This is a dried horse tail.
Dried horse tails have been de-boned, scraped, washed and dried.
The first 6" or so at the base of the tail where it attached to the body is quite hard and stiff.
Native Americans use them as hair on their False Face Masks. They are also used on carousel horses and Halloween costumes.
We do not recommend attempting to tan the dried tails by yourself. Please note that although the tails have been deboned, there may be small pieces of bone buried deep inside the tail.
Do NOT comb when just removed from hot water or the hair may fall out.
Horses are not an endangered species. No horses are killed just for the tails. They are not subject to CITES or USFWS controls.
We do not recommend that the DRIED horse tails be exported to Japan and Italy. We had a shipment destroyed by Japanese customs in November 2005. Japan is notorious for rigid customs rules. We had a shipment returned by Italian customs in March 2013. We cannot get a veterinary certificate for dried horse tails. You may have greater success getting tanned tails through customs in general.