TO AN EQUINE

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an equine bit and in particular an equine bit used for administering oral fluids and soluble solids to an equine such as worming pastes and vitamin supplements.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The following disclosure makes particular reference to a horse. The invention is applicable to all forms of equines.

To maintain a horse in prime condition it is necessary to dose it regularly with various preparations such as worming pastes and vitamin supplements (preparations). These preparations are typically supplied in a syringe and administered to the horse by placing the tip of the syringe in the horse's mouth and delivering the preparation onto its tongue.

This method of administration is often distressing for horses and they will refuse to cooperate. It is not uncommon for such a process to take 20 minutes to complete and often the task is impossible to complete. The administration is often only partially successful, with the preparation being spilt or spat out by the horse. This will result in an unknown quantity of the preparation being administered. The unpleasant nature of the process may lead to a breakdown in the bond between the administrator and the horse as the horse associates the unpleasant experience with the administrator.

At present there are devices in the market to aid in administration of preparations. These take the form of a bit that is held in the horse's mouth by means of a bridle. These devices are typically V-shaped with a hole at the trough of the V for administering the preparation. The hole is positioned at the back of the horse's tongue.

These devices are only partially effective in their job as they administer the preparation in a single position on the horse's tongue, making it easy for the horse to spit out the preparation. The V-shape of the devices make them unsuitable for prolonged use, making it more difficult to get the horse accustomed to it. The devices also require the decanting of the preparation into another syringe for administration or the use of an adaptor so as to accept a standard syringe of preparation. Horses also quickly learn to associate the shape of the bit with an unpleasant experience and refuse to take the bit The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of such devices by providing an easy to use horse bit compatible with prepackaged preparations that is readily taken by a horse, allowing a horse to be dosed quickly, comfortably and without waste.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to overcome the above-mentioned problems or to provide the public with a useful alternative by providing a horse bit that does at least some of the following: is readily accepted by a horse; accepts standard preparations; accepts treats such as honey or molasses; delivers a preparation in a manner to limit spitting out by the horse; is easy to clean by virtue of its simple design, facilitating the use of one bit with multiple animals; is suitable for use in training a horse to accept a bit; can be used to distract a horse in other procedures such as shoeing; and has a compact simple design to minimize the cost of manufacture.

The present invention successfully addresses some of these problems provides the public with or at least a useful alternative.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a first aspect the invention could be set to reside in a horse bit comprising an elongate body with enlarged end pieces, said end pieces having a slot for accepting a strap, said body having an inlet hole at one through which a solution is introduced to a central chamber and multiple outlet holes along its length through which a preparation is delivered inside a horse's mouth.

In preference the outlet hole is an elongated slot. Preferably there are multiple outlet holes along the body.

In a further form of the invention the bit is supplied preloaded with a preparation. In this form the outlets holes are covered by a strip of adhesive plastic film that is removed prior to administration.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate several implementations of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the advantages and principles of the invention. In the drawings:

Figure 1 is an isometric view of a horse's head with the invention in use;

Figure 2 is a first isometric view of the invention;

Figure 3 is a second isometric view of the invention;

Figure 4 is a side view of the invention; and

Figure 5 is a cross sectional view of the invention through plane AA of Figure 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following detailed description of the invention refers to the accompanying drawings. Although the description includes exemplary embodiments, other embodiments are possible, and changes may be made to the embodiments described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings and the following description to refer to the same and like parts.

With reference to the drawings, the bit 1 has an elongate body 20 that is placed in the horse's mouth and end discs 31 & 32 to stop lateral movement of the bit.

The end discs each have a slot 33 that accepts a neck strap 3 that is fitted around the horse's neck to hold the bit in place. The neck strap is fitted with a quick release buckle 4 to facilitate quick and easy fitting of the bit to the horse.

Protruding from a first end disc 31 is a stub 40 with an inlet 41 that is used for introducing preparations into the central chamber 50 of the bit.

The inlet has a taper 43 that allows the bit to accept syringes 2 with varying tip diameters.

The stub has finger grips 42 that allow the administrator to counteract lateral pressure on the bit when introducing preparations into the bit.

Holes 21 perpendicular to the central chamber allow the preparation to pass from the central chamber into the horse's mouth and preferably onto the tongue. The holes are positioned on the same side of the body as the slots 33 so that the holes face towards the back of the horse's mouth. This embodiment shows three holes, further embodiments may have a different number of holes or slots. The plurality of holes ensures that the preparation is delivered over a wide area of the horse's tongue, making it difficult for the horse to spit the preparation out. Further embodiments could also have holes facing the front of the horse's mouth to change the delivery pattern of the preparation. Still further embodiments could have different angles between the central chamber and the holes to change the delivery pattern.

The second end disc 32 has a triangular core 34 extending into the bit. This core reduces the amount of material required to manufacture the bit.

In preference the bit is moulded from food contact safe plastic but could also be made from other materials.

In an alternate embodiment of the invention, not shown in the drawings, the distance between the end discs is variable to accommodate different sized horses.

In a further embodiment, not shown in the drawings, the end discs are removable to facilitate cleaning.

The reader can now appreciate the advantage of the present invention.

For the purposes of the specification the word "comprising" means "including but not limited to", and the word "comprises" has a corresponding meaning. Also a reference within the specification to document or to prior use is not to be taken as an admission that the disclosure therein constitutes common general knowledge.

Further advantages and improvements may very well be made to the present invention without deviating from its scope. Although the invention has been shown and described in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope and spirit of the invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent devices and apparatus.