corona

(carona [karóna], evolved along with the ancient locative adverb a la carona 'in direct contact with the skin of an animal or person' from an earlier, probably pre-Roman, term, * carón or a similar form)

   Southwest (west Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona): 1892. A saddle pad placed between the saddle and the animal's back. Watts notes that it was often form-fitted to the saddle and left open on top to allow ventilation. The DARE indicates that it was sometimes highly decorated and may have been made of "pigskin, embroidered broadcloth, brightly-colored Navajo blankets, woven horsehair," or other materials. Southwestern sources, including Watts, Adams, Blevins, Smith, Carlisle, and the DARE say that this term derives from Spanish corona, meaning 'crown.' This is inaccurate. Actually, the term derives from carona, a Spanish term that the DRAE defines as a piece of thick, padded fabric that fits between the saddle blanket and the (pack)saddle and serves as a protection for the horse. It may also refer to the interior part of a packsaddle or, according to both the DRAE and Islas, the part of the horse's back on which the carona sits. Islas glosses it as a thick saddle blanket or sudadero that fits between the saddle and the horse's back. It may also refer to a piece of canvas under a saddle or saddle blanket. Cobos indicates that a "saddle blanket used on donkeys and mules" is known as a carola in New Mexico and southern Colorado. He suggests that the term derives from Spanish escarola 'ruffled collar,' but it is more likely a variant form of carona.

   Alternate form: caronie.