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horsehair and hooves on insturments

Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2015 1:54 pm
by american hunter1
I learned that horsehair is sometimes on violin bows, and horse/ cow hooves or something, are sometimes used on piano keys. My music teacher said his violin bow was made of horse hair glued together or something. I think they dont use horse hooves as much though, or if they even use em anymore. Sorry for the short topic, kinda feelin lazy again.

Re: horsehair and hooves on insturments

Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2015 1:55 pm
by alethe
I dont think the horse is harmed to get the hair. Do you have sources that say otherwise?

Re: horsehair and hooves on insturments

Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 1:39 pm
by D0m
I beleive the horse isn't harmed, as stated here:
Michael Sowden, who has been in the business for some 40+ years and is probably the best-known supplier of bow hair, has stated that 95% or 98% of hair comes from dead horses which are killed for meat and other products.
Unfortunately this means the horse is killed though. But the actual hair removal doesn't cause pain. Hope this helps a bit...

Re: horsehair and hooves on insturments

Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 1:42 pm
by alethe
At least the horses are, in fact, being used. The meat probably goes to things like dog food and I know the hooves are used in several products as well.
I'd much rather them use synthetic hair, though.

Re: horsehair and hooves on insturments

Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 1:44 pm
by D0m
Skybreaker wrote:At least the horses are, in fact, being used. The meat probably goes to things like dog food and I know the hooves are used in several products as well.
I'd much rather them use synthetic hair, though.
Me too, it also says its used because a certain kind of wood they use is going extinct... At least they're not killed for no reason. But it says 5 horse tails make 1 bow.

Re: horsehair and hooves on insturments

Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 2:15 pm
by Hairam
Wow five horse tails make one bow? I find that hard to believe, but if it's true it's true. I would imagine you could get five bows from 1 horse tail.

Re: horsehair and hooves on insturments

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 12:18 am
by D0m
That's what I thought but I checked loads of websites and how making people said things on like daily news etc and it says its true.

Re: horsehair and hooves on insturments

Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2015 7:11 pm
by Granger
I mean, people can even buy horse tail extensions of actual horse hair to be used on their horses. It's just cut off high up and then put together to be used for other purposes, and the only danger to it is that it can be harder to get flies off with a shorter tail. But fly spray works wonders.

As well, horse hooves could definitely be used for things without hurting horses. Horse feet must be trimmed every 4-6 weeks as it is always growing, and the trimmings can be swept away or used for things such as dog treats. I can't find anything on hooves, whether whole or trimmings, being used for instruments, though.

In any case, I don't mind trimmings of hair or hooves being used for things.. Whether or not the animal is killed, and if that is good or bad, is a whole other topic.

Re: horsehair and hooves on insturments

Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2016 1:35 pm
by Swans Feathger
Granger wrote:I mean, people can even buy horse tail extensions of actual horse hair to be used on their horses. It's just cut off high up and then put together to be used for other purposes, and the only danger to it is that it can be harder to get flies off with a shorter tail. But fly spray works wonders.

As well, horse hooves could definitely be used for things without hurting horses. Horse feet must be trimmed every 4-6 weeks as it is always growing, and the trimmings can be swept away or used for things such as dog treats. I can't find anything on hooves, whether whole or trimmings, being used for instruments, though.

In any case, I don't mind trimmings of hair or hooves being used for things.. Whether or not the animal is killed, and if that is good or bad, is a whole other topic.
Horses grow back their mane/tail in about a year, so it is unlikely they hurt the horses.
Also, about the horse hoof trimming, race horses need their hooves trimmed every 4 weeks, but other horses only need their hooves trimmed every 1-2 months.

Re: horsehair and hooves on insturments

Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2018 10:02 pm
by xc92u3
My violin has horse hair.

Re: horsehair and hooves on insturments

Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2018 6:04 pm
by 2wolf22
I am not sure. I realize the horses may be dead when the mane hair is removed. My viola how has some fishing string alternative thing. Still, there are a few pieces of evidence that hair is safely removed. I haven't researched it much myself but some people have found some evidence. I can't be 100 percent sure if all companies are humane with it, but I'm pretty sure.

Re: horsehair and hooves on insturments

Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2018 4:57 am
by D0m
2wolf22 wrote:I am not sure. I realize the horses may be dead when the mane hair is removed. My viola how has some fishing string alternative thing. Still, there are a few pieces of evidence that hair is safely removed. I haven't researched it much myself but some people have found some evidence. I can't be 100 percent sure if all companies are humane with it, but I'm pretty sure.
i did a bit of research and found that most horse hair is from dead horses:
Most horse hair is harvested from the slaughterhouse, not from living horses.
source

i imagine the horses are killed for dog food or such.

i also found it takes between 150 to 300 hairs to make a bow depending on the type of bow, and they have to be rehaired every year, which is a lot of horse hair, although i don't know how many people use horse hair products anymore.
Approximately 150 hairs are required for a violin bow. Viola, cello, and bass bows require incrementally more hairs with the bass bow using in excess of 300 hairs.

Regardless of how much daily use a bow gets, it should be rehaired at least once per year.
source


i couldn't find much on how humanely the hair is removed, however. i suppose a way to look into that would be to try and see how exactly the specific company gets hold of their horsehair, since each company will do it slightly differently, i imagine, but there are definitely alternatives out there for anyone who would prefer not to use horsehair. (as for hooves, i haven't found much on that).