Horse Hair Gifts

Horse hair has been used for centuries for many different practical and creative purposes. From Native American crafts to modern items, horse hair has many different uses. Whether you create something from scratch yourself using hair from your own horse or purchase a ready-made item, horse hair pieces can make great gifts. Most horse hair items are made with strands of hair from the horse's tail or mane.

  1. Jewelry

    • Several different types of jewelry can be made with horse hair. From bracelets and rings to earrings, barrettes and hatbands, long strands of horse hair can be braided into unique pieces of jewelry. You can add sterling silver or beads, and use different colors of horse hair. Many horse enthusiasts save hair from a horse’s tail when it passes on and have the hair made into a bracelet to honor the horse’s memory.

    Shoo-Fly

    • A shoo-fly gets its name from its purpose of “shooing” flies away from the horse. The shoo-fly is made of an eight to 14 inch switch of horse hair gathered into a loop at the top. It can be hooked to the horse’s breast collar or the bottom of the saddle girth. The shoo-fly then moves with the horse and acts as a switch to keep the flies off the horse. A shoo-fly is a practical gift for any cowboy or cowgirl.

    Pottery

    • Horse hair pottery has been a Native American tradition for many years. To create horsehair pottery, the artist removes a piece of pottery from the kiln once the piece has reached a temperature between 1,000 to 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit. The artist then immediately places pieces of horse hair on the hot pottery. The hair burns and leaves behind a unique pattern of wavy lines on the pottery.

    Dog Collar

    • Dog collars can be created with an inlay of hitched horse hair. Hitched horse hair is different from braided—the horse hair is twisted into small knots to form a pattern. You can purchase dog collars with a variety of hitching patterns on them or have someone custom make one for you.