fiador

(Sp. model spelled same [fjadór] < fiar 'to guarantee' < Vulgar Latin fldere plus the agentive suffix -dor; 'guarantor')

   According to Watts, a cord made of rawhide, hair, or white cotton that attaches to a "hackamore" and fits around the neck of the animal, converting the hackamore into a strong halter. The DARE quotes Grant, who provides a more detailed description: "The fiador is a small doubled rope of either horsehair or sashcord that runs through the loops of the hackamore's brow band at the point just below and behind the ears. Then it goes around the neck, is knotted under the throat, and ends in another and lower knot, so tied that it will not slip over the heel button of the bosal." The DRAE gives several definitions for this term, one of them describing a leather strap worn by the outside front animal in a team from the harness to the cheek piece of the bit. As a general term in Spanish, fiador refers to any cord or other item that secures something and assures that it does not slip or fall out of place. Islas glosses the term as the part of the hackamore; a harness strap that secures the hackamore. It is passed around the nape of the animal's neck and tied behind the jawbone.

   Alternate forms: feador, fiadore, theodore (the latter is a folk-etymology).