What's the Use of a Horse's Tail?
blogs.scientificamerican.com
What's the Use of a Horse's Tail?
1–10 of 41 posts
Re: What's the Use of a Horse's Tail?
#2tl;dr: “Our work shows that a horse’s tail isn’t just an ornament. It’s their main line of defense against biting insects”
Re: What's the Use of a Horse's Tail?
#3String 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.
Re: What's the Use of a Horse's Tail?
#4String 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.
Synthetic bow hair does exist, but it's rather controversial. My experience with it as a luthier and conservatory trained violist is limited..but it looks/feels/acts like very thin gauge high-tension fishing line.
Re: What's the Use of a Horse's Tail?
#5String 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.
Re: What's the Use of a Horse's Tail?
#6tl;dr: “Our work shows that a horse’s tail isn’t just an ornament. It’s their main line of defense against biting insects”
That's interesting considering it can really only swat away insects around it's behind and is useless for the rest of the body.
Re: What's the Use of a Horse's Tail?
#7My 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, rats, etc, don't use their tails to deter insect, because they can easily jump, move quickly, or smash their head into their body, because they are much lighter.
Now, this makes me wonder, why do cats and dogs have tails. Maybe im the case of cats it is for equilibrium, but dogs? I think dogs use tails to show people when they're excited :)
Re: What's the Use of a Horse's Tail?
#8tl;dr: “Our work shows that a horse’s tail isn’t just an ornament. It’s their main line of defense against biting insects”
That's interesting considering it can really only swat away insects around it's behind and is useless for the rest of the body.
There are some nice soft parts there that aren't protected by the animal's skin
Re: What's the Use of a Horse's Tail?
#9My 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…
Horses tend to kick if they're trying to get at something behind them.
According to a quick internet search, dogs have tails for the same reason as cats, to help with balance and inertia when running.
Re: What's the Use of a Horse's Tail?
#10tl;dr: “Our work shows that a horse’s tail isn’t just an ornament. It’s their main line of defense against biting insects”
That's interesting considering it can really only swat away insects around it's behind and is useless for the rest of the body.
The behind tends to be the smelly end on horses though.