7 ms·

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

47 points by extraterra 8y ago

TrueGeek 8y ago
tl;dr: “Our work shows that a horse’s tail isn’t just an ornament. It’s their main line of defense against biting insects”
- hanniabu 8y ago
  That's interesting considering it can really only swat away insects around it's behind and is useless for the rest of the body.
  - rangibaby 8y ago
    There are some nice soft parts there that aren't protected by the animal's skin
  - toomanybeersies 8y ago
    The behind tends to be the smelly end on horses though.
  - Hogg 8y ago
    Don't forget they're herd animals. They also protect each other (using their tails) when insects are bad.
  - irrational 8y ago
    I've noticed that when a fly lands on a horse's front area, the horse will twitch its muscles in that area (sort of like if a fly lands on your are and you jerk your arm to get it off), but in the back area it will swish it's tail. Maybe it can't twitch its muscles in the back area like it can in the front area.
  - utopcell 8y ago
    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.
    - reitanqild 8y ago
      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.
  - jstanley 8y ago
    It's not uncommon to see 2 horses standing next to each other, but facing opposite directions, so that each horse's tail can flick flies away from the other horse's face.
tomcam 8y ago
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.
- Meerax 8y ago
  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.
- Alex3917 8y ago
  > 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.
  - crististm 8y ago
    Hey man, are you having a good day?
    - Alex3917 8y ago
      No I mean that's actually a traditional Mongolian food.[1] I'm saying if you have such a deep relationship with these Mongolian horses (via the bow strings) to the point where they're responsible for how you make your art/living, it wouldn't surprise me if some percentage of string players eventually wanted to go over there and learn more about Mongolia and how these horses live in their native habitat. (And/or just try drinking fermented horse milk at parties or whatever.) It's not really any different than how most people who are ethnically Norwegian or Swedish are probably eventually going to try lutefisk, not because they expect it to be good but just because it gives context to their identity or whatever. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_culture_in_Mongolia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_culture_in_Mongolia
- 8y ago
dragosmocrii 8y ago
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, 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 :)
- GlennS 8y ago
  I saw a lemur (in a zoo) without a tail once — it couldn't jump.
- toomanybeersies 8y ago
  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.
  - dragosmocrii 8y ago
    you're right, they do kick. they also can shake their skin. i was thinking more in terms how people or primates can use their hands or feet to basically reach all parts of the body, while cows/horses cannot to the same degree.
- MIKarlsen 8y ago
  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.
  - 8y ago
chocknog 8y ago
Its so that you can bite on it to make it go faster.
barronli 8y ago
At least some animals use their tails to balance when running fast.
PhantomGremlin 8y ago
No cows in zoos. So the biologists didn't study them. Because of cow patties, there are always lots of flies in cow pastures. Anyone who has been in a cow pasture in summer would easily notice that cows use their tails the same way as horses do: to chase away flies.
qrbLPHiKpiux 8y ago
Balance?
reitanqild 8y ago
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
then 8y ago
I use a horse hair hygrometer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygrometer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygrometer

47 points by extraterra 8y ago

tl;dr: “Our work shows that a horse’s tail isn’t just an ornament. It’s their main line of defense against biting insects”

hanniabu 8y ago
That's interesting considering it can really only swat away insects around it's behind and is useless for the rest of the body.
- rangibaby 8y ago
  There are some nice soft parts there that aren't protected by the animal's skin
- toomanybeersies 8y ago
  The behind tends to be the smelly end on horses though.
- Hogg 8y ago
  Don't forget they're herd animals. They also protect each other (using their tails) when insects are bad.
- irrational 8y ago
  I've noticed that when a fly lands on a horse's front area, the horse will twitch its muscles in that area (sort of like if a fly lands on your are and you jerk your arm to get it off), but in the back area it will swish it's tail. Maybe it can't twitch its muscles in the back area like it can in the front area.
- utopcell 8y ago
  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.
  - reitanqild 8y ago
    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.
- jstanley 8y ago
  It's not uncommon to see 2 horses standing next to each other, but facing opposite directions, so that each horse's tail can flick flies away from the other horse's face.

tomcam 8y ago

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.

Meerax 8y ago
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.
Alex3917 8y ago
> 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.
- crististm 8y ago
  Hey man, are you having a good day?
  - Alex3917 8y ago
    No I mean that's actually a traditional Mongolian food.[1] I'm saying if you have such a deep relationship with these Mongolian horses (via the bow strings) to the point where they're responsible for how you make your art/living, it wouldn't surprise me if some percentage of string players eventually wanted to go over there and learn more about Mongolia and how these horses live in their native habitat. (And/or just try drinking fermented horse milk at parties or whatever.) It's not really any different than how most people who are ethnically Norwegian or Swedish are probably eventually going to try lutefisk, not because they expect it to be good but just because it gives context to their identity or whatever. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_culture_in_Mongolia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_culture_in_Mongolia
8y ago

dragosmocrii 8y ago

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, 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 :)

GlennS 8y ago
I saw a lemur (in a zoo) without a tail once — it couldn't jump.
toomanybeersies 8y ago
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.
- dragosmocrii 8y ago
  you're right, they do kick. they also can shake their skin. i was thinking more in terms how people or primates can use their hands or feet to basically reach all parts of the body, while cows/horses cannot to the same degree.
MIKarlsen 8y ago
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.
- 8y ago

chocknog 8y ago

Its so that you can bite on it to make it go faster.

barronli 8y ago

At least some animals use their tails to balance when running fast.

PhantomGremlin 8y ago

No cows in zoos. So the biologists didn't study them. Because of cow patties, there are always lots of flies in cow pastures. Anyone who has been in a cow pasture in summer would easily notice that cows use their tails the same way as horses do: to chase away flies.

qrbLPHiKpiux 8y ago

Balance?

reitanqild 8y ago

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

then 8y ago

I use a horse hair hygrometer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygrometer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygrometer