Horsehair Requirements
Horse hair
Surprisingly little hair is needed for the jewellery but length and hair quality is important. Except where stated, we use full length tail hair. If you have only shorter lengths of tail hair, see the options For Short Hair. If you think you might not have sufficient hair, please email before placing your order and we will advise you as to what's possible.
Take the full length of the tail hair; don't trim it to length. Usually you can remove sufficient hair from the horse without it showing by cutting - sparingly - from the back centre of the tail, just under the dock.
Tail hair from different horses can be combined, often to wonderful effect, however in some case the different hair textures can cause braids to twist. We will take steps to minimise this where possible.
TAIL HAIR ONLY PLEASE FOR ALL BRAIDED AND WOVEN WORK. MANE HAIR IS GENERALLY TOO SHORT AND BRITTLE, HOWEVER IT CAN BE INCLUDED IN A LOCKET
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Braided and rope twist work - requirements
Bracelets
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Full length tail hair, as long as possible - ideally 45 cm or longer but an absolute minimum length of 35 cm
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About 280 hairs is normally sufficient - between a pencil's and little finger's diameter
Rings
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​Farriers Nail Birthstone ring or Chevron rope twist ring: about 16 tail hairs, ideally 20 cm long
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Chunky braided inlaid ring: about 160 hairs, ideally 20 cm long
Farriers Nail torque bangle
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About 20 cm
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About a pencil's diameter
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Farriers Nail 3 part bracelet
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About 20 cm
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About a pencil's diameter
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Farriers Nail pendant/pin​
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About 20 cm
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About a pencil's diameter
Farriers Nail earrings​
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About 20 cm
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About a pencil's diameter
Woven work - requirements
Full length tail hair is required for all woven pieces, regardless of finished length. This is because the hair must be long enough to fix on the loom, ideally 45 cm or longer. The weave patterns come from the contrast in hair colours/shades, either taken from the same tail or combining the hair from two or more horses. If you have single colour hair our Crinoline designs are perfect or if you would like to add a dash of something extra, the Brocades and Racing Silks designs are good options. See Woven Horsehair. Alternatively, we can add stock hair of any colour to make the pattern you require.
Ribbon bracelets and torque bangles
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9mm band - about 130 hairs
Inlaid rings
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About 90 hairs
Pendants/pins
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About 90 hairs
Cufflinks
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About 90 hairs