ALL rodeo rough stock riders wear chaps, which someone from outside the sport may find difficult to understand.

There are two main reasons and the first is to protect the legs. But the second, and perhaps most important, is they allow the rider to obtain a better grip on the saddle or animal. Leather chaps grip better against leather than the fabric of jeans.

In saddle bronc riding, the inside thigh is held tightly against the swells on the saddle and riders will even apply a gripping compound to help improve the hold.

In bull riding, the chaps separate the rider's jeans from the often sweaty skin of the bull and also provide a better grip.

In bareback bronc riding, chaps provide the same grip although are less often in contact with the horse.

Rodeo chaps are the "batwing” style, having only two or three fastenings high up on the thigh which allows the chaps to "fly” around below the knees and the more colourful those chaps are, the better the presentation.

The other popular style of chaps is the "shotgun”, but you won't see these at the rodeo. They have a full-length zipper from top to bottom and hold tightly around the rider's leg.

While warmer in cold climates, they make mounting a horse more difficult and don't allow the same freedom of movement "batwing” chaps do.

The first chaps appeared in Spain before making their way to Mexico and their name is a shortened version of the Spanish word, chaparreras, which came from the word chaparral.

Chaparral is the thick, thorny, low scrub of Spain, Mexico, and southern parts of the US, particularly Texas and Arizona.

Chaps were designed to protect the rider's legs while riding through this scrub.

Chaps came into the US from Mexico and were of particular use in the Texas rangelands where the chaparral was prolific and used as a hiding place by cattle.

Even so, the first design used in Mexico was a one- piece leather shield, which hung from the saddle, went in front of the horse and was not attached to the rider's legs until sometime later.

Like much of the western horse culture which origin- ated in Mexico, chapaderas were assimilated into the cowboy culture of the American west.

In the modern world they are used for both practical work purposes and for exhibition or show use.

Chaps have been adapted for use on motorcycles and are part of the safety equipment used by chainsaw operators throughout the world.

Riding chaps were, and in some places still are, used in cattle work in Australia but because of our hotter climate, are usually removed once the rider is out of the thick, thorny scrub.