tanning horse hides

[gab]

I was talking to another taxidermist who has taken in a horse hide to tan.I told him that in my experience they were a hard hide for tanneries to deal with and usually came back with alot of damage and holes,due to the fragile nature of the hide.Was I right,or did I just have bad luck with mine?

[David Patton]

GAB,

If it has been salted well and dried, half the battle is done. Horses, along with brahma/longhorns/watusi, slip fast in temps over 60. That horse will have a thin hide and about 1/2 the cartilage a zebra will have. That makes the horse easier to do by hand rather than a 12" flesher. In fact, they are so thin that a guy has to be pretty good to get one through a flesher without ripping them open.

[gab]

thanks