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What's the Use of a Horse's Tail?

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Re: What's the Use of a Horse's Tail?

#21

Post by NeedMoreTea »

MIKarlsen wrote: post #20
dragosmocrii wrote: post #7

My opinion: long mammals like cows, horses, camels, etc can't reach their behinds with their limbs. They can use their head (especially when the tail doesn't reach the fronter part of the behind), but it's not efficient because their head is heavy (and they're heavy animals in general) and has more inertia. Therefore, a tail is their swift efficient defense for the behind. By contrast, smaller mammals like cats, dogs…

Showing someone (or another dog) that you're excited or scared ("tail between his legs") is a very potent social mechanism I think. I don't think it adds much to the motor skills of the dog, besides maybe giving it a tool to keep flies and insects away from the ol' pooper.

Watch something like a greyhound or German Shepherd at full throttle and you might reassess your view about whether it adds to motor skills. It seems to be a very active part of a full speed sprint.

It's also a very subtle tool for social interaction as you note - the difference between tail wagging whilst up, horizontal and down, or wagging just the tip and so on. There's quite a lot of complexity hiding there.

Re: What's the Use of a Horse's Tail?

#22

Post by reitanqild »

Well. I had to read the entire article to see if I was missing something, but my answer is no.

The answer to the question as presented in the headline is more or less obvious for everyone who spent significant time around horses and cows: it keeps insects away. (It might also tell you something about the mood of a horse, less so with cows IMO. Small calves and lambs however will wiggle their tail when drinking milk, either because of some kind of enthusiasm or I've also heard to make sure their mother can smell that they are hers. Sidenote: IIRC lambs who try to steal milk will typically position themselves with the tail away from the head of the eve they are stealing from while lambs that are with their own mother will typically stand parallel to their mother, possibly so she can verify them.)

Then there is the question about the pendulum speed, why do horses swing their tails so much faster.

Well a simpler explanation might be because: 1. Tails arent ideal pendulums and 2.) To get enough speed to cover the top of their backs.

I'm no lawyer or startup founder or cryptographer so often I cannot point out if an article is wrong but I did grow up an a farm and I've earned my first money as a farm hand until I was about 20 and I also have some months in farming school so today it feels like I had something to share :-P

Re: What's the Use of a Horse's Tail?

#23

Post by xg15 »

tomcam wrote: post #3

String players probably have a strong opinion on this ;) Seriously, AFAIK there is no artificial solution for bow strings. The only good material for them is carefully selected tail hair from horses in places with cold climates, like Mongolia.

I don't know how exactly the strings are produced, but I would imagine that cutting off some tail hair is something different than amputating half of the tail.

Re: What's the Use of a Horse's Tail?

#24

Post by KineticLensman »

tomcam wrote: post #3

String players probably have a strong opinion on this ;) Seriously, AFAIK there is no artificial solution for bow strings. The only good material for them is carefully selected tail hair from horses in places with cold climates, like Mongolia.

Tangential - the Norden bombsight in WW2 used blonde hair taken from long haired women as part of the sighting mechanism

Re: What's the Use of a Horse's Tail?

#25

Post by pluma »

dragosmocrii wrote: post #7

My opinion: long mammals like cows, horses, camels, etc can't reach their behinds with their limbs. They can use their head (especially when the tail doesn't reach the fronter part of the behind), but it's not efficient because their head is heavy (and they're heavy animals in general) and has more inertia. Therefore, a tail is their swift efficient defense for the behind. By contrast, smaller mammals like cats, dogs…

To put it more bluntly, the obvious difference is that cats and dogs can lick their private parts. Cows and horses can't perform the same level of personal hygiene while also providing more surface area for insects to invade.

I wonder whether this is not really more about infestations than bites.

Re: What's the Use of a Horse's Tail?

#26

Post by reitanqild »

utopcell wrote: post #19
hanniabu wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's interesting considering it can really only swat away insects around it's behind and is useless for the rest of the body.

According to the article, the goal is not to hit any insect with the tail but rather to create an air wave that is impossible for insects to navigate.

Based on my of observations of cows while working around them another (or IMO rather, the) primary goal seemed to be to swipe or scare away flies and horse-flies that have already landed.

Re: What's the Use of a Horse's Tail?

#27

Post by krona »

dragosmocrii wrote: post #7

My opinion: long mammals like cows, horses, camels, etc can't reach their behinds with their limbs. They can use their head (especially when the tail doesn't reach the fronter part of the behind), but it's not efficient because their head is heavy (and they're heavy animals in general) and has more inertia. Therefore, a tail is their swift efficient defense for the behind. By contrast, smaller mammals like cats, dogs…

Look at what the cat's tail does when it leaps through the air, or the dogs tail when turning a corner at high speed, and it will become clear. It's for balance and agility.

Greyhounds and Cheetahs naturally have fairly long tails.

Re: What's the Use of a Horse's Tail?

#28

Post by lovemenot »

krona wrote: post #27
dragosmocrii wrote: post #7

My opinion: long mammals like cows, horses, camels, etc can't reach their behinds with their limbs. They can use their head (especially when the tail doesn't reach the fronter part of the behind), but it's not efficient because their head is heavy (and they're heavy animals in general) and has more inertia. Therefore, a tail is their swift efficient defense for the behind. By contrast, smaller mammals like cats, dogs…

Look at what the cat's tail does when it leaps through the air, or the dogs tail when turning a corner at high speed, and it will become clear. It's for balance and agility. Greyhounds and Cheetahs naturally have fairly long tails.

Can we call a greyhound's tail natural, if it has been bred for purpose by people?

Re: What's the Use of a Horse's Tail?

#29

Post by Retric »

lovemenot wrote: post #28
krona wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Look at what the cat's tail does when it leaps through the air, or the dogs tail when turning a corner at high speed, and it will become clear. It's for balance and agility. Greyhounds and Cheetahs naturally have fairly long tails.

Can we call a greyhound's tail natural , if it has been bred for purpose by people?

I would as they where bread for speed not looks, with the tail evolving based on selection pressure.

Re: What's the Use of a Horse's Tail?

#30

Post by crististm »

Alex3917 wrote: post #5
tomcam wrote: post #3

String players probably have a strong opinion on this ;) Seriously, AFAIK there is no artificial solution for bow strings. The only good material for them is carefully selected tail hair from horses in places with cold climates, like Mongolia.

> The only good material for them is carefully selected tail hair from horses in places with cold climates, like Mongolia. Do string players usually try drinking horse blood mixed with fermented horse milk? I only played trumpet, so no idea what’s normal for orchestra culture.

Hey man, are you having a good day?
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