Why is horse hair used for bows?

Answer 1

According to history there is not a single inventor of the violin bow. A wildly held theory is the instrument (violin) and bow originated from the hunters bow.

At any rate, the earliest records showing the use of the bow in Europe are found in sculptures and art work from about 1,000 A.D.

It is believed that the bow as we know it today just evolved over a period of many many years. The things that players wanted "were more bow length" "and could the hair be a bit wider?" "could a better system be developed to regulate hair tension?" "maybe a little more weight."

All of these things and more were over time incorporated into the ultimate bow design.

Along came Francois Tourte b.1747--d.1835 in Paris, France. He has been termed the "Stradivarius of the bow", Tourte is considered the father of the bow we use today.

As far as horse hair is concerened, it mostly comes from the tail of the horse. Horse hair is used because it has microscopic barbs that hold the rosin. Horse hair comes from Mongolia, Siberia, China, and Argentina. It is cultivated for this exact purpose.

The hair harvesters wash the hair many times, sort and grade the hair by thickness. The hair is either bleached or left natural, it is then put into one pound bundles. A violin bow requires about 200--250 hairs per bow. There is no indication that other substances had ever been used, but I have a feeling that many things were tried before horse hair won the race