These horse tails have been de-boned, scraped, washed and tanned.
The first 6" or so at the base of the tail where it attached to the body is quite hard and stiff. On the tanned horse tails, this part is a little softer and more flexible than on the dried horse tails. This part of the tail is about 3" to 4" wide.
The regular horse tails are 39" or longer and can be as long as 51".
As these are natural products, the colors will vary. The photos are for reference only to give you an idea of what you might get if you order a certain color.
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.