Leather circle?

My wife bought this from a thrift store for the leather, but she and I are both really confused about what it actually is. It's about 2 ft in diameter (length when flat) and about 4 in wide. It has holes punched in the side, but I'm not sure what for.

My first thought was maybe a wheel cover for a car steering wheel, but it isn't curved in the way I would expect the leather to be if that was the case.

Any ideas?