![Dorsal stripe on a domestic horse IMG 0233](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Dorsal_stripe_on_a_domestic_horse_IMG_0233.jpg)
Horsehair is the long
hair growing on the
manes and
tail
The tail is the section at the rear end of certain kinds of animals’ bodies; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage to the torso. It is the part of the body that corresponds roughly to the sacrum and coccyx in mammal ...
s of
horse
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...
s. It is used for various purposes, including
upholstery
Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. The word also refers to the materials used to upholster something.
''Upholstery'' comes from the Middle English w ...
,
brushes, the
bows of musical instruments, a hard-wearing
fabric
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not th ...
called
haircloth
Haircloth is a stiff, unsupple fabric typically made from horsehair and/or from the wooly hair of a camel. Although ''horsehair'' generally refers to the hair of a horse's mane or tail, haircloth itself is sometimes called ''horsehair''. Horse or ...
, and for
horsehair plaster, a wallcovering material formerly used in the construction industry and now found only in older buildings.
Horsehair can be very fine and flexible; mane hair is generally softer and shorter than tail hair. The texture of horsehair can be influenced by the breed and management of the horse, including natural conditions such as diet or climate. Processing may also affect quality and feel.
Horsehair is a protein fiber that absorbs water slowly, but can be dyed or colored effectively using traditional dyes suitable for protein fibers. It can be
felt
Felt is a textile material that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers together. Felt can be made of natural fibers such as wool or animal fur, or from synthetic fibers such as petroleum-based acrylic or acrylonitrile or wood ...
ed, but not easily.
Uses
![Schwarzwaelder-kaltblut](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Schwarzwaelder-kaltblut.jpg)
Horsehair fabrics are woven with
weft
Warp and weft are the two basic components used in weaving to turn thread or yarn into fabric. The lengthwise or longitudinal warp yarns are held stationary in tension on a frame or loom while the transverse weft (sometimes woof) is dra ...
s of tail hair from live horses and cotton or silk
warps. Horsehair fabrics are sought for their lustre, durability and care properties and mainly used for upholstery and interiors.
Horsehair is used for the crafts of horsehair hitching, horsehair braiding, pottery, and in making jewelry items such as bracelets, necklaces, earrings and barrettes. It is used to make some wall and fine arts
paintbrushes. Horsehair for Painting and for hat brushes are two of the areas where horsehair is still widely used today. The hair is processed, cut to size and fitted to paint brushes that are used for anything from painting walls to painting pictures to be hung in galleries. Horsehair is desirable for paint brushes because of its smooth lay and ability to hold a large amount of paint acting as a reservoir and allowing the painter to stop less frequently.
Horsehair is used for
violin
The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...
and other
stringed instrument
String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner.
Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the st ...
bows. Another use in the art community comes from pottery and basket weaving where the hair is used for distinct accents and styling.
The use of horsehair for
fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...
has a wide range of applications. The most widely applied use for horsehair is in the fishing line. The hair is spun together and made into very long lines.
One historic use was for gloves commonly used for fishing in the
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
age leading up to the 17th century in cold climates.
In the early 1900s, surgeons would use horsehair and silver wires to suture the incisions needed for a
facelift
A facelift, technically known as a rhytidectomy (from the Ancient Greek () "wrinkle", and () "excision", the surgical removal of wrinkles), is a type of cosmetic surgery procedure used to give a more youthful facial appearance. There are mul ...
.
Supply
Most horsehair comes from slaughtered horses.
Hair for bows comes from tails of horses in cold climates, and is sorted by size.
It comes primarily from stallions and costs $150–$400 per pound because of the sorting needed to extract long hairs.
Mongolia produces 900 tons of horsehair per year.
History
![Jalabert, Isabey - Louis-Bonaparte en uniforme du colonel du 5e régiment de dragons (1778-1846)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Jalabert%2C_Isabey_-_Louis-Bonaparte_en_uniforme_du_colonel_du_5e_r%C3%A9giment_de_dragons_%281778-1846%29.jpg)
There has been some speculation as to the first use of horsehair. Many sources indicate the Spaniards in the 8th century were the first to use horsehair as a textile. However, the first documented use was from the 9th century in
Switzerland where the Swiss used it for the plans of
St. Gall Abbey
The Abbey of Saint Gall (german: Abtei St. Gallen) is a dissolved abbey (747–1805) in a Catholic religious complex in the city of St. Gallen in Switzerland. The Carolingian Renaissance, Carolingian-era monastery existed from 719, founded by Sa ...
. The plans, a blueprint for a monastic compound in medieval times, are a national preserved treasure to the Swiss that were said to have been woven with horsehair.
It was commonly used in the 19th century as
upholstery
Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. The word also refers to the materials used to upholster something.
''Upholstery'' comes from the Middle English w ...
stuffing (such as for fabric sofas) and as covering fabric for furniture. It was almost always the fiber used to make
shaving brushes. It was also common in hats and women's undergarments. It was used in the hair to create the "
Gibson Girl
The Gibson Girl was the personification of the feminine ideal of physical attractiveness as portrayed by the pen-and-ink illustrations of artist Charles Dana Gibson during a 20-year period that spanned the late 19th and early 20th centuries in th ...
" look, and in the 18th century it was used in wigs. Until the 20th century, it was commonly used to make fine arts paintbrushes, along with sable, fox, wolf, goat, and lamb hair.
Calligraphy brushes are made from rabbit, fox, or horse hair, among others. For thousands of years, fishing lines were made of
plaited horsehair.
Other applications
In modern times, mane and tail horsehair samples with root tissue attached are commonly used for DNA analysis of equine specimens. Private genetic testing companies regularly use the DNA extracted from the root follicle of horsehair for relationship testing, genetic disease assays and determining
coat color genetics.
[Drissing J., Rudbeck L., Marcher H. (1996): A five minute procedure for extraction of genome DNA from whole blood, semen and forensic stain for PCR. In: Carracedo A. (ed.): ''Advances in Forensic Haemogenetics''. Springer-Verlag, New York. 269–271]
See also
*
Camel hair
Camel hair specifically refers to the fur from the body of a camel, but more generally refers to the fibre (and cloth) that may be made from either pure camel hair or a blend of camel hair and another fibre.
Camel hair has two components: ''guard ...
*
Mohair
Mohair (pronounced ) is a fabric or yarn made from the hair of the Angora goat. (This should not be confused with Angora wool, which is made from the fur of the Angora rabbit.) Both durable and resilient, mohair is notable for its high luster ...
– Goat hair
References
External links
Overview of UsesUse in GarmentsPhoto Showing Use In Hat
{{Authority control
Animal hair products
Horse products