Verve

Where bow hair really comes from In 2004 I followed horse tails from a courtyard in Harbin, by train, to the bow hair workshops of Anping. Most players never think about the hair on their bow. I didn't either, until I started selling it. In 2004 I went to China partly on business for Emily's Violins, but mostly to finish something I'd started in Mongolia. I wanted to see where the horses came from, how they were treated, and what happened to the hair between the horse and the bow. Mongolia In Mongolia I went out with a guide to the farms where the horses were being "retired." I didn't know what I'd find. What I saw were healthy horses, gently cared for, eating well and living long lives before the end. That mattered to me, and it still does. Harbin From there I followed the horses back across the border to Harbin, where they were slaughtered and the parts divided up. The tails were left on the bone and washed down with hoses in a cobbled court...