Robert Coates’s patent for an Overboot for Horses, No. 473,295, describes a device designed to prevent a horse from slipping on icy or sleety roads. Patented on April 19, 1892, the invention was a temporary, removable boot that could be fitted over a horse’s hoof.
The key features of the overboot were:
- Two-Part Shoe: A metallic shoe, designed in two hinged sections, was fitted with internal coil springs that held the sections together. This allowed the boot to be opened and placed around a horse’s hoof.
- Adjustable Straps: The boot was secured to the horse’s fetlock using a series of straps and buckles, allowing it to be adjusted to different sizes.
- Removable Calks: The boot had a removable front plate with a permanently attached calk (a metal spike). Other calks could be screwed into the shoe, including a set in the rear that could be oriented at right angles to the front ones for better traction.
Societal Impact and Legacy
Coates’s invention was a practical solution to a common public safety problem in an era when horses were the primary mode of transportation.
- Improved Safety: Runaway or injured horses posed a threat to both themselves and the public. A horse slipping and falling on ice could cause a serious accident and injure the animal. Coates’s overboot provided a way to quickly “rough-shoe” a horse in an emergency, without the need for a farrier.
- A Glimpse into the Past: This patent highlights the kind of pragmatic ingenuity that was a hallmark of the late 19th century. Inventions were not just about new technologies, but also about refining existing ones to make them safer and more reliable. It shows how inventors focused on solving the real-world, day-to-day problems of a pre-automobile world.
- The Inventor’s Legacy: The patent record for Robert Coates does not contain details about his life beyond his residence in Washington, D.C. However, his work stands as an example of the thousands of inventors who created devices that, while not world-changing, made a direct and tangible improvement to the lives of working people.
