The tail hair of a horse is called a horse's tail. Horsetail is one of the important livestock products in my country. There are three kinds of white, color and black, with white being the most expensive. Horsetail belongs to the bristle category, which is relatively rough and does not have the spinning and felting properties of wool fibers, but it is a valuable raw material for some products.

In the musical instrument industry, horsetail is one of the main raw materials used to make bows for violins, matouqin, erhu, banhu and other musical instruments. Usually, popular bows use a color and black ponytail, and high-end bows use white ponytails. It is estimated that before 1980, the national musical instrument manufacturing industry needed more than ten tons of horsetails every year, and up to now, the demand has risen to hundreds of tons.

Horsetails in my country are mainly produced in Northeast, Inner Mongolia, Northwest and other regions, and a large part of them come from Outer Mongolia. Among them, horsetails produced in the western part of Northeast China and eastern Inner Mongolia are the best among domestic horsetails.

Parameters for judging the quality of horsehair: yield strength, breaking strength, elongation coefficient, main length, secondary length

China's ponytail has the best elongation coefficient, no wonder China's gymnastics and swimming are the best in the world.

Most of the horsetails used in China are from Mongolia (Inner Mongolia and Outer Mongolia should be of the same species), and 90% of the horsetails in my hometown (Anping, Hebei) are the ones that have been made in batches, including black horses. The tail, unless you ask not to float. In addition to the damage to the surface "fish phosphorus", the drifted horsetail will also deteriorate in toughness and become brittle and easy to break.

There is also a knowledge, that is, the distinction between male and female horses. Because the physiological structure of horses of different genders is different, the middle and rear of the female horse's tail will be wet with urine for a long time, so it will appear more yellow and less tough. European and American markets There is a clear distinction between the prices of male and female ponytails.

1. The structure of the ponytail

Although the ponytail has long been used by people, in the musical instrument industry, not many people really understand the structure of the ponytail. Some people say that there are spines on the surface of the ponytail. Some people think that there is hair on the surface of the horse's tail. These are obviously not comprehensive.

The horsetail is cross-sectioned, and the cross-section is observed under a microscope, and it can be seen that it is composed of three layers. Namely: scale layer, cortex layer and hair pit layer.

The outermost part of the horsetail is the scale layer. The scales are often composed of thin outer membranes with highly keratinized cells. The edges of the scales are curved and polyline-shaped, which is smoother. Starting from the root of the ponytail, the edges of the scales move toward the tip, like the tiles on a Chinese-style bungalow, stacked one on top of the other and arranged on top of each other. Of course, the size of the scales is not as consistent as the tiles.

Within the scale layer is the cortex. The cortex is thicker and consists of long, keratinized cells. The cells are very tightly bound. The tensile strength of the horsetail is mainly determined by this layer.

In the cortex, there are also some granular pigment cells - pigments, which give the horse's tail its color. Black ponytails are caused by a lot of melanin, white ponytails have no pigment, and flower ponytails are in between.

The central part of the ponytail hair is the pith layer, which contains a bit of soft tissue and air. The entire pith layer forms stripe marks on the longitudinal section. In the pith of the hair, there are also some pigment granules, but much less than in the cortex, which also plays a role in determining the color of the horse's tail.

The outer part of the horsetail has a scaly layer, which forms the basis for the friction between the bow hair and the strings. In order to balance the friction when pushing and pulling the bow (up and down), when tying the bow hair, turn half of a bunch of ponytails upside down. In addition, the overlapping of the horsetail scales to form a concave is extremely favorable for the deposition of rosin. Furthermore, horsetail is composed of protein, and the polar groups on its molecular side chain and peptide chain have a greater adsorption force to the polar substance rosin. Therefore, when the horsetail is used as the bow hair and coated with rosin, the strings can be pulled to sing freely.

Due to the special structure of the ponytail, coupled with its high strength and elasticity, it is no surprise that it has become a good material for musical instrument bow hairs. So far, no one material (natural and man-made) can completely replace it.

2. The physical and mechanical characteristics of horsetail

In places with fertile water plants, horses are rich in nutrients, develop well, have strong bodies, and the quality of their tails is also good. In appearance, such a ponytail is uniform in color and glossy.

In addition to the appearance of the ponytail, length, diameter, moisture absorption, elasticity, strength and elongation are also closely related to the manufacture of bows.

The length of the ponytail for making the bow must meet the requirements. For example, the length of the ponytail for making violins, matouqin, erhu and banhu bows should reach 76 cm, 80 cm, 90 cm and 110 cm respectively.

It is generally used to make horsetails for violin, erhu and banhu bows, with a diameter of 0.16l-0.198 mm, and the number of bow hairs per bow is 240-255. If the ponytail is thick, the amount of each bow should be appropriately reduced; otherwise, the amount should be increased. In short, according to the preparation of materials, the rigidity of the entire bundle of bow hairs should be controlled just right, and it must not be forced to be uniform.

Horsetail is highly hygroscopic, and when exposed to moisture for a long time, the moisture absorption can reach 30% of the dry weight of the horsetail. The ponytail needs to be stretched after getting wet, which is one of the reasons why the bowtail needs to be adjusted. Generally, the moisture content of horsetail is kept at about 15%.

The elasticity of the ponytail has a great influence on the quality of the bow. Its elasticity rate is generally 1% for quick play and 0.56% for slow play (see "Musical Instrument Technology", No. 2, 1978, page 30). The elasticity of the horsetail is related to the species, origin, diameter of the horsetail, and thickness of the cortex.

Greater strength is also a feature of ponytails. A good ponytail has a breaking force of about 0.5 to O. 6 kg, the average elongation at break is O. 25-O. 29%. After the horsetail is made into a bow, in the long-term use process, due to the tension of the bow and the friction with the string, the strength and elasticity will gradually decrease. In order to protect the bow hair and improve the service life, the bow hair should be loosened when the bow is not in use.

3. Preservation of ponytails

A good bunch of ponytails are rare, so it is necessary to use them reasonably and store them properly.

1. When carrying out the oil stain treatment on the ponytail surface, the alkalinity of the treatment solution should not be too large, otherwise the ponytail will be hard and the elasticity will be weakened.

2. The substance that constitutes the horse's tail is protein, and the polar groups on its molecular chain side chain and peptide chain can easily absorb water. When the humidity of horsetail increases, it creates favorable conditions for fungal erosion. Therefore, ponytails should be stored in a dry place.

3. To prevent moths, sprinkle some insect repellant on the place where the horsetail is stored.