chaps

The most accepted etymology of “chaparreras" is that it comes from "chaparros" a Mexican colloquial generic name for brush, and a specific type of shrub, chaparral (thick, thorny, low brush), from which it’s believed they were designed to protect the legs while riding on horseback. Another, equally plausible etymology is that it comes from chaparrón, which means cloudburst or downpour, a heavy rain, itself from the onomatopoeic chap which is the sound of rain hitting the ground.{{cite book |last1=Cubí y Soler |first1=Mariano |title=A New Pocket Dictionary of the English & Spanish Languages, Volume 1 |date=1823 |publisher=Fielding Lucas |location=Baltimore |page=151 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zolMEbWMXPAC&q=chaparrón |access-date=12 February 2025}}{{cite web |title=Chaparrón |url=https://dle.rae.es/chaparrón |website=Diccionario de la Lengua Española |publisher=Real Academia Española |access-date=12 February 2025}}{{cite web |title=chaparrón |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/spanish-english/chaparron |website=Spanish-English dictionary |publisher=Cambridge University |access-date=12 February 2025}} In most 19th century texts, chaparreras are described as trousers worn to protect the pants underneath from the rain and mud. Due to the difficult pronunciation, Americans shortened the word to Chaps, originally spelled and pronounced Shaps.Simpson, J.A., Weiner, E.S.C. (prepared by). Oxford English Dictionary, vol. III (Chan-creeky). Oxford:Clarendon Press, Oxford University Press, 2nd Edition, 1989, 2000 reprint, pp. 24 and 28. {{ISBN|0-19-861215-X}} (Vol. III only), {{ISBN|0-19-861186-2}} (set){{Cite web |title=Definition of CHAPAREJOS |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chaparejos |access-date=2024-01-19 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Dictionary.com {{!}} Meanings & Definitions of English Words |url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/chaps |access-date=2024-01-19 |website=Dictionary.com |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Smead |first=Robert N. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MR4SY5n3_L8C&q=chaparro |title=Vocabulario Vaquero/Cowboy Talk: A Dictionary of Spanish Terms from the American West |date=2004 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |isbn=978-0-8061-3631-8 |pages=52–54 |language=en}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4JkjAAAAMAAJ&q=+%22chaparro%22|title=Academic American Encyclopedia|date=January 19, 1986|publisher=Grolier|isbn=978-0-7172-2012-0 |via=Google Books}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JsAqAAAAMAAJ&q=chaparro|title=The New Encyclopaedia Britannica|date=January 19, 1974|publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica|isbn=978-0-85229-290-7 |via=Google Books}}{{Cite book |last=Stavans |first=Ilan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3y05OHRhL6oC&dq=latino+dictionary+%22chaparro%22&pg=PA94 |title=Spanglish: The Making of a New American Language |date=2004-08-03 |publisher=Harper Collins |isbn=978-0-06-008776-0 |pages=94 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Barnhart |first=Robert K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mFAYAAAAIAAJ&q=chaparro |title=The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology |date=1988 |publisher=H.W. Wilson Company |isbn=978-0-8242-0745-8 |language=en}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZZo2gW3fJKgC&q=chaparro&pg=PA417|title=The History of Basque|first=Robert Lawrence|last=Trask|date=January 19, 1997|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-13116-2 |via=Google Books}}{{Cite web|url=http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/|title=Diccionario de la lengua española | Edición del Tricentenario | RAE - ASALE}} By 1884, the Dictionary of American Regional English notes use of the word in Wyoming, spelled "schaps".Cassidy, Frederic G., ed. Dictionary of American Regional English, vol. I. Cambridge/London:Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1985 {{ISBN|0-674-20511-1}} (vol I) Chaparejos, misspelled by Americans as "chaparajos", is a blend of the words chaparreras and aparejo (rig or equipment for horseback riding).{{cite book |last1=Smead |first1=Robert Norman |title=Vocabulario Vaquero/Cowboy Talk: A Dictionary of Spanish Terms from the American West |date=2004 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |location=Norman |isbn=9780806136318 |page=54 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MR4SY5n3_L8C&q=chaparejos |access-date=27 January 2025}}

File:Charro Mexicano - Figura de Cera (ca. 1850's).jpg

File:Don Alonso Peón de Regil, Ministro de México en Italia (1865).jpg

File:Mexican rancher.jpg

File:Charro chinaco (1866).jpg Chinaco or a Mexican guerrilla fighter during the French Intervention, wearing furry Chaparreras.]]

The precise history of Chaparreras is uncertain. They appeared on the scene in Mexico between the late 1830s and early 1840s. The first mention of them that historians have been able to find is from 1843. Before this, there is no evidence of their existence, as they were absent from writings and paintings from that time. Before the appearance of Chaparreras, the Mexican horsemen used a set of leather flaps called Armas or Armas de Agua that hung from the pommel of their saddles. These armas or “shields” were used to protect the riders pants and boots from the rain, hence their name “Armas de Agua” or “water shields”. Armas also have a recent history as there is no evidence of their existence prior to the 19th century, neither in writings nor in paintings.

The first documented evidence of Chaparreras is in an 1843 article titled —“Cartas Sobre México: Alameda y Bucareli”— in the magazine “El Museo Mexicano” about life in the Mexico City promenade Alameda Central, although the writer doesn’t go into detail about them.{{cite journal |last1=Revilla |first1=Domingo |title=Cartas Sobre México: Alameda y Bucareli |journal=El Museo Mexicano |date=1843 |volume=2 |page=379 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IU0xAQAAMAAJ&dq=chaparreras&pg=PA379 |access-date=29 January 2025 |publisher=Ignacio Cumplido |location=Mexico City}} It would be the following year 1844 in the article —“Costumbres y Trajes Nacionales: Los Rancheros”— about the life and customs of Mexican Rancheros, that readers would get a description. The writer, Don Domingo Revilla, states that Chaparreras are “in vogue everywhere” in Mexico implying that they were something recent and new. Revilla describes Chaparreras as “trousers with buttons on the sides and no seat” and goes on to say that they are “widely used in El Jaral and in Tierra-Adentro” referring to the great hacienda “El Jaral de Berrio” in Guanajuato and “Tierra-Adentro” or hinterland.{{cite journal |last1=Revilla |first1=Domingo |title=Costumbres y Trajes Nacionales: Los Rancheros |journal=El Museo Mexicano |date=1844 |volume=3 |page=553 |url=https://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/hd/es/viewer?id=39cc1f0b-5443-4072-adbc-e57867022d48&page=585 |access-date=29 January 2025 |publisher=Ignacio Cumplido |location=Mexico}} One popular song from that time tells that people go to “El Jaral” to buy chaparrreras.{{cite journal |last1=Revilla |first1=Domingo |title=Costumbres y Trajes Nacionales: Los Rancheros |journal=El Museo Mexicano |date=1844 |volume=3 |page=556 |url=https://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/hd/es/viewer?id=39cc1f0b-5443-4072-adbc-e57867022d48&page=588 |access-date=29 January 2025 |publisher=Ignacio Cumplido |location=Mexico}} El Jaral de Berrio, known for their fine leather production, might be a possible place of origin of Chaparreras.

The first Chaparreras were actually pants made out of leather with no seat and with buttons on the sides, as Revilla described, that was worn over the riders’ cloth or suede pants to protect them from the rain and mud. Don Carlos Rincón Gallardo states that those early Chaparreras were distinct from the most recent ones (20th century) in that they were never unbuttoned, so that, to put them on, the rider had to remove his shoes and place one leg into each pant-leg one at a time like any other pants. These first Chaparreras were in disuse in Mexico by the early 20th century being replaced by a new model that remains the standard today, two separate leather pant-legs that are united at the top by a strap or clasp that serves as a belt, with buttons or laces on the side that could be undone making it possible to wear them without having to take your boots off{{cite book |last1=Rincón Gallardo |first1=Carlos |title=El Libro del Charro Mexicano |date=1946 |publisher=Porrúa |location=Mexico |page=89 |url=https://archive.org/details/el-libro-del-charro-mexicano/page/86/mode/1up?q=Chaparreras+ |access-date=29 January 2025}}

One common belief today is that chaparreras derived from Spanish zahones, a leather apron used by shepherds, hunters, workers and others, to protect the front of pants from tears, but there is no evidence to support this. The hypothesis holds that chaparreras are zahones that had been highly modified to better suit the needs of Mexico’s horsemen; for example, they were made longer to cover the whole leg.{{cite book |last1=Rincón Gallardo |first1=Carlos |title=El Libro del Charro Mexicano |date=1946 |publisher=Porrúa |location=México |page=8 |edition=Second |url=https://archive.org/details/el-libro-del-charro-mexicano/page/8/mode/1up?q=Chaparreras+zahones |access-date=5 May 2025}} But for Chaparreras to have been descended from zahones or be modified versions of them, zahones would have to have existed prior, but in Mexico, no mention of anything resembling zahones has been found in any text, document or painting, either from the 19th century or earlier, so their connection to chaparreras is impossible.{{cite book |last1=Álvarez del Villar |first1=José |title=Historia de la charrería |date=1941 |publisher=Imprenta Londres |location=México |page=311 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Historia_de_la_charrer%C3%ADa/H8Q1AAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=las%20chaparreras%20y%20los%20zahones |access-date=5 May 2025}}

And in all descriptions of chaparreras made by foreigners they never compared or linked them to zahones. In the accounts of Spanish travelers who described chaparreras, they never mentioned any similarity with zahones or inferred that they were derived from them and never indicated that it was a known garment in Spain; on the contrary, they always implied that chaparreras were something unknown or “exotic” to them. The Spanish writer and poet, Juan Martínez Villergas, who visited Mexico in the 1850’s, found Chaparreras to be interesting or amusing, suggesting they were unknown to him as a Spaniard, and criticized the opulence, stating:

{{quote|“After the hat, what interested me the most about the persevering Mexicans, are the Chaparreras, a name given to a pair of pants that are open at the sides, from the bottom to the waistband, but although they are always closed, they have one, two, three and up to four rows of buttons just for conspicuous reasons. The more buttons it has, the more it means that the wearer has money to spend, so that there are men who have more buttons on the sides of their chaparreras than hairs on their heads, without being bald, and surely, more than one are ruined by wanting to show off so many buttons.{{cite book |last1=Martínez Villergas |first1=Juan |title=La vida en el chaleco |date=1859 |publisher=El Iris |location=Habana |page=16 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZyYBAAAAMAAJ&q=Chaparreras+ |access-date=30 January 2025}}}} Likewise, the Spanish journalist and historian, Niceto de Zamacois, never mentioned Chaparreras as being derived from Spanish zahones nor did he claim they were similar to them when he described them to Spanish readers, implying that they were unknown in Spain, stating: {{quote| “In Mexico, “chaparreras" is the name given to a type of wide, leather pants that are worn over the ones they wear when they go horseback riding and it's raining; they reach up to the waist on the front, but only to the end of the thigh on the back, exposing the inner pants around the seat: these chaparreras, which are extremely useful, are attached to the waist by a leather belt with a buckle at the back, which makes them very easy to put on or take off when necessary.”{{cite book |last1=Zamacois |first1=Niceto de |title=El capitán Rossi novela histórica original, Volume 1 |date=1864 |publisher=Literaria |location=Mexico |pages=162–163 |edition=Second |url=http://cdigital.dgb.uanl.mx/la/1080024364_C/1080024364_T1/1080024364_09.pdf |access-date=30 January 2025}}}}

In addition to this, zahones are not and have never been trousers like chaparreras but rather aprons, known in Spanish as delantal or delantera, two pieces of leather or cloth that only protect the front of each leg and are tied around the waist.{{cite book |last1=Zerolo |first1=Elias |last2=Toro y Gómez |first2=Miguel de |last3=Isaza |first3=Emiliano |title=Diccionario enciclopédico de la Lengua Castellana, Volume 1 |date=1895 |publisher=Garnier Hermanos |location=Paris |page=788 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r5jKRjnljxEC&q=Delantera%20Zahones |access-date=30 January 2025}}{{cite book |title=Diccionario de la Real Academia Española, Segunda Parte |date=1826 |publisher=Parmantier |location=Paris |page=1525 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KVLWwGYZpU0C&q=zahon |access-date=30 January 2025}} Prior to the 20th century, zahones were shorter only covering the front of the thigh down to the knees. In all 19th century Spanish dictionaries, zahones are defined as either leather or cloth aprons or short opened breeches that are tied around the waist and behind each thigh covering the front down to the knees or never going beyond the calves.{{cite book |last1=Marty Caballero |first1=Luis |title=Diccionario de la legua castellan, Volume 2 |date=1865 |publisher=Imprenta del Anuario |location=Madrid |page=954 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ia80AQAAMAAJ&q=zahon%20zahones |access-date=30 January 2025}}{{cite book |last1=Echegaray |first1=Eduardo de |title=Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, Volume 5 |date=1889 |publisher=Ricardo Álvarez |location=Madrid |page=764 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ruc5AAAAMAAJ&q=zahones |access-date=30 January 2025}}{{cite book |title=Diccionario enciclopédico hispano-americano de literatura, ciencias y artes, Volume 23 |date=1898 |publisher=Montaner y Simón |location=Madrid |page=209 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zEteAAAAcAAJ&q=Zahones |access-date=30 January 2025}} Zahones, of Arabic origin, are also older than chaparreras dating back to at least the 16th century and were originally gregüescos (zaragüelles), very distinct from the styles of the 19th and 20th centuries.{{cite book |last1=Covarrubias |first1=Sebastian de |title=Tesoro de la lengua castellana, o española |date=1611 |publisher=Luis Sanchéz |location=Madrid |page=261 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qKm8nzelynUC&q=çahon |access-date=30 January 2025}} Chaparreras, on the contrary, are not aprons but trousers that cover the entire leg, front and back, and were originally intended to protect the rider's pants from the rain and, unlike zahones, were introduced in the 19th century and have no known connection to gregüescos.File:Maximiliano de Habsburgo vestido de Charro (1865).jpg in Charro attire wearing Chaparreras, possibly of bear or otter fur (1865).]]

File:Dos Hombres vestidos de Charro (ca. 1866).jpg

One possible origin of Chaparreras might be the pre-Hispanic “calzas” or leggings used by the indigenous people of Mexico. Leather leggings, called calzas by the Spanish, made out of deerskin or wild dog, were part of the traditional outfit of the Chichimecas of Central Mexico.{{cite book |last1=Carrillo Cázares |first1=Alberto |title=El debate sobre la guerra chichimeca, 1531-1585: Cuerpo de Documentos |date=2000 |publisher=El Colegio de Michoacán |location=Zamora |isbn=9789706790316 |page=609 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RT7zAIvkyZ4C&q=calzas |access-date=1 February 2025}} Botas Huastecas, wide leather leggings or pants that were attached around the waist and were used by the herdsmen of Veracruz might also be a possible origin, as they were similar to and predated chaparreras. The name “Huastecas”, referring to the Huastec people and the peculiar way of manufacture by tanning deerskins with rotten brains and smoking them with burnt corncobs to generate a pungent smell to repel bugs and other critters, indicates an indigenous origin. “Mitazas”, a set of leggings similar to chaparreras but that were not attached at the waist, only reaching up and attaching to each thigh, are also credited to indigenous leggings.

There is also evidence in the United States that certain design features may derive from the mountain men, who copied them from the leggings worn by Native Americans.Blevins, Win. Dictionary of the American West. Seattle: Sasquatch Books, 2001 {{ISBN|1-57061-304-4}}, pp.75-76 {{Cite web|url=http://www.doa.state.nc.us/CIA/documents/factsheets/ncindiansfactsheet.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080418235827/http://www.doa.state.nc.us/CIA/documents/factsheets/ncindiansfactsheet.pdf|url-status=dead|title="Gifts from the Indians", North Carolina Indians, web page accessed April 14, 2008|archivedate=April 18, 2008}}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DOq4phLykqcC&pg=PA227 |last=Ward |first=Fay E. |title=The Cowboy at Work |publisher=Courier Dover Publications |year=2003 |isbn=0-486-42699-8 |page=227 |access-date=April 14, 2008}} According to David Hackett Fischer (1989), the leather bottoms worn among frontiersmen had Scotch-Irish and Northern English predecessors, giving 18th century records of sheepskin leggings in Westmorland and gaiters known as "leather stockings" in Carlisle as evidence.{{cite book |last=Fischer |first=David Hackett |date=1989 |title=Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195069051 |page=734}} Different styles developed to fit local climate, terrain and hazards. Designs were also modified for purely stylistic and decorative purposes. The time of actual appearance of the garment on American cowboys is uncertain. By the late 1870s, however, most Texas cowboys wore them as the cattle industry moved north.Rickey, Don Jr. $10 Horse, $40 Saddle: Cowboy Clothing, Arms, Tools and Horse Gear of the 1880s. The Old Army Press, 1976, LC no. 76-9411. pp.46-47

The first chaparreras were made out of cowhide and goatskin tanned with the hair on, the latter being the most sought after because the hair repels water better. These chaparreras made of goatskins are called chivarras, a portmanteau of chivo (goat) and chaparreras. The more expensive ones were made out of jaguar skin, bear and otter fur. Many were embossed with intricate designs and patterns and richly decorated with gold and silver buttons, brooches and buckles.

File:Rancheros (1844).jpg File:Ranchero de Sonora ( 1849).jpg

The Armas de Agua (Water Shields), Armas de Pelo (Hairy Shields), or simply Armas (Shields), are two large leather flaps, commonly goat, deer or calf skin, sometimes embossed, that are attached to and hung from the pommel, on both sides, of the Mexican saddles to cover and protect, from the rain, the Calzoneras (trousers), legs and feet of the Charro.{{cite book |last1=Penny |first1=Edward B. |title=A Sketch of the Customs and Society of Mexico |date=1828 |publisher=Longman & Co. |location=London |page=60 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g9uosD3weW0C&q=charro |access-date=25 January 2025}}{{cite book |last1=Stephens |first1=John Lloyd |title=Incidents of Travels in Yucatan, Volume 2 |date=1843 |publisher=Harper & Brothers |location=New York |page=63 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oC0H7NEIKToC&q=Vaqueros |access-date=27 January 2025}} When they are being used, they each are pulled over the legs and feet, and are tied behind the waist. When they are not, they remain hanging on each side of the saddle, just in front of the rider’s legs. When the Charro camped outside, they could be removed from the saddle and be used as a sleeping mat and blanket.{{cite book |last1=Rincón Gallardo |first1=Carlos |title=El Libro del Charro Mexicano |date=1846 |publisher=Porrúa |location=Mexico |page=92 |url=https://archive.org/details/el-libro-del-charro-mexicano/page/88/mode/1up?q=Armas&view=theater |access-date=27 January 2025}} Some of the more expensive kind were richly decorated, made of “tiger” (jaguar), puma, bear or otter fur.{{cite journal |title=Scenes in Mexico: The Wild Indians |journal=Colburn's United Service Magazine and Naval & Military Journal |date=1844 |page=435 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AP4bAQAAIAAJ&dq=Armas+de+agua&pg=PA435}} Armas, like most of the equipment of the Charro, arose in Central Mexico and later, through migration and necessity, they passed on to the rest of the country, to north and south.

The history of armas, like that of chaparreras, is also uncertain as they are also absent from texts and paintings from before the 19th century. In an 1805 classified ad in the —Diario de Mexico— newspaper, a vaquero saddle described as “latest fashion” or “latest model” is being sold. The ad mentions it’s made with a silver lined saddle-tree, embroidered silk and states that it comes “equipped with everything, even with its armas de agua ”.{{cite journal |title=Diario de México del Martes 22 de Octubre de 1805 |journal=Diario de México |date=October 1805 |volume=1 |issue=22 |page=88 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Diario_de_México/XGaOgedwqmgC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Silla%20última%20moda%20armas |access-date=15 May 2025}} The “última moda” or latest fashion and the emphasis that it comes with armas, would indicate that it was something new and expensive in the Mexican saddlery and equestrian world.

Some people, mostly Americans,{{cite book |last1=Ward |first1=Fay E. |title=The Cowboy at Work |date=2013 |publisher=Dover Publications |location=Mineola, New York |isbn=9780486146232 |page=225 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Cowboy_at_Work/n0rCAgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=chaparreras+or+chaps+cowboy+at+work&pg=PA225&printsec=frontcover |access-date=15 May 2025}}{{cite web |last1=Olson |first1=Jim |title=Collector’s Corner: Chaps |url=http://www.theantiqueregister.com/collectors-corner-chaps/ |website=The Antique Register |access-date=15 May 2025}} have also argued and assumed that armas originated in Spain and were brought to Mexico by the Spaniards. But, just like chaparreras, there is no evidence of their existence in Spain, and those Spaniards that described armas to a Spanish audience found them strange and, in some cases, described them as simple “trifles”, indicating they were unknown in their country. Spanish lawyer and monarchist, Luis Manuel del Rivero, not only derided the Mexican vaquero saddle and armas as “grotesque” but also never mentioned chaparreras as part of the Ranchero attire, which would show that they were either not common or didn't exist yet around the time he visited Mexico (1842):

“The Ranchero is a man of higher thoughts, very strong, great horseman, […] His attire, boots made of leather with which the leg is wrapped several times; spurs, as I have said, colossal; wide leather or cloth pants over cloth underwear; cotton shirt; a sash with which the waist is secured; a cotona, that is, a short leather jacket that is worn over the head, and a very large and heavy chambergo or Jarano hat. For overdress, a Manga or Serape. His horse's trappings are no less grotesque, since the Vaquero saddle with its large stirrups and flaps, especially if it is complemented by an anquera, Armas de Agua, and other trifles, is a world in the midst of which the Ranchero finds himself in his world, and he believes himself superior to all the powerful men of the earth, executing extremely difficult spins and movements.”{{cite book |last1=Rivero |first1=Luis Manuel del |title=Méjico en 1842 |date=1844 |publisher=Eusebio Aguado |location=Madrid |pages=234, 235 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s0msfdtMEC8C&q=ranchero%20es%20hombre |access-date=21 August 2023}}

Armas began to be replaced by chaparreras around the 1840s, although they didn't provide all the services and protection that the Armas did, since they cannot be used as a sleeping mat nor protect the foot.{{cite book |last1=García Icazbalceta |first1=Joaquín |last2=García Pimentel |first2=Luis |title=Vocabulario de Mexicanismos |date=1899 |publisher=La Europea |location=Mexico |page=30 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5XwUAAAAYAAJ&q=Armas%20agua%20pelo |access-date=27 January 2025}}{{cite book |last1=Smead |first1=Robert N. |title=Vocabulario Vaquero/Cowboy Talk: A Dictionary of Spanish Terms from the American West |date=2004 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |location=Norman |isbn=9780806136318 |page=15 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MR4SY5n3_L8C&q=armas+de+agua+vaqueros |access-date=1 February 2025}} Today Armas continue to exist and are still used in certain regions of the country both for work, as in Baja California Sur, and for ceremonial or ornamental purposes in Central and Southern Mexico.

File:Retrato del General Jesús González Ortega (ca. 1860 - ca. 1862).jpg wearing Mitazas (1862).]]

File:Charros chinacos (Mexico ca. 1864 - ca. 1866).jpg

Mitazas are separate, long leather leggings that only reached up to the thighs and are not fastened at the waist. The first ones were fastened at each of the thighs but later ones were fastened at the sides with small buckles. These Mitazas that reached up to the thigh are no longer in use. Today, what people refer to as “mitazas” are more like half-chaps, only covering the calves.

According to Mexican writer and journalist Manuel Payno, mitazas were more common in the northern areas of Mexico:

{{quote|On a clear and calm day at the end of September 184... […] a large cavalry party entered through the only road that connects the port of Tampico with the interior. At the head of them was a young man wearing a Turkish blue cloth jacket with a red collar and cuffs; […] he was followed at a distance by a lancer, with a stern, tanned face and a large black mustache; […] Behind them were two other young men dressed in the Tamaulipas style, that is, with wide breeches or Mitazas, as they call them in the country, made of yellow suede, a Cotona jacket made of the same material with laces and small silver eagles on the back and buttons, and a large flat Jarano hat.{{cite book |last1=Payno |first1=Manuel |title=El Fistol del Diablo, Volume 4 |date=1860 |publisher=Ignacio Cumplido |location=Mexico |page=156 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZicRAAAAIAAJ&dq=mitazas&pg=PA156 |access-date=27 January 2025}}}}

{{Main|Jarocho}}

In the lowlands of Veracruz, the country horsemen that worked in the haciendas of the state were called Jarochos, specifically those dedicated to the job of vaquero (cowherd) and everything related to cattle ranching.{{cite book |last1=Lempriere |first1=Charles |title=Notes in Mexico: In 1861 and 1862 |date=1862 |publisher=Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, & Green |location=London |page=314 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9VtuHtzri2sC&dq=Charles+Lempriere+jarochos&pg=PA314 |access-date=14 June 2024}}{{cite book |last1=Reid |first1=Mayne |title=The Pierced Heart, and Other Stories |date=1885 |publisher=J. and R.Maxwell |location=London |page=260 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rZHxb21BWFcC&dq=jarocho+vaquero&pg=PA260 |access-date=8 June 2024}}{{cite journal |last1=Vélez |first1=Angel |title=Trages y Costumbres Nacionales: El Jarocho |journal=El Museo Mexicano ó miscelanea pintoresca de amenidades, curiosa é instructiva |date=1844 |volume=Fourth |page=60 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ukwxAQAAMAAJ&q=Ganadero,%20matador%20de%20reses |access-date=8 June 2024}} Their customs, traditions and costume were very distinct from the herdsmen of the highlands, the Rancheros. They didn't wear any type of footwear, riding their horses barefooted. When they were herding cattle out in the woods and mountains, their only protection on their legs was a pair of leggings called “Botas Huastecas” (Huastec Boots), a kind of wide leggings or breeches that were fastened at the waist, similar to chaparreras, made of deer-skin tanned with putrefied brains and smoked with corn cobs, to protect them from thorns and snakes, and repel chiggers, ticks and other bugs with the putrid smell.{{cite journal |last1=Vélez |first1=Angel |title=Trages y Costumbres Nacionales: EL JAROCHO |journal=El Museo Mexicano |date=1844 |volume=Four |page=62 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g0Wx4zCNsG0C&dq=botas+huastecas&pg=PA62 |access-date=9 June 2024}}

The manufacturing process for making "Botas Huastecas" consisted, according to an article published in 1869, in:{{cite journal |last1=N. O. |first1=A. |title=Un Viaje por la Laguna de Tamiahua |journal=Boletín de la Sociedad de Geografía y Estadística de la República Mexicana |date=1869 |volume=1 |page=735 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ySrwyLmDdJwC&dq=botas+huastecas&pg=PA735 |access-date=9 June 2024}}{{cite book |last1=Baz |first1=Gustavo Adolfo |last2=L. Gallo |first2=Eduardo |title=History of the Mexican Railway |date=1876 |publisher=Gallo & Company |location=Mexico |page=56 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112109057759&seq=64&q1=Huasteca+Boots |access-date=9 June 2024}} {{blockquote|“The boots, which are not boots but leggings, since they don’t have soles, nor are they worn on the feet, are made of the skins of two deer, which are arranged so that the respective neck of each one serves to cover the calves and part of the thighs, and they are tied to the waist with cords of the same skin. The way to prepare the skin is as follows: the animal's brains are saved until they enter a state of putrefaction; the skins are then greased with this ointment, after being previously dried in the sun on the hairy side, and is then rubbed with a deer rib and becomes soft under this operation. When it is soft enough, it is colored with the smoke of burnt corn husks. The purpose of this is to impregnate the skin with a strong and pungent odor, which prevents ticks from adhering to them. The boots must be very wide and form many folds and wrinkles, both to avoid thorns from penetrating them, and to escape from the bite of snakes when having to cross bushy places.”}}

Botas Huastecas no longer exist since at least the late 19th century.

File:Charro Mexicano con reata - figura de cera (ca. 1830).jpg

File:Retrato de Charro Mexicano.jpg

Cuadrilera also known as Rozadera, is a piece of leather in the form of an apron, that only covers part of the hip and thigh, and has four straps, two that attach to the waist and the other two are fasten around the thigh. It is made of cowhide or suede, and were used for roping, prior to the existence of Chaparreras, and used today when chaparreras are not worn, to protect the pants and legs from the chafing of the rope. It goes on the right leg for roping on horseback, and on the left when roping on foot. Cuadrileras can be used together with Chaparreras by wearing it underneath to provide extra protection when doing more heavy roping. Most Chaparreras today come with built in rozaderas.

File:Mexican Cuadrilera o Rozadera para lazar.jpg

File:Cuadrilera atada a la silla de montar.jpg

The Cuadrilera also functions as a cover to protect the saddle seat from wear and tear and to prevent it from getting hot by attaching it on the front of the saddle; if there is a need to dismount, leaving the saddled horse in the sun, the charro can lift the cuadrilera like a lid over the saddle horn and when he remounts he can put it back in its place. The cuadrilera is the most traditional and Charro way to protect the saddle seat.

Shotgun chaps, sometimes called "stovepipes", were so named because the legs are straight and narrow. They were the earliest design used by Texas cowboys, in wide use by the late 1870s. Each leg is cut from a single piece of leather. Their fit is snug, wrapping completely around the leg. Modern versions may have full-length zippers running along the outside of the leg from the thigh to just above the ankle.{{Cite web |title=Cowboy Chinks And Chaps |url=http://www.cowboyway.com/What/WhatAreChinks.htm |access-date=2024-01-19 |website=www.cowboyway.com |language=en}} The edge of each legging is usually fringed and the bottom is sometimes cut with an arch or flare that allows a smooth fit over the arch of a boot. Shotguns do not flap around the way the batwing design can, and they are also better at trapping body heat, an advantage in windy, snowy or cold conditions, though unpleasant in very hot or humid weather. Shotgun chaps are more common on ranches in the northwest, Rocky Mountains and northern plains states, as well as Canada, and are the design most commonly seen in horse show competition for western riders, especially western equitation. English riders who wear full-length chaps also usually wear a shotgun style, sometimes without fringe.

File:Broncobuster3.jpg

File:Reining spin.jpg horse]]

Batwing chaps are cut wide with a flare at the bottom. Generally made of smooth leather, they have only two or three fasteners around the thigh, thus allowing great freedom of movement for the lower leg. This is helpful when riding very actively, and makes it easier to mount the horse. This design also provides more air circulation and is thus somewhat cooler for hot-weather wear. Batwing chaps are often seen on rodeo contestants, particularly those who ride bucking stock. They are also seen on working ranches, particularly in Texas. They were a later design, developed after the end of the open range. Although by definition the chaps that rodeo contestants wear are considered batwing chaps, contestants do not refer to them as batwings. They are simply called rodeo chaps. There are a few differences in design between working ranch batwing chaps and rodeo chaps. Rodeo chaps are usually more colorful and decorated, whereas ranch cowboys need toughness over style. Rodeo chaps have long flowing fringe which can be the same or a different color as the main body.

File:Chinks.JPG

Chinks are half-length chaps that stop two to four inches (5 to 10 cm) below the knee, with very long fringe at the bottom and along the sides. They are usually fringed along the outside edge and bottom, making their apparent length appear about 4 inches (10 cm) longer. The leg shape is cut somewhere between batwings and shotguns, and each leg usually has only two fasteners, high on the thigh. They are cooler to wear and hence a design that is suitable for very warm climates. They are occasionally called "half-chaps" (not to be confused with gaiters-style half chaps described below). The original etymon may have been {{lang|es|chincaderos}} or {{lang|es|chigaderos}}, and may have originally referred to {{lang|es|armitas}}.{{Cite book |last=Smead |first=Robert N. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MR4SY5n3_L8C&pg=PA59 |title=Vocabulario Vaquero/Cowboy Talk: A Dictionary of Spanish Terms from the American West |date=2004 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |isbn=978-0-8061-3631-8 |pages=59 |language=en}} Chinks are most often seen on cowboys in the Southwestern and Pacific states, most notably on those who follow the California {{lang|es|vaquero}} or "buckaroo" tradition.Draper, Robert. "21st -Century Cowboys: Why the Spirit Endures." National Geographic, December 2007, pp. 114-135, ref p. 124

{{lang|es|Armitas}} believed to be an early style of chaps, supposedly developed by the Spanish in colonial Mexico and became associated with the "buckaroos" or vaqueros of the Great Basin area of what is now the United States, although there is no evidence of these and other types of chaparreras in Colonial Mexico. They are a short legging with completely closed legs that have to be put on in a manner similar to pants. They are sometimes a bit longer than chinks, but still stopping above the top of the boot, fringed on the sides and on the bottom to reach the boot tops, attached by a fringed belt."Cowboy Armor." Western Horseman, July 2007, pp145-146

A farrier's apron is a specialized style of chinks without fringe, also known as horse shoeing chaps. They protect the upper legs of farriers from getting scratched or cut up in the process of shoeing or otherwise treating the hooves of horses. Some designs have a breakaway front for safety while working. Farrier's aprons are also sometimes used by ranch hands when stacking hay to reduce wear on clothing.

File:Cowboy Morgan Evans at age 14.jpg

Woolies are a variation on shotgun chaps, made with a fleece or with hair-on cowhide, often angora, lined with canvas on the inside. They are the warmest chaps, associated with the northern plains and Rocky Mountains. They appeared on the Great Plains somewhere around 1887.{{Cite web |title=TheHistoryNet {{!}} Wild West {{!}} February 2007 Westerners: Wild and Wooly Chaps |url=http://www.historynet.com/magazines/wild_west/4851691.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930181311/http://www.historynet.com/magazines/wild_west/4851691.html |archive-date=2007-09-30 }}

File:1860, el día de san juan en las tierras calientes, ramón torres méndez, album de cuadros de costumbres, pag 34.jpg

{{lang|es|Zamarros}} somewhat resemble batwing chaps, in that the leggings are closely fitted at the thigh and flare out below the knee, but unlike batwings, the leggings extend far below the boot with a distinctive triangular flare.{{Cite web |last=Causey-Escobedo |first=Tina |title=Aruba - Island Temptations - LOCAL CULTURE - A View from the Saddle |url=http://www.island-temptations.com/old/spring05/story2/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070704171844/http://www.island-temptations.com/old/spring05/story2/ |archive-date=2007-07-04 }} {{lang|es|Zamarro}} or Zamarra, from the Basque language meaning "sheep fleece", was originally applied back in Spain to the wool coats and vests used by Spanish shepherds in the mountains of the Basque country.{{cite book |last1=Echegaray |first1=Eduardo de|title=Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, Volume 5 |date=1889 |publisher=Álvarez hermanos |location=Madrid |page=766 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ruc5AAAAMAAJ&q=zamarro |access-date=2 February 2025}}{{cite web |title=Zamarro |url=https://dle.rae.es/zamarro |website=Diccionario de la Lengua Española |publisher=Real Academia de la Lengua |access-date=2 February 2025}} The term was introduced to the Americas with that definition, but around the 1840's (no mention of them before) the term was applied to the leggings made of wool or llama used by some horsemen in Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador,{{cite web |title=Zamarro |url=https://www.asale.org/damer/zamarro |website=Diccionario de americanismos |publisher=ASALE |access-date=2 February 2025}}{{cite book |last1=Montaña |first1=Antonio |title=Cultura del vestuario en Colombia |date=1993 |publisher=Fondo Cultural Cafetero |location=Manizales |isbn=9789589144381 |page=9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZjMkAQAAIAAJ&q=zamarro+colombia |access-date=2 February 2025}}{{cite book |last1=Wisse |first1=M. |title=Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie des sciences |date=1849 |publisher=Bachelier |location=Paris |page=219 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SwMDtavDEJkC&dq=zamarros&pg=PA219 |access-date=2 February 2025}} and were originally intended, just like Mexican chaparreras, to protect the rider from the rain.{{cite book |last1=Hassaurek |first1=Friedrich |title=Four Years Among Spanish-Americans |date=1868 |publisher=Sampson Low, Son, and Marston |location=London |page=18 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fN1jbNVXE-wC&q=zamarros%20calzones |access-date=2 February 2025}}

Modern {{lang|es|Zamarro}} are commonly made of cowhide, either plain tanned leather or hides with the hair on. They are popular with Paso Fino aficionados, and are derived from styles seen in Colombia.{{Cite web |title=Paso Fino Horse Training Equitation School Sales Tack |url=http://ocalapasofino.com/tack/Colombian_tack7.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509165115/http://ocalapasofino.com/tack/Colombian_tack7.htm |archive-date=2008-05-09 }} Historically, the word {{lang|es|zamorros}} simply referred to a basic shotgun-like style of either smooth or hair-on chaps worn by Colombian riders.{{Cite web |title=Glosario |url=http://www.orientevirtual.org/itin/casadelosabuelos/glosario.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080417200336/http://www.orientevirtual.org/itin/casadelosabuelos/glosario.htm |archive-date=2008-04-17 |language=es}}

File:Zahones españoles.jpg

File:Zahones españoles - frente.jpg

Zahones, from the Arabic safn or sufun meaning apron or tablecloth, are aprons, not trousers, made of leather, that cover just the front of the legs to protect it from scratches. Before the 20th century, zahones were a lot shorter only covering the frontal area of the thighs down to the knees. They are distinct from chaparreras.

File:Montería regia.jpg wearing traditional Spanish {{lang|es|zahones}} at a {{lang|es|montería}} in El Pardo, 1908. Alfonso XIII and the Duke of San Pedro de Galatino to his left and right respectively]]

According to Sebastián de Covarrubias, zahón and its variants zafón, safón or çahon, of Arabic origin, is a “wide, legging (...) or calzón or gregüesco .."{{cite book |last1=Covarrubias |first1=Sebastián de |title=Tesoro de la lengua castellana, o española |date=1611 |publisher=Luis Sánchez |location=Madrid |page=261 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qKm8nzelynUC&q=Çahon}} The Arabic origin of the word is confirmed by Joan Coromines when citing the Portuguese word "açafôes." The Arabic etymology of the word zahón or zafón could be “safn” or “sufun”, which designates a “leather tablecloth and apron.“ In Spanish, apron (mandil) and tablecloth (mantel) have the same etymology.{{cite journal |last1=Pezzi Martínez |first1=Elena |title=Un estudio en torno a la palabra «zahón» |journal=Cahiers de linguistique hispanique médiévale |date=1981 |volume=6 |issue=6 |pages=171–178 |doi=10.3406/cehm.1981.1009 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/cehm_0396-9045_1981_num_6_1_1009 |access-date=2 February 2025}}{{cite web |title=Zahón |url=http://palabraria.blogspot.com/2007/10/zahn.html |website=Palabraria |publisher=Blogspot |access-date=2 February 2025}} The first Dictionary of the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language (1726-1739) defines Zahón as : "A type of wide breeches, also called zafón. In some parts, it only corresponds to the front, for riding a horse." Leopoldo Eguílaz defines it as: "Breeches open on both sides, that do not go beyond the calf, made of sheepskin, cowhide, deerskin."{{cite book |last1=Echegaray |first1=Eduardo de |title=Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, Volume 5 |date=1889 |publisher=Ricardo Álvarez |location=Madrid |page=764 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ruc5AAAAMAAJ&q=zahones |access-date=30 January 2025}} Luis Marty Caballero defines it as: "A kind of leather apron tied at the waist and on each of the thighs.{{cite book |last1=Marty Caballero |first1=Luis |title=Diccionario de la lengua castellana |date=1865 |publisher=Imprenta del Anuario |location=Madrid |page=954 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ia80AQAAMAAJ&q=zahones |access-date=2 February 2025}}

File:Corrida with horse.jpg

Zahones worn by campinos in Portugal during the 1950s were sheepskin or goatskin with the wool or hair on and of a "drainpipe" style, while in Spain, zahones were without hair and feature intricately worked designs called "poker-work."Roy Campbell (1957) Portugal, Max Reinhardt, London, 206 pages, page 100 In Spain today, rejoneadores wear smooth zahones attached with a single strap behind the knee. They are also worn in monterías, either in their leather or Grazalema variations.

Chaps are intended to protect the legs of cowboys from contact with daily environmental hazards seen in working with cattle, horses and other livestock. They help to protect riders' legs from scraping on brush, injury from thorns of cacti, sagebrush, mesquite and other thorny vegetation. Chaps are also useful for other types of riding. Leather chaps stick to a leather saddle or a bareback horse better than do fabric trousers and thus help the rider stay on. They are worn by rodeo competitors in "rough stock" events, including bull riding, saddle bronc and bareback riding. Riders in other disciplines, including various styles of English riding, sometimes wear chaps while schooling horses.{{Cite web|url=https://nrsworld.com/blogs/learning-center/the-evolution-and-significance-of-cowboy-chaps|title=The Evolution and Significance of Cowboy Chaps|first=Meghan|last=Stevens|date=November 17, 2023|website=NRS}}

Chaps are commonly worn by western riders at horse shows, where contestants are required to adhere to traditional forms of clothing, albeit with more decorative touches than seen in working designs. Currently chaps are also worn as a fashion choice for equestrian training and clinics. Chaps may now include contrast seams, elastic for better fit and crystal detailing.{{Cite web|url=https://theconnectedrider.com/half-chaps/|title = Half Chaps}} Chaps are often required by show rules,{{Cite web |title=Rulebook |url=https://www.usef.org/compete/resources-forms/rules-regulations/rulebook |access-date=2024-01-19 |website=US Equestrian |type=see Equitation and Western divisions, Western Pleasure in various breed divisions}} and even when optional under the rules are often worn to give a "finished" look to an outfit. Fashions change periodically and styles vary between the assorted sub-disciplines within western-style riding{{cite web|url=http://www.doversaddlery.com/category.asp?splid=X18S001T&c=45&bhcd2=1204969542|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728145553/http://www.doversaddlery.com/category.asp?splid=X18S001T&c=45&bhcd2=1204969542|url-status=dead|archive-date=2011-07-28|title=Equestrian Clothing & English Riding Apparel - Dover Saddlery|access-date=2008-03-08}}

File:Chainsaw cutting tree.jpg

File:Kitty chaps.jpg

Chainsaw chaps are a component of chainsaw safety clothing. They are made of strong materials like kevlar and protect the legs from injury. A similar style, though of different materials, is sold to hunters and other outdoor sportsmen for protection from rattlesnake bites.{{cite web|url=http://whitewateroutdoors.com/osc/catalog.php?cPath=173|title=Whitewater Waterfowl Hunting Gear - Waterproof Hunting Clothes - Robinson Outdoor Products|access-date=2007-12-14|archive-date=2007-12-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071217113855/http://whitewateroutdoors.com/osc/catalog.php?cPath=173|url-status=dead}} Outside of snake country, bird hunters often wear "upland chaps" made of waxed cotton or nylon to protect their legs from briars and thorns. Use of upland chaps allows any type of pants to be worn in the field and they are also used to protect rain suits.{{Cite web|url=https://www.uglydoghunting.com/product-category/for-you/chaps/|title=Hunting Chaps Archives}}

Motorcycle chaps are a type of motorcycle safety clothing and are an example of the shotgun style. They are usually made of leather with the smooth side out, and generally provide all-around protection for the leg and have side zippers to allow them to be put on easily. They are popular in the biker subculture, providing protection from the wind and cold as well as partial protection from cuts and scrapes in the event of a fall to the roadway.{{Cite web|url=http://www.frankyfashion.com/gdept.aspx?dept_id=07|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070920193746/http://www.frankyfashion.com/gdept.aspx?dept_id=07|url-status=dead|title="Leather Chaps for Men and Women"|archivedate=September 20, 2007}}

{{anchor|assless}}Chaps are also popular in fetish fashion and the leather subculture, where they often are tightly fitted and worn without jeans or other garments layered beneath them other than a codpiece. They can be made of leather, patent leather, rubber, or vinyl and are worn for decoration serving no protective purpose. Worn in this manner, they are colloquially referred to as "assless" chaps, despite the redundancy of the term (all chaps are "assless"; chaps with a seat would be called trousers). More often, this style of chaps are referred to as "bar" chaps.https://www.chilhowee.net/; https://moose-leather.com; http://www.puppiesleather.com; et.al.

File:ShowChaps.jpg use. Left leg is closed as it would be when worn, right leg is opened out to show construction.]]

Equestrian chaps, with the exception of woolies, are traditionally made of cowhide. Woolies, some Zamorros, and a few other historic or ethnic styles may be made with the hair or wool still on the hide, usually cowhide, sheepskin, or Angora goat skin. Historically, they also included seal, bear, and buffalo.{{Citation needed|date=May 2008}}

Leather for chaps is tanned and dyed, and the hide is usually "split" so that the leather is supple and can be made into a garment that allows easy movement. There is a rough side, what is today called suede or "roughout", and a smooth side. Chaps are made in both "roughout" and "smooth out" (smooth side out) designs. Most batwings and chinks are made smooth side out, most shotguns are suede, or roughout. For horse shows, where fashions may change from year to year and durability is not as great a concern, lighter, synthetic materials such as ultrasuede and vinyl may be used, though leather suede or a smooth split predominates due to durability and proper fit.{{cite web|url=http://www.hobbyhorseinc.com/08_shopping/chaps/chap_index.shtml|title=Chaps|access-date=2008-04-25|archive-date=2008-04-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080428084916/http://www.hobbyhorseinc.com/08_shopping/chaps/chap_index.shtml|url-status=dead}} In Australia, chaps may be made of oilskin rather than leather.{{Cite web |date=2008-08-07 |title=Driza-Bone, the original, Australian Outback Oilskin cloth, waxed cotton, Long Duster coat - Mill Creek Trading Company |url=http://www.millcreek-trading.com/drizabone/drizabone_trousers_CHAPS_new.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080807172908/http://www.millcreek-trading.com/drizabone/drizabone_trousers_CHAPS_new.html |archive-date=2008-08-07 }}

Most chaps, with the exception of Armitas (which have no metal parts), usually have a small metal buckle in front to attach around the waist, and have lacing on the back of the belt area to allow adjustment in size. A few designs lace in the front and buckle in the back, but they are not often seen. The sides of some designs, particularly the batwing style, either have straps and relatively small metal buckles or snaps to attach the legging around the rider's leg. Other styles, particularly shotguns, usually use full-length heavy-duty metal zippers. Some historic styles of riding chaps used a single break-away leather string or lace instead of a front buckle.{{Cite web|url=http://www.shootingstar.montana.com/chaps2.htm|title=Shootingstar Saddlery|date=January 17, 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040117185419/http://www.shootingstar.montana.com/chaps2.htm |archive-date=2004-01-17 }} The original purpose was to break away if a rider's chaps' belt somehow became hooked over the saddle horn.

Except for the batwing design, most chaps are fringed along the edge of the leg, usually a fringe of the same leather as the legging, though occasionally a contrasting color of leather may be added. Chinks and Armitas have fringe on the bottom of the leg as well. The belt that holds on a pair of the chaps may be the same color of leather or of a contrasting color, sometimes is fringed in the back for show, but usually not on a working outfit. Decorative leather designs or fancy stitching may be added along the edge of bottom of the leg or to the belt, and even sterling silver pieces may be used for buckles, and on round decorative metal conchos placed to cover the lacing on the back of the belt, or occasionally even at the bottom of the legging, by the heel.

{{main article|Gaiters}}

File:HalfChaps2.jpgs]]

Half chaps, also known as chapettes, are a popular style of equestrian gaiters that extend from the ankle to just below the knee. When worn over a short paddock boot they give the protection and some of the appearance of a tall riding boot, but at lower cost. They are widely worn by children in horse shows and by trail riders. Half chaps usually are made of leather, and have a zipper or hook and loop closure on the outside. They provide grip for the rider, and protection from sweat and the stirrup leather. They are commonly used over the paddock boots of English-style riders in place of tall boots. While not true chaps, some Western-style riders use half chaps, particularly in hot weather, but gaiter-style half chaps are not traditional cowboy gear.

Chaps are usually worn over denim jeans or other trousers of heavy material. They have their own belt, and usually are fitted around the hips, resting below the belt loops of the trousers. Except for chinks and {{lang|es|armitas}}, which are designed to fit above the boot, most chaps are long, fitting over the boot and draping slightly over the vamp of the boot (see shoe). Some designs are cut to hang long at the heel and nearly cover the entire boot except for the toe. Batwings, chinks, and shotgun chaps fit firmly but comfortably around the thigh, with shotguns continuing to fit closely all the way down the calf, though not so snug as to limit free knee movement. The shotgun design is a bit flared at the ankle to allow for the rider's boot. Batwings and chinks are not attached around the leg below the knee.

• Buckskins
• Personal protective equipment
• Shin guard

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{wiktionary|chaps}}

{{Commons category|lcfirst=yes}}

• "Cowboy Armor." Western Horseman, July 2007, pp 145–146
• [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=chaps&searchmode=none Etymology On Line]
• Tom Lindmier and Steve Mount. I See By Your Outfit: Historic Cowboy Gear of the Northern Plains
• Price, Steven D., ed. The Whole Horse Catalogue. New York: Simon and Schuster/Brigadore Press, 1977, p. 168
• [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ncrhtml/crgloss.html "Buckaroos in Paradise - Glossary"] American Memory from The Library of Congress. Web site accessed September 2, 2007
• [http://www.cowboyway.com/What/WhatAreChinks.htm "Cowboy Chinks and Chaps-Pronouncing chinks and chaps."] Web site accessed September 2, 2007
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070930181311/http://www.historynet.com/magazines/wild_west/4851691.html "February 2007 Westerners: Wild and Wooly Chaps."] The History Net. Web site accessed September 2, 2007
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070825004911/http://captioning.robson.org/reference/language/rodeo.html "Rodeo terminology."] Web site accessed September 2, 2007
• [http://www.cowboyshowcase.com/glossary%20personalgear.htm "A Cowboy's Personal Gear"], web site accessed September 2, 2007
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20061117154808/http://www.royrogers.com/rredpacket.pdf Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum and Happy Trails Theater, p. 17]
• [https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9026671/cowboy "Cowboy"], Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Web page accessed March 27, 2008

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