Chaps
Chaps are used to protect both your legs and your clothes when horse riding. Weatherbeeta Equestrian Clothing offer a range of Full, Half and Waterproof Chaps, and Waterproof Trousers in a variety of styles and sizes.
Chaps
Chaps are designed to protect the legs and are often made of a hardier material than jodhpurs or breeches. They either come as full chaps or half chaps, and even though they serve the same purpose - to provide protection for the leg when riding - they appear completely different in design.
Full chaps consist of the legs of trousers that stop around the top of the thigh. These are then attached to a belt that fits around hips, but they don't have a seat or a front. These chaps are usually worn with either breeches or jodhpurs, and designed to not become a hindrance when riding.
Half chaps are completely different. These are often made from leather or suede and usually fit around the calf area of the leg. These are then either zipped up or closed with hook and eyes. These are often worn over short boots and have a stirrup type strap that goes underneath to help keep them down. Sometimes these are even preferred by riders instead of tall boots, finding them more comfortable.
Chaps are mostly associated with cowboys and the wild-west era. Back then they were made from cow-hide, and riders used to wear them as a means to protect their legs from the bushes when cattle herding. These varied in design and evolved a huge amount as the years grew on. The earliest form of chaps - or protective leather garment - used by riders was called an 'Armas' and consisted of two pieces of cowhide that attached to the horn of the saddle. These then spread across the horse's chest and the rider's legs. Later modifications to the chaps soon allowed them to be worn by just the rider.
Earlier designs consisted of the Shotgun Chaps which had straight and narrow legs with a snug fit. These chaps were the earliest design to be used by Texas cowboys, and were in wide use by the late 1870s. Many designs often had a fringe along the edge and a boot-cut bottom to fit nicely over the boot.
Batwing chaps had a wide cut and flared at the bottom. These had two or three fasteners around the thigh to provide maximum movement for the lower leg. These were favoured in hot weather as they allowed for air circulation - opposed to the Shotgun chaps which were good at retaining body warmth.
Woolies were a variation of the Shotgun chaps. These were made with either fleece or cowhide - often from angora - with the hair still on it, giving them the 'woolie' look. These were the warmest of all the designs, and appeared on the great plains somewhere around 1887.
Today, most chaps are often made from leather or suede, or some other hard-wearing material. Despite the fact that they are no longer an essential item of clothing, they are still popular in the equestrian world, and still serve the same purpose - to offer your legs protection when you are riding.
