armas

(Sp. model spelled same [ármas] < Latin arma, '(pieces of) armor, shield')

   Clark: 1930s. Large leather flaps attached to the saddle to protect the rider's legs against brush and thorns. Watts indicates that they were a precursor to more modern chaps. The DM defines armas de agua/de pelo as two large pieces of goat hide, with the hair left on, that were attached to a saddle or to the belt of a rider to cover his legs and feet and protect them from water. Santamaría also notes that armas were sometimes used as mats for sleeping. Some were richly decorated. He also mentions that they have been substituted more recently by chaps or chaparreras, which do not protect the feet and cannot be used for sleeping. A similar definition can be found in the VCN, where armas de agua or armas de pelo are leather flaps that protect a rider's legs and the saddle from rain. Armas de pecho are defined as similar devices used mainly by vaqueros in Jalisco, Mexico, to defend themselves against rain and rugged terrain.