To hobble is etymologically to bob or bounce — it comes from Low German and Dutch words for rocking and tossing.
To walk awkwardly or with difficulty, typically because of injury or restraint; to fasten the legs of a horse or other animal to restrict movement.
From Middle English hobelen, probably from Middle Low German hobbelen or Middle Dutch hobbelen (to rock, to toss, to stammer), related to hobben (to move up and down). Possibly connected to the base of hop, with a frequentative suffix. Key roots: *hub- (Proto-Germanic (reconstructed): "to move up and down, to bob").
The hobble skirt, a fashion craze of the 1910s, was a skirt so narrow at the hem that it literally forced women to hobble when walking. It was reportedly inspired by a woman at a horse race whose skirt became tangled in such a way that she could barely walk. The garment became so popular despite its impracticality that some cities considered banning it as a traffic hazard because wearers could not cross streets quickly