Horsehair: An Ancient Material with Enduring Value

Historians rank horsehair among the three most commonly used natural materials by the peoples of the Baikal region, alongside nettle or hemp and animal sinew. Used since at least the late Bronze Age—and perhaps earlier, when wild horses still roamed the region—horsehair played a vital role in both daily life and specialized crafts.

 

Its exceptional properties—including strength, lightness, quick-drying capacity, and tensile strength comparable to that of steel wire—made it ideal for diverse applications: sewing, tying, making nets, reins, lassos, crossbow parts, and securing birch bark containers.

 

Different cultural groups developed their own methods for working with horsehair. The Tuvans used a simple yet effective technique: folding and twisting multiple strands into thin cords. The Khakass employed a more intricate process, forming rings from damp hair, splicing the ends together. In this tradition, women spun threads while men crafted lassos.

 

For the Sakha people, horsehair weaving was both a domestic art and a spiritual practice. Each spring, during the castration of yearling foals, their manes and tails were collected. Women then wove the hair into ropes, household items, clothing, toys, and ritual accessories. Ropes, in particular, held symbolic as well as practical value—serving as amulets and spiritual tools in shamanic rituals to repel or restrain evil forces.

 

In my view, horsehair is unjustifiably underused today. I enjoy working with this natural material, which connects me to ancient traditions and offers remarkable versatility.

 

This work is a hand-sewn canvas made from short horsehair. Patterns are laid out using ropes of horsehair in various natural colors. In addition to horsehair, I used 100% cotton threads and a jute base.

 

Techniques used: tambour stitch sewing, as well as both dry and wet felting of horsehair.