Jodhpurs in their modern form are tight-fitting trousers that reach to the ankle, where they end in a snug cuff, and are worn primarily for horse riding. The term is also used incorrectly as slang for a type of short riding boot, also called a paddock boot or a jodhpur boot, because they are worn with jodhpurs. Originally, jodhpurs were snug-fitting only from just below the knee to the ankle and were flared at the hip; modern stretch fabrics have allowed jodhpurs to remove the flare and yet remain supportive and flexible.

Jodhpurs originally were long pants, reaching to the ankle, snug from the calf to the ankle, with reinforced fabric protecting the inner calf and knee from rubbing. The thighs and hips were flared, a traditional oriental style possibly to help with bodily cooling in a hot climate,^{[citation needed]} but which, in an era before the invention of stretch fabrics, also allowed free movement of the hip and thigh while riding.

They originate from an ancient style of Indian trouser called the Churidar, which is tight around the calf and baggy at the hips, still worn at traditional Jodhpury weddings. This is a special traditional style of clothing in Northern India, especially in what is today the modern state of Rajasthan, which has its capital at the city of Jaipur. Sir Pratap Singh, a younger son of the Maharaja of Jodhpur, popularised in England the style of riding-trousers worn in Jodhpur, a design that he apparently improved and perfected by himself and first tailored in India about 1890.