and consists of a safety abdominal belt (1) wide enough to prevent a rider suffering abdominal injuries in the case of a fall or loss of balance on the saddle and a rider's trunk harness or an equipment of straps and clasps fastened to the trunk formed by two safety braces (2) joined to the belt by means of a front attachment in the belt lock. On the rider's back this belt goes through the braces that extend to the rider's sacral lumbar area, and the braces for their part are fastened one to another and adjusted around the rider's body by means of transversal hooks on the chest and by means of safety plates on the back, so the braces are, except for the front attachment, independent from the main belt of the harness as they can be separated from the belt when the front attachment comes free if the belt lock is opened. The function of the braces is to hold a cervical protector and a spinal-column protector to the rider's trunk that will remain adjusted to the rider's body in the case he decides to get loose and get rid of the belt because of a horse fall and also to join the cervical and dorsal protectors to the belt to fasten the cervical protector through the belt tensors while the harness formed by the belt is locked on the rider's waist. The braces go across the front part of the belt to the back part over the rider's shoulders, but at the rider's chest and shoulder level they join to a rigid cervical protector consisting of a piece with two pectoral wings (3) and a ruff (4) to support the nape that goes around the neck from behind, and which stays in position on the neck thanks to the pectoral wings attached to the braces adjusters and at the same time because of the joint between the wings and the braces. The function of said cervical protector is to stop the cervical sprain in the event his head moves sharply backwards as in obstacle jumping, or in the event of a horse suddenly starting off or violently jumping, the ruff fastens and thus increases the protection of the cervical vertebrae if the tensor of the safety belt's front attachment (13) joined to the harness tightens. The ruff has to be made of a rigid, resistant and light material like carbon fibre or another similar and because of its design it rises on the rider's nape to allow him to lean his head on the ruff which stops the sudden bend backwards of the vertical vertebrae. The ruff also has to be joined at the rider's chin to a rigid chinstrap that for its part is joined to the fastening straps of the rider's helmet. The chinstrap forms a fulcrum or fastening point of the chin to limit the sharp movement forwards of the neck. The braces have to be joined to the pectoral wings of the cervical protector at chest level and also to the cervical protector at shoulders level so when the braces are tightened forwards the cervical protector tightens too by pressing it against the rider's nape to protect the neck. At the same time the braces have to be tight to the rider's trunk in order that in the case of horse falling and that the rider comes free from the belt and separates the horse the braces keep working and hold the cervical protector and the spinal-column protector in their position. On the rider's back both braces are joined to a spinal-column protector (5) formed by a set of between two and four or more articulated plates by means of a edge or groove in the line of contact of each plate with the next (6) to make it adapt to the bending forwards of the spinal column but does not allow it to bend backwards beyond a certain position to protect the spinal-column. The plates section profile demands a design reproducing the curves of the spinal-column part that is protected, and that the edge is wide enough and the groove deep enough to prevent the plates from bending backwards but not from bending forwards to follow the rider's spinal-column flexions during the riding. The spinal-column protector could have two complexity degrees which affect its economic cost. It can be formed just with two plates, one of which is to protect the twelve dorsal vertebrae adjusted in its size to the dorsal curve and the other one to protect the five lumbar vertebrae and the coccyx, being this model sufficient for moderate riding effort such as that involved in the training of novice riders, or could have four or more plates, at least two of which must be dorsal, another one lumbar and another one has to be sacral to protect the coccyx in order to adapt to the spinal-column if there is a heavy jolt forwards while obstacle jumping or high-risk riding. The plates are made of a stiff, light material, highly resistant to impact like carbon fibre or similar and its design is adapted to the dorsal, lumbar and sacral vertebrae. The first of the plates is placed at the base of the cervical protector. Every plate is also covered by a padding that in the case of the plate that covers the sacral-lumbar area is reinforced and so the whole set not only resist but also cushion frontal impacts on the back protecting the rider's spinal-column from bending sharply backwards in the case of obstacle jumping or the horse falling. In the case of the rider falling head-first to the ground or against an obstacle, the set of articulated plates joined to the cervical protector and to the harness of the braces deflect the impact load onto the rider's shoulders and thus protect the spinal-column, and in the case of impact because of a fall on the sacral area of the spinal column the structure of the articulated plates absorbs the impact and distributes it through the braces fastened to the rider's trunk, reducing the transmission of the impact to the cervical zone and preventing dislocation of the coccyx. The two braces of the trunk harness converge at the front part through a buckle in a frontal safety clasp or lock (7) with enough attachments to fix the braces (2) to it and the straps that come from the rider's knee guards (18). Said lock may be instantly opened manually by means of a button to allow the rider come free of the harness in the case of horse falling if it slides on the ground or stumbles with an obstacle when jumping. The main belt of the harness has three loops or straps around the fastening belt, two rear (8) and one at the front (9) each one fitted with a steel ring, and if as usual the belt clasp or lock is fixed to one of its two front ends, the front loop has to be placed at the front end of the safety belt (10) where the safety belt is not placed so that should the clasp come undone, the front loop does not become entangled with the clasp. The three loops of the safety belt are joined with the rings by means of three tensors or elastic straps with adjustable length (11) that join by means ofkarabiners or hooks to three fastening attachments in the saddle to guarantee the isostatic balance in three points. The tensors have to be long enough when slack and gathered in to make possible, without slowing down, the rider's upward and downward movement during the trot (around 15 centimetres except in racecourse or when jumping) but in case of rider imbalance on the saddle when moving beyond that excess length when slack they exert a reactive traction force to put it back in place. That tensors' length when slack is needed because of the speed of horse and rider's movements during the trot and so it is necessary that the tensor does not slow down the rise and descend of the rider since in the case that a kind of sudden braking takes place, though it was very little in each movement, the result would be the rider getting out of time to the horse and losing the necessary rhythm to keep the balance on the saddle. In order the tensors' length has no negative effect to the rider in the case of sideways falling and to avoid the rider can stay hanging laterally from the horse's side if he loses the verticality of the saddle beyond the oscillation range where he can recover the verticality on his own, since if he exceeds that range he would stay hanging from the tensors in the distance extension of the tensor's length, it is necessary that the two back tensors' attachments are separated from the vertical of the saddle at least by 15 centimetres or the equivalent assigned to the length when slack of the gathered tensor and that the fastening loop of the tensors to the rider's security belt are placed on the belt laterally at the attachment to the saddle level so the tensor looseness only allow the upwards movement of the rider but not the lateral movement that would be stopped due to the tensor of the opposite side to this of the movement. In the case of learning riding it is enough a separation of 15 centimetres from the vertical of the saddle equivalent to the distance between the saddle axis and each half of a normal cantle, but in the case of high-risk riding or obstacle jumping that distance could be bigger for being necessary the rider rises up or stays in suspension at a gallop for a bigger height on the saddle, and in that case the lateral rear attachments must be placed on a metallic plate or a transversal fixed bar where the attachments are placed on, with a separation in respect of the vertical of the saddle equivalent to the length that exceeds the one of the rear tensors, not the front one, when slack and gathered in, since due to the rider's position leaned on the saddle and the saddle's shape, the tensor length necessary to prevent the braking when the rider rises, is lower than that needed in the rear tensors. In case of high difficulty riding in which rear tensors are to be longer, the best way of bringing the invention into effect to the attachment of the tensors consists of using a metallic plate made of aluminium or another rigid light and resistant material in an axis shape that adapts to the inner channel of the saddle, and that channel that is necessary and that is used with no exception in every saddle to protect the horse's spinal-column. That plate is placed by pressing on this channel and it has a frontal curved-up end with a ring that projects of the channel opening at the saddle pommel level whose rear end diverges in two branches with their ends curved upwards with a ring. The curvature of the three branches also causes the effect that get the metallic plate fixed by pressure to the outside of the channel reinforcing the axis pressure on the inner channel and being the rear branches of a length necessary in order the back rings are separated from each other by a distance of fifty centimetres and does not go beyond the width of the horse's rump in order to allow a surplus length of the back tensors when slack and gathered of twenty-five centimetres each. So taking into account the tolerance degree of the normal oscillation of the rider on the vertical of the saddle, that is around twenty centimetres more, it is enough to avoid he loses his balance in case of sideward fall, because in that range the rider can recover the balance on the saddle on his own.

[0010] Every tensor is joined at one of its ends by means of a karabiner or another hooking device to the three loops of the safety belt and at the other end by means of another similar hooking device to three attachments or supportive fastening points joined to the saddle, two of them are rear attachments (12) where the back tensors are joined to and the other one is a frontal attachment (13) where the front tensor is joined to in order to guarantee the rider's isostatic balance at three points and to prevent him from falling in any direction.

[0011] Apart from the rider's trunk harness the invention incorporates to the safety system a device to avoid the rider lose, as it happens frequently in training periods, the foot support on the stirrup, device that consists of two semi-rigid sleeves or covers (14) for the stirrups leathers (15) supporting straps to make it easier for the rider to recover the stirrup when he loses his feet from them. The covers consist of a broad band made of leather or another material in a parallelepiped shape fitted in its mid-longitudinal axis with a wire guide to keep it extended at all times and that is fastened on itself when one of the bigger bases of the parallelepiped of the cover is closed over the other bigger base by means of hooks. Such a band is of a suitable length to cover two thirds and to join together the two branches of the straps of leather of each stirrup. Every cover is fitted with a Velcro strap to adhere at a point to the Velcro on the cover of the saddle skirt where the knees are supported on (16) so in the case of the rider losing the stirrup, this would stay in the same position on the saddle skirt and avoid swinging and losing its normal position due to the effect of the animal moving, in order to allow the rider to find the stirrup again quickly with his foot.

[0012] Finally the invention includes two covers (16), one for each lateral saddle skirt to fix the rider's knee, which are made of leather or another flexible, resistant material and that cover each saddle skirt and that are held with fastening straps to each side of the saddle cinch which have Velcro or similar material on the outside. The invention also includes two knee guards or knee cases (17) to be joined to the saddle skirt covers to be fastened onto or inlaid in the rider's leg at knee level with Velcro on the inside of a suitable size to help the rider to adhere and fix his knees to the saddle when the Velcro on the saddle skirt covers and that on the knee guard meet. The knee guards also have on the outside of the knee a hook for a strap (18) that at its other end hooks or attaches to the clasp of the principal belt of the trunk harness (7) to tighten with the trunk and to help the knee to exert the necessary pressure on the saddle and to prevent the knee from becoming separated from the saddle while mounting, but which comes free should the rider undo the clasp on the safety belt to allow it to separate from the saddle in the case of the horse falling, so the combination of the covers of the saddle skirt and the knee guards helps the rider to keep his knees in position and helps to prevent him from falling should he lose his balance on the saddle; and however it does not impede the separation of the knee from the saddle by exerting a perpendicular force to the Velcro in the event of the rider having to free himself from the harness and jump off the horse.

Technical field.-

[0013] The described invention has an industrial application as horse riding accessories.

Drawings.-

[0014] The next drawings are showed with six figures:

[0015] Figure 1 shows a horse rider equipped with the trunk harness, held to three attachments on a leather blanket, with the knee guards and the cover for the stirrup leathers. The rider safety belt is closed (1) and is fitted with the trunk harness with two safety braces (2), the cervical protector is fitted with its pectoral wings (3) and the ruff to protect the neck with a chinstrap on the chin (4), the spinal-column protector (5) is fitted with its protective sleeves (6), the belt has a frontal clasp with many attachments (7), two rear loops (8) and a frontal one (9) that is placed in the belt front end (10) where the clasp or lock is not placed, the loops are joined to the attachments by means of three tensors (11) two of which are attached to two back tensors (12) and another one to a frontal tensor (13) which in the figure are placed on a leather blanket (20), and the stirrups leathers (15) are grouped by a case (14) and at knee level the Velcro cover of the saddle skirt is joined to the saddle cinch. The knee guards (17), which wear a strap from the knee to the waist attached to the belt's lock (18), with a vertical sensor in the saddle (19) joined to the belt's lock by an electrical wire, are adhered to the cover. In Figure 2 the band to hold to the cantle the two rear attachments (21) and the collar or front breastplate (22) for the frontal attachment are showed. In Figure 3 the plate made of metal (23) with its front curved-up end (24) and the two diverted curved up rear ends (25) to the tensors attachment is showed. In Figure 4 the two rear levers of rear attachment (26) and the collar or front breastplate (22) for the frontal attachment are showed. In Figure 5 the surcingle on the belly (27) to hold the rear attachments and the collar or front breastplate (22) for the frontal attachment are showed. In Figure 6 the transversal bar (28) with the strap that goes through the channel (29) ending in a frontal ring (30) is showed.

Claims

1. HORSE RIDING SAFETY SYSTEM aimed at protecting the horse rider in his training period or doing high-risk horse riding by means of a set of harnesses and removable accessories usable, at the rider's discretion, with every kind of saddle and essentially characterized because it is formed by the following components:

a) A three-point fastening harness to prevent the rider on the horse from falling to the ground consisting of an abdominal safety belt (1) wide enough to prevent a rider sustaining abdominal injuries in the case of a fall and a trunk harness formed by two safety braces (2) joined to the belt by means of a front attachment in the belt lock that is closed on the rider's back over the braces which are tightened to the rider's body by means of transversal hooks on the chest and the back, the braces are independent of the main belt of the harness except for the said front attachment, so they can be separated from the belt in the event this comes free if the belt lock is opened when the front attachment comes free, function of the braces is to hold a cervical protector and a spinal-column protector to the rider's trunk and they go from the front part of the belt to the rear part going over the rider's shoulders, but at shoulder and chest level they are joined to a rigid cervical protector consisting of a piece with two pectoral wings (3) and a ruff (4) to support the nape that goes around the neck from behind and which stays in position on the neck due to the effect of the pectoral wings attached to the brace adjusters and due to the effect of being attached to the braces to stop the cervical sprain in the event of jumping an obstacle or of a horse suddenly starting off, the ruff tightens and thus increases the protection of the cervical vertebrae if the tensor of the safety belt's front attachment (13) joined to the harness, tightens, both braces on the rider's back are joined to a spinal-column protector (5) formed by a set of between two and four or more articulated plates by means of a edge or groove in the line of contact of each plate with the next (6) to make it adapt to the bending forwards of the spinal-column but does not allow it to bend backwards beyond a certain position to protect it; the spinal column protector can be formed either by two plates, one of which is to protect the twelve dorsal vertebrae and its shape adapts the spinal curve; the other one is to protect the five lumbar vertebrae and the coccyx sufficiently for moderate riding effort such as that involved in the training of novice riders, or by four or more plates, at least two of which must be dorsal, another one lumbar and another one has to be sacral to protect the coccyx so the set will adapt precisely to the spinal column if it is subjected to a heavy jolt forwards while obstacle jumping or during high-risk riding; the plates are made of a stiff, light material, highly resistant to impact like carbon fibre or similar and they are adapted to the dorsal, lumbar and sacral vertebrae; the first of the plates is placed at the base of the cervical protector and every plate is also covered by a padding that is reinforced in the plate that covers the sacral-lumbar area, so the set of plates resist and cushion frontal impacts on the back, protecting the rider's spinal-column from bending sharply backwards in the case of obstacle jumping or in the case of the horse falling and in the case of the rider falling head-first to the ground or against an obstacle, the set of articulated plates joined to the cervical protector and to the harness of the braces deflect the impact load onto the rider's shoulder, and thus protect the spinal-column, and in the case of impact because of a fall on the sacra area of the spinal column, the structure of the articulated plates absorbs the impact and distributes it through the brace fasteners to the rider's trunk, reducing the transmission of the impact to the cervical zone and preventing dislocation of the coccyx; the braces converge at the front part through a buckle in a frontal safety clasp or lock (7) with enough attachments to fix the braces to it (2) and the section c) straps (18) on it which may be instantly opened manually; the main belt of the harness has three fastening loops, two rear (8) and one at the front (9) each one fitted with a steel ring, and the front loop has to be placed at the front end of the safety belt (10) where the safety belt is not placed so that should the clasp come undone, the front loop does not become entangled with the clasp and the three loops are to be held by means of three tensors or elastic straps (11) that have to be long enough when slack and gathered in to make possible, without slowing down, the rider's upward and downward movement during the trot but in case of rider imbalance on the saddle when moving beyond that excess length when slack they exert a reactive traction force to put it back in place; the tensors are joined at one end by means of a karabiner or another hook device to the three loops of the safety belt and at the other end by means of another, similar, hook device to three attachments or supportive fastening points attached to the saddle, two rear attachments (12) that are separated from the vertical part of the saddle by a distance equivalent to the excess length of the elastic tensors when slack and gathered in to prevent, in case of sideways fall, the rider from remaining hanging laterally because in that case he would be separated from the vertical part by a distance equivalent to this length; the two rear tensors are attached to the two rear attachments and a front attachment (13) to guarantee the rider's isostatic balance at three points and to prevent him from falling in any direction.

b) Two semi-rigid sleeves or covers (14) of the stirrups leathers (15) to allow the rider to get the stirrup back, consisting of a broad band made of leather or another material in a parallelepipedic shape fitted in its mid-longitudinal axis with a wire guide to keep it extended at all times and that is fastened on itself when one of the bigger bases of the parallelepiped is closed over the other bigger base by means of hooks, being of a suitable length to cover two thirds and to join together the two branches of the straps of leather of each stirrup; the covers are fitted with a Velcro strap to adhere at a point to Velcro on the cover of the saddle skirt of section c) (16) so that in the case of the rider losing the stirrup, this would stay in the same position on the saddle skirt and avoid swinging and losing its normal position due to the effect of the animal moving, in order to allow the rider to find the stirrup again quickly with his foot.

c) Two covers (16), one for each lateral saddle skirt to fix the rider's knee, made of leather or another flexible, resistant material that cover each saddle skirt and that are held with fastening straps to each side of the cinch which have Velcro or a similar material on the outside and also, to be fixed to the saddle skirt covers, two knee guards (17) to be fastened onto or inlaid in the rider's leg at knee level with Velcro on the inside of a suitable size to help the rider to adhere and fix his knees to the saddle when the Velcro on the saddle skirt covers and that on the knee guard meet, the knee guards have, on the outside of the knee, a hook for a strap (18) that at its other end hooks or attaches to the clasp of the principal belt of section a) (7) to tighten with the trunk and to help the knee to exert the necessary pressure on the saddle and to prevent the knee from becoming separated from the saddle while mounting, but which comes free should the rider undo the clasp on the safety belt to allow it to separate from the saddle in case of a horse falling, so the combination of the covers of the saddle skirt and the knee guards helps the rider to keep his knees in position and helps to prevent him from falling from the horse should he lose his balance on the saddle; however it does not impede the separation of the knee from the saddle by exerting perpendicular force to the Velcro in the event of the rider having to free himself from the harness and jump off the horse.

2. HORSE RIDING SAFETY SYSTEM according to claim 1 essentially characterized because the safety clasp of the belt and that of the harness described in section a) (7) is subject to being opened not only manually but automatically by means of a vertical sensor (19) placed on the saddle when it inclines on the axis more at an angle of more than 45 degrees, or another agreed upon, to avoid its opening by accidental movements but making this possible in the event of horse falling and freeing the rider from the main belt of the harness and separating the belt and the saddle from the harness with the braces that hold the cervical protectors and the spinal-column protector and keeping the protectors in position on the rider's trunk to protect him in the event that the horse should actually fall.

3. HORSE RIDING SAFETY SYSTEM according to claim 1 essentially characterized because the clamping tensors, attached at one end to the loops of the safety belt, are joined at the other end by means of a karabiner or another hooking device to three steel rings placed on a blanket of leather (20) or another flexible, resistant material, two of which are at the rear angles and another one is at the middle point of the front lower base of the blanket, which is of a parallelepiped shape and which is held to the cinch by means of a buttonhole or loop, with a hollow in its centre to lighten its material and adjusted in size to the projection of the saddle; the blanket is placed during mounting between the saddle pads and the horse's blanket or saddle cloth.

4. HORSE RIDING SAFETY SYSTEM according to claim 1 essentially characterized because the clamping tensors, attached at one end to the loops of the safety belt, are joined at the other end by means of a karabiner or another hooking device to three steel rings, the two rear loops are attached to other two rings placed on strip or band made of leather or another, similar, flexible, resistant material (21) fastened onto the cantle of the saddle going around and adapting its shape to the section profile of the saddle, while the front loop is attached to another ring placed in front of the pommel on a leather strap attached to the horse's neck (22).

5. HORSE RIDING SAFETY SYSTEM according to claim 1 essentially characterized because the clamping tensors, attached at one end to the loops of the safety belt, are joined at the other end by means of a karabiner or another hooking device to three steel rings, placed for high-risk riding where attachments of maximum hardness and resistance are required, in the front and rear ends projecting from the saddle, a plate made of aluminium or another light, resistant material (23) with a longitudinal axis fitted to the inner channel of the saddle that avoids the horse's spinal-column because its minimum guiding thickness is less than 3 mm in order to maintain the said channel function; the front end is curved upwards and ends in a steel ring (24) while the rear end diverges into two branches (25) whose ends are curved upwards and each one ends in a ring, the function of the curvature of each one being to fix the plate to the saddle by pressure and both rear branches being separated from each other by a distance equivalent to the width of the horse's rump.

6. HORSE RIDING SAFETY SYSTEM according to claims 1 and 4 essentially characterized because the clamping tensors, attached at one end to the loops of the safety belt, are joined at the other end by means of a karabiner or another hooking device to three steel rings, two rear and one front; in the case of the rear tensors, they are attached to two rear rings fixed onto two levers (26) made of aluminium or another rigid, light, resistant material with curved-up ends to avoid the possibility of the rider being pricked with a return spring in a box of metal or another material held at both sides of the rear saddle tree by means of a strip or band made of leather or another, similar, flexible, resistant material fastened onto the cantle going around and adapting its length to the section profile of the saddle, the levers being of a length, and having a stroke, which are both limited by a buffer in the metal box sufficient to allow the rider to rise and descend during the trot or stay in suspension at a gallop but which prevent him from falling sideways or forwards because the levers are made of metal or another rigid material and due to the effect of the buffer, the front loop tensor being joined to another ring placed in front of the pommel on a leather strap fastened to the horse's neck (22).

7. HORSE RIDING SAFETY SYSTEM according to claim 1 essentially characterized because the clasping tensors, attached at one end to the loops of the safety belt, are joined at the other end by means of a karabiner or another hooking device to three steel rings, two rear and one front; in the case of the rear loop's tensors, they are attached to two rear rings fixed on a surcingle (27) that goes around the horse's belly which is not only suitable as a means of clamping the rings, but also because as it goes around the horse's belly it also has the effect of inhibiting the inadequately-trained animal or one of a nervous temperament if the rider tightens the tensors at the moment he loses balance; in the case of the front brace, it is attached to a ring placed on a strap on the horse's neck (22).

8. HORSE RIDING SAFETY SYSTEM according to claim 1 essentially characterized because the clamping tensors, attached at one end to the loops of the safety belt, are joined at the other end by means of a karabiner or another hooking device to three steel rings, two rear and one front; the two rear ones are fixed to the ends of a metal bar at the back (28), transversal to the saddle channel; a strap (29) comes out from the centre of the bar, going through the saddle channel, and its front end projects from the front opening of the saddle channel with a ring (30) which the front tensor is hooked onto.

9. HORSE RIDING SAFETY METHOD to protect the horse rider, essentially characterized by the use of a sequence of steps that are to be performed on the rider's saddle and the harness:

a) To fit the rider's belt with a clasp with many attachments which may be opened instantly by means of a push-button in the event of horse falling; two braces are attached to the clasp, and these go over the rider's shoulders down to his sacral area below the belt on his back; on the rider's shoulders and neck the braces hold a rigid piece which supports the nape and protects the cervices and on the rider's back they hold a set of articulated padded plates to protect the spinal column, adding to the belt three loops with rings joined to three elastic tensors of adjustable length attached by means of karabiners or hooks; two of them placed on the rear sides of the saddle held to the saddle pads by straps, metallic plates or surcingles and another front tensor to a horse collar that holds a ring to guarantee isostatic balance on the saddle.

b) To fit Velcro pieces to the inside of the rider's knees that attached to Velcro pieces on the saddle skirt, and to join the knees to the belt by means of a strap hooked to the outside of each knee that attaches to the belt buckle to hold the knee in place but which releases by undoing the buckle.

c) To cover the leathers or suspension straps of the stirrups with covers and to join them by means of a Velcro strap to a piece of Velcro on the saddle skirt to hold the stirrups in place and to enable the rider to get them back with his foot should he lose the stirrup.