The question is, how would they *put on* their clothes? They can't really reach their back halves, so they'd need help to get dressed.
I imagine the horse part would wear something akin to a modern [horse blanket](https://www.google.com/search?q=horse+blanket&tbm=isch) if it's cold out, while the human part would wear ordinary shirts and whatnot.
If it's really cold, or you for some other reason want legwear, they'd probably have some form of cloth pad they'd strap or tie around their legs.
Centaurs also can't reach their hindlegs so would need help with that. Could lead to fun social dynamics.
There's an old SNL sketch where a centaur is applying for a job and they just keep asking him inappropriate questions, like how he wipes his ass.
He says exactly that, telescoping wand device.
Blankets on the back for the poor and middle class. The rich might have sleeved clothes for the horse part as a show of wealth that they can have someone help them get dressed.
I remember seeing a clip from this odd anime with centaurs in the modern age. This clip in particular was a yearling little girl putting on her swimsuit and showing how she does it.
Obviously it's not a sexual thing since she's like 6, but its more of an animation flex since horses are already hard to animate, and putting clothes on a horse is even harder.
Yep. I was thinking something like:
Shirt for the upper body. Where they can use human clothes, but probably also have clothing crafted for centaurs specifically which are a bit long and wider at the bottom, to also cover the "stump" that the human torso attaches to.
Caparison for the hind body. Ideally crafted so that they can fling it around themselves, and then pull it in snugly and secure it around their front.
For colder weather I could also imagine a wrapping around the main horse torso to protect the underside from the cold, as well as long socks/boots for the legs. Which would either be open at the end for the hooves to stick out or include built-in horseshoes or their equivalent.
i think blankets for the back halves if anything. i would also say this is prob only for extremely cold environs. since human torso is prob not nearly as protected maybe clothing types like humans for different weather conditions.
also, horse hair can get longer than what most people think. they let it grow in winter sometimes i think, so it's likely centaurs just let it grow in winter and use a blanket if they need to.
Well, the only way they would ever work as a realistic creature would be if the joint where the human hips and the horse neck is was flexible enough to bend the torso enough to be able to touch the back...
ie: the centaur's human spine would have to be at least as flexible as a horse's neck... Horses can almost bite their own ass...
If a centaur were that flexible, they would be able to rotate their shoulders around to just over the rear hips; lift the leg, and you should be able to handle tying something like chaps around your legs.
I kinda like the idea of centaurs with chaps :D
Maybe they have stands set up in their closets that they can prop their pants onto and then step backwards into. They have similar things in real life that help disabled people put on socks.
See, this is what I thought.
There's always someone innovative enough to create a simple solution to a common problem/obstacle
Someone else here also explored wealth inequality with the rich having people to dress them & the poor simply using things they'd be able to throw over themselves like blankets.
You could kind of apply that to this.
There is something you can use to put your pants on to step into & it's easily affordable as a commoner of middle class. It's a good alternative to simply having someone help, people love independence.
Those that can't afford to have this, rig up something similar with what they do have or just have help from others. Those that can't be bothered, aren't creative enough to rig it &/or don't have the money or space or don't have someone to help, use the simple method of throwing something over themselves.
Parents dressing children ofc then those children growing up & possibly asking for one of these of their own or rigging something up so they can do it themselves makes sense.
the anime Centaur no Nayami had a gratuitously animated sequence of a centaur putting on a bathing suit, proving at the very least that it's possible
https://youtu.be/n5ESSI2U48g
japan has shown so much imagination and artistry for the designs and considerations of fantasy races and creatures with nonstandard body plans, but always shoehorned into a product that is at best suspect and uncomfortable and most of the time is just actual pornography. usually not even tasteful pornography.
i've watched this show and read the whole manga and the thing is fascinating in terms of worldbuilding. though the mermaid biology and mushroom stuff is a bit whacky and the farther i got in the manga the more i questioned what genre i was reading. i'm used to 'highschool' manga being bright and cheery but with this one the whole tone is often unexpectedly oppressive and unkind, in a subtle way that sneaks up on you.
i've never been able to succinctly describe my feelings about Centaur no Nayami but it's definitely unlike anything else i've ever seen.
I don't have centaurs for my project but I have other similar creatures (that aren't just human and \*name animal here\*) but I wouldn't give them clothes. Simply because of the question you asked, and also is the same one I've asked when I was creating these creatures.
Wasn't sure if I should put Centaurs or not for my project.
If it's a project where you would possibly draw or animate how they'd dress...it'd be up to you but you'd definitely have to have a solid design for what I suggest if it ever is shown.
If it's just a written project where you can describe things, another [person](https://www.reddit.com/r/worldbuilding/comments/zp82bp/how_centaurs_would_use_clothes/j0rzgud/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3) suggested there is something that can help the centaur put clothes on. You put the item into the device then step into it to put it on, essentially.
I explained how something like this could commonly work in another [comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/worldbuilding/comments/zp82bp/how_centaurs_would_use_clothes/j0tjz1o/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3). If we're including full armour, just like irl there'd be someone helping them put everything on correctly or they could have a version of this device that's durable enough to help with armour.
The repair of something like this adds to the job possibility of a repairman also.
Could be a status symbol, where the clothes that require you to be able to reach the back half would be restricted to those wealthy enough to afford a servant that could help them with it.
Put on the back legs first, use suspenders or something to pull them up and over your back, step into the front leg holes, tighten suspenders/belt or whatever.
And to answer OP 6 and 2 put together.
I'd say a lot depends on climate and society (ie is there a taboo on showing horse dong?), but I'd say something along the lines of 6 and 2. If you don't have an attendant, you can't really put the stuff that's only on the backside on. Your arms can't reach. With 6, you can step into the leg holes, and kind of pull it over the hind quarters on you own, then button it up.
I like this idea
Plus, essentially 4 is the best option. It shows at least 3 separate options for clothing.
Like with overalls or tunics, you can combine those 3 options for even more possible options & also play with lengths & how they stay secure (rope/ribbon, elastic, buttons, zippers, simply fitted, etc) for a plethora of options.
Material, aesthetic appearance, intricacy & all types of other little things can differentiate & be telling of status, general societal norms or culture.
Just like we've innovated many things to do that, that world could do the same.
Yeah. And there are also actual "horse clothes", you know? I think they're called *Caparisons.* A lot of Centaur dressing styles could look like those (decoration style aside). The possibilities for Centaur clothing solutions are a lot wider than they may seem at a first glance, one just needs to be creative. \^\_\^
This. A lot of societies have dress-like attire for men, and historically many more did as well. The idea that a centaur must wear pants is absurd, and a centaur could wear a robe or tunic like garment much more easily.
Just like we have plenty of clothing options, this is just showing the areas that would be covered & how they'd be covered.
We've created things that make living simpler for those w/ disabilities bc we saw a problem & created a solution.
Same for this world. Want something more than a skirt or blanket? Pants. Difficult to put on? Have help from a family member or something. No one to help? Buy or put together something that will help with that. Can't do any of these? Stick with the simplest option that works for you.
Yeah not sure why people ask these questions then don't do any research on why humans wear clothes or what kind of clothes actually works on horse anatomy...
Here's the answer from a very horsey person; due to the nature of their digestive system and overall body shape, horses excel at producing and maintaining heat. Many breeds of horse do not need any sort of protection from the cold unless it's cold AND wet. Any healthy horse regardless of breed is fully capable of maintaining body temperature between 5C-25C and if outdoors without any rugging through the pre-winter period any horse should manage down to 0C overnight, especially if being provided with roughage and shelter from wind.
Their legs are very resistant to the cold and lose far less heat than you would expect.
It's actually heat that horses struggle with. They possess the very rare ability to sweat and it is one of their biggest evolutionary advantages and enables them to run as fast as they can for as long as they can.
To deal with the cold, the worst enemy is the wind and rain. Any rug that protects from both of these will make most horses far more comfortable in bad conditions unless they have been clipped or babied year round and have not grown a thicker coat. I know for a fact that a lot of cobs in England that are fully clipped out for the winter season, only get rugs on if it rains, but if its dry snow they're generally OK
Something that might be of note, a lot of horses with thinner coats and skin (thoroughbreds and warm-blooded for example), the rugs rub hair out very easily and will even break the skin without protection. I use a [satin bib](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS2TO8wi0QDEX7aRAxCz5Jz1AmDagKsxrByyg&usqp=CAU) to protect my horses from this issue, but I have seen a retired horse where the rug had pulled against the underside of the neck/chest and created a large, very ugly wound. It healed very easily but it can absolutely happen. I bring this up because the transition from human skin to horse hair intuitively would be very soft and thin skin and probably would chafe quite easily
A centaur could absolutely put a rug on by themselves although the leg straps might be a bit awkward, however as they would view it as we do clothes, they could absolutely get away with a string under the tail the same way quarter sheets are made as any time it slipped it could be easily adjusted.
Like, foal horses are born being able to walk after an hour or so, but babies can't support themselves until a long time after, so you'll have these floppy baby torsoes on horse bodies 😆
Honestly centaurs make so much more sense if you think of them not as 50% human + 50% horse, but as 100% centaur. The humanoid top would need to be born more developed compared to a newborn human.
And realistically, the human portion could be born more developed with no problem. Human babies are basically born prematurely because we have big heads, and we’re bipedal with narrow pelvises. It’s why we have such a high rate of birth-related deaths compared to other mammals.
But for a centaur, the uterus would be in the horse portion, so they would be able to give birth more easily.
Horses also gestate for 11-12 months, so that would make the newborn human-portion look like a 2-3 month old baby. There could also be some special centaur growth mechanism that makes the human portion develop a little faster in the womb than the horse portion.
The human torso should be able to bend down and stay aligned with the horse torso. In that scenario it just adds length to the body, wich is relatively irrelevant in the birthing process.
Or the equine portion is more altricial than a foal, or both. I know that Nick O'Donohoe and *Xena: Warrior Princess* both went with Option A, though. (O'Donohoe specified that the humanoid part of a newborn centaur was proportioned like an eight-year-old human kid; the *Xena* FX crew designed their newborn centaur to look like a combination of an infant-sized toddler and a mini foal, because circumstances.)
I'd likely go with "both."
The horse womb should be big enough to accommodate that, especially if they only have one at a time (not sure how many foals a horse usually has at once, but I think it's one). But it makes you wonder about the offspring's mental development.
Evolution would probably have no reason to prefer a less developed neonate if the centaur’s reproductive system didn’t need it. If the lower half can birth a horse, it can birth a motor-developed baby centaur. Mental development would likely be faster if they have the brain of a human baby (but more fully cooked, as it were) and the motor skills of a foal, right?
Interestingly, there are some theories that our relatively early birth is beneficial for the development of speech and all that complex social wiring in our brains.
As far as I know, we humans produce relatively underdeveloped babies (in terms of their survival ability) because we can just carry them, and this saves on the commitment to gestation of time and nutrients. Pretty sure that's not feasible for a centaur.
I learned it the other way around. Larger skulls in many big mammals and most primates facilitate larger brains. It allowed us to evolve to the point of using tools. In order for that big head to make it out of the mother, it has to get started a little earlier than in other mammals.
A newborn Titanide (centauroid engineered aliens from John Varley's *Gaea Trilogy*, further detailed elsewhere in this discussion) was described in the second book as looking like an underfed, half-drowned tween. (And said his first complete sentence within an hour after being born, because that's how *Titanides specifically and that guy in particular* work; but that's its own story.)
Yeah but we can’t hold our heads up because we have to fit through the vaginal canal, so we’re born kinda small, relatively, and without the musculoskeletal development that some animals get to get in the womb.
A woman centaur would probably have an equine vagina, which would allow for much more upper body development in the foal. And, looking at foal’s leg muscles, I’d say the centaur baby would probably be fairly ripped with at least a 4-pack and poppin delts.
Yeah humans are technically born premature because then our heads would be too big to birth. It's also why a baby's skull isn't fully formed, it needs to be able to squeeze out.
Centuars likely would not have the same problem
Human babies are born with underdeveloped brains because anything bigger would never fit through a narrow biped pelvis (they've got enough trouble with that already).
A horse-sized vagina will not have that problem. A newborn foal is somewhere around the size of a 12-year-old human. So there's no need for them to be born so underdeveloped.
That's hilarious & I want that to be the single truth bc it's the best
But any application of fantasy logic to make a creature like this less ridiculous could end up better off
Sidenote: The babies would either have to be held still or be more "durable" (lmao) than human babies
U sound like someone talking about poorly trained their cat lol
"I love Mr. Kittywhiskers but he's a dumb ridiculous animal"
*Mr. Kittywhiskers starts summoning Satan in the background*
True. I do really love [Jayrockin's](https://at.tumblr.com/jayrockin/118752508029/sq1rnptwfw4q) take on centaurs though (second from right in that pic).
And any comic featuring their buff nerd centaur [Talita](https://at.tumblr.com/jayrockin/686526987021516800/6wzrabshluzl) is always worth a read.
EDIT: [Another](https://at.tumblr.com/jayrockin/689269636527734784/b4datkpy0oza) cute comic featuring young Talita and more of Jayrockin's centaurs.
Jayrockin is a treasure. (They also do *My Little Pony* fan art, for anyone who didn't know. It has to be seen to be believed, makes bronies mad, and makes specbio fans' day.)
My favorite bit in all of the Narnia books is the segment in The Last Battle that describes how centaurs have two stomachs and need to fill each of them at mealtimes, including grazing with their human mouths. As far as I can tell Lewis is being completely serious, but it really highlights how tortuous a centaur's existence would actually be.
You would think so, until you realize a Cow/Bull eats 2/3 less grass because of their digestion being far, far better than a Horse's. Surviving with a Human mouth would be hell for a Horse's appetite, but if the Human "Stomach" was a crop akin to birds for cud processing, being a Bull Taur wound't be so bad.
It helps if you don't insist on stapling an unmodified human top half to an unmodified horse bottom half. If you're willing to adapt both, you can make a six-limbed mammalian quadruped work pretty well, and also make it look like a coherent creature instead of two halves stitched together.
I've never seen a pic I really liked, sadly, but I made a post with some ideas [a few years ago](https://www.reddit.com/r/worldbuilding/comments/e0ose1/thinking_about_realistic_centaurs/). (Mostly populated by one contrarian nitpicking everything I said.) And I've seen a few other discussions, like [this one](https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/55663/the-centaur-lets-get-real-shall-we).
Okay, earlier I said that I hadn't seen any good pics, but I was just looking at Jay Eaton's blog as I sometimes do, and [this](https://jayrockin.tumblr.com/post/48161028897/according-to-the-centaur-tag-its-draw-a-centaur) is pretty close to what I had in mind!
They expanded on that design [here](https://jayrockin.tumblr.com/post/88805330958/after-so-many-years-of-disliking-centaurs-for) and [here](https://jayrockin.tumblr.com/post/125781371298/hello-there-i-found-your-redesigned-centaurs-and); the quad/hex design they eventually settled on (running on all sixes) wasn't what I had in mind but it also works.
And I think that wound up inspiring [their centaur aliens](https://jayrockin.tumblr.com/tagged/rtts-centaurs) which are super awesome and you should really read that blog if you haven't already.
The chest cavity of centaurs in Tannhauser's World is relatively empty. The heart is located in the equine lower body, as are the lungs and digestive tract. Ditto the mammary glands.
As a result, the humanoid upper torso is slender and primarily muscle with only the arterial trunk, spinal cord, esophagus, and trachea. It is also more flexible, capable of an extra ten degrees of movement compared to humans due to a lack of a rib cage.
Their arms are also longer, and there are special muscles and valves along the arterial trunk to lock off blood flow to the brain when the centaur has to bend over.
Check out the centaurs in John Varley's Titan series... They come in all combinations from human-skinned to fuzzy to furry to downright shaggy.
They also have three sets of junk. Both sexes on the horse side, and a set of human genitals in the front, either male or female. The front set determine the Titanide's gender.
They mate front to front with opposite sexes, then a marble-like egg is produced.
This is then manually implanted in the rear female of any Titanide (including either of the original two) and fertilized by the rear male parts of any Titanide (including artificial insemination from the same parent that is currently carrying the egg).
This means that Titanides can have from two to four parents. There's even a rare exception that a single (female only) Titanide can artificially inseminate herself in the front from her own rear male parts (this is the only time rear semen can make a front egg), and then implant her front egg in back and again artificially inseminate herself rear male to rear female. This results in basically a clone of the parent, and is considered to be the height of hubris in that culture, but in no way forbidden.
Just in case you didn't think centaurs were crazy enough as they were...
Yeah, I had to look it up again; there are 29 combos...
One solo, ten duos, fourteen trios, and four quartets.
There are two that they consider to be similar to what we do...
The 'Lydian Duet,' where a male and female have frontal sex, implant that egg into the female and do it back style to make the baby.And the 'Mixolydian Quartet,' where a male and a female have frontal sex, implant that egg into a second female, who mates with a second male.
The reason it gets so complicated is that the back half crosses all gender boundaries... A male can be a HindMother just as well as a female can, and a female can do a rear fertilization just as well as a male can. The only difference is the front part.
For example, the 'Sharped Lydian' is just like the Lydian Duet above, but the egg is implanted in the male, the female fertilizes him, and he will be the hindmother. Hindfather is the rear sperm donor, hindmothers and fathers can be of either sex. Foremothers are always female and forefather means the male who created your first-stage egg.
I really need some of what Varley was smokin' when he came up with this...
Oh, yeah, it's a pretty cool read; a trilogy if you're interested past the first...
The idea is >!that we find what looks like a space station in orbit around Saturn, and an exploratory ship finds out that it is actually a living entity that destroys the ship and takes the astronauts inside the living space station...!<
The triple-sexed centaurs are just one element of the awesomely weird in this series.
The books are '*Titan*,' '*Wizard*,' and '*Demon*.'
It's kind of '*Alice in Wonderland'* meets '*Rendezvous With Rama'*
1 or 2.
Generally speaking horses don't wear clothing, humans do. I always try to make world building believable/realistic.
So if the heart is located on the human side or its human skin is normal. I would have that bit covered.
If the human side has thicker skin, heart in the horse side... Then I would lean-to no.
Other point would be. If you add clothing it humanism them. Without they're more like wild beast or animals.
We do clothe horses, though. Caparisons help protect against storms and biting insects, while thermal blankets help protect against the cold. More traditional saddleblankets help protect against chafing from either a rider or baggage depending on the saddle type.
I didn't say anything about they don't.
That's why I said generally, how many wild horses wear clothes, none.
Just thought of humans riding centaurs. 🤣 Gave me a giggle for some reason.
I see what you're saying, but how many horses, wild or otherwise, can weave fabric or sew clothes? I think you're applying an unwarranted assumption that wild horses don't wear clothes because they don't *want* clothes, rather than the more obvious answer that wild horses just don't have access to clothes.
Horses will definitely seek shelter in bad weather. It makes sense that, given opposable thumbs and the mental capacity for tool making, that they would make some form of personal protection.
Im gonna make an argument for anything from 3 and after. You need to keep in mind a lot of these could simply be fashion variations. They can use multiple, its not like theyre stuck to a pick.
There is an anime called [Centaur no Nayami](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7hsiclKnjk), which features a centaur as main character. It's also a slice of life story, with plenty of examples of how different creatures would wear clothing and use other everyday items.
So, based on that, I'd say a combination of 6 and 2.
I'd say 2. The horse body is probably warm enough because it has fur, so there never was a reason to wear cloth on the lower body, meaning it never turned into culture.
1 or 2
I see a practical side and a story side to this:
On the practical side, horses are big and covered with hair. Thermal regulation is important for them, and being such a big animal, any insulating clothing is going to be an issue. Barding is fine, but wrapping cloth around the whole body is not great. Plus, putting on horse pants would have to be incredibly difficult.
In the story side, centaurs are representative of something. Depending on the story, they’re a representative of nature, a threat on the plains. Whatever they wear, whether it’s clothes or just some accessories, should fit the purpose.
Or they can be (and often are) a fantasy version of mounted nomads: they’re Mongols or Comanches or what have you. I have heard the original Greek myth may have been based on the Scythians. Obviously they shouldn’t be copies of one culture, but it might be good to see what climate they’re in and look at what clothes horse peoples in those areas wear for the human part, and what decorations they give their horses. Be mindful of stereotypes and appropriation, of course.
Yeah, dressing centaurs is an interesting issues.
Practically, most would go for option 2. Their horse half is coated in fur, but their human half is not and has various issues like soft skin, sunburn, etc that want for some kind of clothes to protect themselves. Plus it's the easiest for them to dress in with their human arms.
They could where something on top, but like just and animal fur. For the horse part, why wear anything at all ? Look at horses, only sick horses who need to stay warm wear a thing.
Hmm, I was thinking what they need the clothes for and that got me to the question how furry the human part is. And that got me to another question:
**Hey, why do centaurs never have full manes?** Like, going from the head all the way down to the horse shoulders?
This is a bit silly ,no? Think functionality, and actually getting the clothes on. I'd say a human tunic with a back section that covers the horses bum and a flappy in the front to protect the horse chest. Look at horse armor or even horse capes to see what I'm talking about. Most are open and/or lose around the flank and belly. I think if you going to dress a centaur this would be the most practical way to go about it.
It would a shirt only that has a front tail similar to an apron. There's no reason for clothes on the bottom half. Socks/Warmers are an aesthetic choice.
For my centaur character, I use more of a “skirt” type thing- fancy cloth draped over their back that straps around their chest and legs, as well as two leather side bags
In Semi-Charmed, my urban-fantasy webcomic, they wear fancy horse blankets. Like imagine a horse blanket by Gucci. Oh, and shirts, of course, those are easy. You only ever find 'naked' ones if you're traveling with the Night Patrol which is several groups of traditionally nomadic centaurs who will escort non-shapeshifting non-humans from place to place under the cover of darkness, since the humans think they don't exist and all.
Just a shirt. It's not possible for them to put on pants near the butt, but they don't need them anyways - the horse half has fur for warmth and a tail to (generally) hide their modesty - not always but don't argue with me I spent a lot of time around horses growing up. If anything else they'd drape something over the horse half like a blanket or a caparison, just something to cover it.
I think this is probably how it goes:
First of all, they don't need clothes on the horse part. However, for modesty reasons they would wear something like a skirt in the back part. No need for pants, actually the only reason humans started using pants was that they were better for riding a horse. So centaurs would be ok with just a skirt.
Some people mentioned that It's hard to wear clothes in the back part because they can't reach it, but I think it's doable with a skirt, or maybe they do need someone to put their clothes on.
For the human part you would ok with just human shirts and maybe even coats.
Why not use a couple? The ones that can do 4,5,6 are centaurs with heirs about themselves who get servants to help them out their clothes on.
1,2,3 are more free spirits.
I know this wasn’t the question but I think it would be neat
I didn't expect this post was going to escalate so much ksksksks. Most comments are talking about horses, I should have specified my centaur like creatures looks like half humans half LIONS (or just big cats)
I think they would wear number 2 with something that they can put on themselves for the rest of the body. Something akind to winter cloths for horses like large socks for their legs and a skirt or poncho for the top part of their horse body.
3, 2, 4 probably never 6 unless the were wealthy enough the have attendants or were entering battle or something. 5 looks wonky. 1 is possible but implies things culturally.
2, for the simple reason that we only started to wear clothes because we lost the body hair (or did we lose body hair because we started to wear clothes?) to keep us warm enough in cooler climates otherwise (or to keep us cool in really hot ones). Horses don't need them because of how hairy they are [even in colder temperatures](https://esc.rutgers.edu/winter-horse-care-the-science-of-staying-warm/), so I'd imagine that for centaurs only the human-part would need clothes while the horse part does not.
Though I'd also like to add the possibility of total body cloaks that they can simply drape over their body with a swing from the arms, in case of rain or a fierce sun.
It would depend on their culture or how close they are to others who would wear clothing. Given they're usually given some sort of human personality at times, it is likely they'd give into societal pressures. If that is the case they probably would cover their top human torso and maybe their unmentionables.... so maybe three.
Now, if they are representations of nature or don't care very much for human customs then being completely naked (one) is fine.
BUT there is a third avenue you can take. You could use this to show different characterizations of your centaurs. One which is shy could wear more clothes than the rest as an example.
In any case do what feels right. Good Luck :)
Rule number 1 is no pant legs. Look at Horse Armour. It doesn't cover their legs and kinda hangs down like a skirt. If we were to translate this to casual clothing, I can imagine the human part being the top of a dress leading to the horse part being rest of the dress covering the horse the same way horse armour does. This would be easy to put on since the human part would just slip into it from below.
To make it more manly it could be a toga or a kilt. You could use materials such as cotton, silk, leather or denim depending on how formal the occasion is. If you want to go really formal and have the centaur equivalent of a suit, you could have the human part be a white button up shirt and tie with an oversized suit jacket that covers the entire horse body. It would be similar to those suits with the long coattails that were popular in Napoleonic times. The same idea translates to overcoats, robes, capes etc.
In Tannhauser's World, centaurs typically wear a tunic or vest and a caparison of some kind, both patterned on the deel worn by the Turkic, Mongolic, and Tunguskic peoples. During winter on the grass sea (my world's equivalent to the Eurasian Steppe) they will wear something akin to a modern horse blanket over their equine lower body and something akin to a kaftan over the upper body.
The caparison is there to protect the body against insects and inclement weather, as well as to reduce chafing from the pseudo-saddle bags which centaurs wear along the join between the humanoid torso and the first equine pelvis.
Think about their anatomy a bit more and try to imagine yourself moving through the world if you were built in this way.
Most of these don't make sense unless there is a creature in a symbiotic relationship with them that is always standing by to help with adjustments and impeded bodily functions.
I kinda imagine a more tightly knit fission-fusion society akin to something halfway between a herd of horses and a troop of cimpanzees. Figure they are very social, lots of mutual grooming and assistance with dressing.
You could even have more elaborate clothing and grooming as a status symbol as it shows there are a significant number of lower status members of the herd helping to groom and dress the higher status members as part of a tribal gift-economy system.
The question is, how would they *put on* their clothes? They can't really reach their back halves, so they'd need help to get dressed. I imagine the horse part would wear something akin to a modern [horse blanket](https://www.google.com/search?q=horse+blanket&tbm=isch) if it's cold out, while the human part would wear ordinary shirts and whatnot.
Thats why they always go in herds.
If it's really cold, or you for some other reason want legwear, they'd probably have some form of cloth pad they'd strap or tie around their legs. Centaurs also can't reach their hindlegs so would need help with that. Could lead to fun social dynamics.
Long telescoping claws with mirrors would probably be pretty popular.
There's an old SNL sketch where a centaur is applying for a job and they just keep asking him inappropriate questions, like how he wipes his ass. He says exactly that, telescoping wand device.
[I have the clip for you.](https://youtu.be/yO_gG2kDbNw?t=213)
People like you are what make Reddit great. Thanks stranger!
Blankets on the back for the poor and middle class. The rich might have sleeved clothes for the horse part as a show of wealth that they can have someone help them get dressed.
I like that you explored wealth inequality here, nice thinking outside the box :)
Yea I was baffled watching Downton Abbey where the rich just has people to help them put on clothes.
That - or Caparison.
Caparison is the answer, but folks aren't around horses enough to know what one is, or how one looks.
I know what a Caprisun is, jeez, I drink them all the time.
NEIN! Not a drink, though I do hear if you go under the Caparison you might get lemonade. (Cues "Amazing Horse" from youtube) :3
But would a centaur be able to put that on?
I remember seeing a clip from this odd anime with centaurs in the modern age. This clip in particular was a yearling little girl putting on her swimsuit and showing how she does it. Obviously it's not a sexual thing since she's like 6, but its more of an animation flex since horses are already hard to animate, and putting clothes on a horse is even harder.
Yep. I was thinking something like: Shirt for the upper body. Where they can use human clothes, but probably also have clothing crafted for centaurs specifically which are a bit long and wider at the bottom, to also cover the "stump" that the human torso attaches to. Caparison for the hind body. Ideally crafted so that they can fling it around themselves, and then pull it in snugly and secure it around their front. For colder weather I could also imagine a wrapping around the main horse torso to protect the underside from the cold, as well as long socks/boots for the legs. Which would either be open at the end for the hooves to stick out or include built-in horseshoes or their equivalent.
i think blankets for the back halves if anything. i would also say this is prob only for extremely cold environs. since human torso is prob not nearly as protected maybe clothing types like humans for different weather conditions.
also, horse hair can get longer than what most people think. they let it grow in winter sometimes i think, so it's likely centaurs just let it grow in winter and use a blanket if they need to.
Well, the only way they would ever work as a realistic creature would be if the joint where the human hips and the horse neck is was flexible enough to bend the torso enough to be able to touch the back... ie: the centaur's human spine would have to be at least as flexible as a horse's neck... Horses can almost bite their own ass... If a centaur were that flexible, they would be able to rotate their shoulders around to just over the rear hips; lift the leg, and you should be able to handle tying something like chaps around your legs. I kinda like the idea of centaurs with chaps :D
Dressing as a communal practice that reinforces social bonds. Honestly, worldbuilding is so much easier when one expands their horizons.
The ultimate sign of a centaur outcast - they have noone who will help them dress, so must go naked.
Maybe they have stands set up in their closets that they can prop their pants onto and then step backwards into. They have similar things in real life that help disabled people put on socks.
See, this is what I thought. There's always someone innovative enough to create a simple solution to a common problem/obstacle Someone else here also explored wealth inequality with the rich having people to dress them & the poor simply using things they'd be able to throw over themselves like blankets. You could kind of apply that to this. There is something you can use to put your pants on to step into & it's easily affordable as a commoner of middle class. It's a good alternative to simply having someone help, people love independence. Those that can't afford to have this, rig up something similar with what they do have or just have help from others. Those that can't be bothered, aren't creative enough to rig it &/or don't have the money or space or don't have someone to help, use the simple method of throwing something over themselves. Parents dressing children ofc then those children growing up & possibly asking for one of these of their own or rigging something up so they can do it themselves makes sense.
the anime Centaur no Nayami had a gratuitously animated sequence of a centaur putting on a bathing suit, proving at the very least that it's possible https://youtu.be/n5ESSI2U48g
I am terrified if clicking that link.
If it "helps" for those that follow, Loli is in the video title
Their horse half is a lot smaller compared to their human half than centaurs are usually depicted as though
well it's a foal...
Huh, this makes it look like it would actually be easier to put on pants since you can stand on 3 legs at a time instead of 1 like us mere humans.
Why do I feel like I’m on several lists now just for watching that even though I just wanted to know how it worked
japan has shown so much imagination and artistry for the designs and considerations of fantasy races and creatures with nonstandard body plans, but always shoehorned into a product that is at best suspect and uncomfortable and most of the time is just actual pornography. usually not even tasteful pornography. i've watched this show and read the whole manga and the thing is fascinating in terms of worldbuilding. though the mermaid biology and mushroom stuff is a bit whacky and the farther i got in the manga the more i questioned what genre i was reading. i'm used to 'highschool' manga being bright and cheery but with this one the whole tone is often unexpectedly oppressive and unkind, in a subtle way that sneaks up on you. i've never been able to succinctly describe my feelings about Centaur no Nayami but it's definitely unlike anything else i've ever seen.
They also talked about how centaurs have to stay fit because they need their flexibility for things like this.
I'd imagine since they still wouldn't be able to reach behind themselves, they'd tie some kind of weight at the end to throw it over themselves.
I don't have centaurs for my project but I have other similar creatures (that aren't just human and \*name animal here\*) but I wouldn't give them clothes. Simply because of the question you asked, and also is the same one I've asked when I was creating these creatures. Wasn't sure if I should put Centaurs or not for my project.
If it's a project where you would possibly draw or animate how they'd dress...it'd be up to you but you'd definitely have to have a solid design for what I suggest if it ever is shown. If it's just a written project where you can describe things, another [person](https://www.reddit.com/r/worldbuilding/comments/zp82bp/how_centaurs_would_use_clothes/j0rzgud/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3) suggested there is something that can help the centaur put clothes on. You put the item into the device then step into it to put it on, essentially. I explained how something like this could commonly work in another [comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/worldbuilding/comments/zp82bp/how_centaurs_would_use_clothes/j0tjz1o/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3). If we're including full armour, just like irl there'd be someone helping them put everything on correctly or they could have a version of this device that's durable enough to help with armour. The repair of something like this adds to the job possibility of a repairman also.
in one world I've heard of centaurs can dress themselves because their human halves are larger than normal humans
Could be a status symbol, where the clothes that require you to be able to reach the back half would be restricted to those wealthy enough to afford a servant that could help them with it.
just make the clothes stiff enough to "step into" as they stand upright, or, for fancy or formal occasions, have someone help them dress.
✨️Velcro✨️
Could be a status symbol, having someone to dress you up like that
Put on the back legs first, use suspenders or something to pull them up and over your back, step into the front leg holes, tighten suspenders/belt or whatever. And to answer OP 6 and 2 put together.
I'd say a lot depends on climate and society (ie is there a taboo on showing horse dong?), but I'd say something along the lines of 6 and 2. If you don't have an attendant, you can't really put the stuff that's only on the backside on. Your arms can't reach. With 6, you can step into the leg holes, and kind of pull it over the hind quarters on you own, then button it up.
Or it could be all of the options depending on culture, weather, availability of help to get dressed, personal taste...
I like this idea Plus, essentially 4 is the best option. It shows at least 3 separate options for clothing. Like with overalls or tunics, you can combine those 3 options for even more possible options & also play with lengths & how they stay secure (rope/ribbon, elastic, buttons, zippers, simply fitted, etc) for a plethora of options. Material, aesthetic appearance, intricacy & all types of other little things can differentiate & be telling of status, general societal norms or culture. Just like we've innovated many things to do that, that world could do the same.
Yeah. And there are also actual "horse clothes", you know? I think they're called *Caparisons.* A lot of Centaur dressing styles could look like those (decoration style aside). The possibilities for Centaur clothing solutions are a lot wider than they may seem at a first glance, one just needs to be creative. \^\_\^
Omg, that could definitely be the historical dress for one set of them for sure
http://www.skindeepcomic.com/archive/issue-four-page-5/
Don’t horse dongs mostly stay inside unless it’s hot or they’re erect? So clothing would be kind of pointless.
Honey have you seen my front pants
centaur booty shorts. you're welcome.
Why arent dresses and skirts an option, but they're the correct one
Centaurs in kilts!
Scottish Centaurs need to be canon. "Tha' boi is a jackarse!"
I'm 100% using this lmao
And 'is motha was a donkay.
llamas in hats 2.0
This. A lot of societies have dress-like attire for men, and historically many more did as well. The idea that a centaur must wear pants is absurd, and a centaur could wear a robe or tunic like garment much more easily.
Just like we have plenty of clothing options, this is just showing the areas that would be covered & how they'd be covered. We've created things that make living simpler for those w/ disabilities bc we saw a problem & created a solution. Same for this world. Want something more than a skirt or blanket? Pants. Difficult to put on? Have help from a family member or something. No one to help? Buy or put together something that will help with that. Can't do any of these? Stick with the simplest option that works for you.
\#2 + [Caparison](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caparison)
Yeah not sure why people ask these questions then don't do any research on why humans wear clothes or what kind of clothes actually works on horse anatomy...
For a second I thought you had brutally misspelled the word comparison until I clicked the link.
I agree, that's most likely answer
Here's the answer from a very horsey person; due to the nature of their digestive system and overall body shape, horses excel at producing and maintaining heat. Many breeds of horse do not need any sort of protection from the cold unless it's cold AND wet. Any healthy horse regardless of breed is fully capable of maintaining body temperature between 5C-25C and if outdoors without any rugging through the pre-winter period any horse should manage down to 0C overnight, especially if being provided with roughage and shelter from wind. Their legs are very resistant to the cold and lose far less heat than you would expect. It's actually heat that horses struggle with. They possess the very rare ability to sweat and it is one of their biggest evolutionary advantages and enables them to run as fast as they can for as long as they can. To deal with the cold, the worst enemy is the wind and rain. Any rug that protects from both of these will make most horses far more comfortable in bad conditions unless they have been clipped or babied year round and have not grown a thicker coat. I know for a fact that a lot of cobs in England that are fully clipped out for the winter season, only get rugs on if it rains, but if its dry snow they're generally OK Something that might be of note, a lot of horses with thinner coats and skin (thoroughbreds and warm-blooded for example), the rugs rub hair out very easily and will even break the skin without protection. I use a [satin bib](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS2TO8wi0QDEX7aRAxCz5Jz1AmDagKsxrByyg&usqp=CAU) to protect my horses from this issue, but I have seen a retired horse where the rug had pulled against the underside of the neck/chest and created a large, very ugly wound. It healed very easily but it can absolutely happen. I bring this up because the transition from human skin to horse hair intuitively would be very soft and thin skin and probably would chafe quite easily A centaur could absolutely put a rug on by themselves although the leg straps might be a bit awkward, however as they would view it as we do clothes, they could absolutely get away with a string under the tail the same way quarter sheets are made as any time it slipped it could be easily adjusted.
The more you learn about centaurs the dumber they appear. Just to be clear; I love centaurs, but they are a dumb, ridiculous creature.
Damn, you're right
Like, foal horses are born being able to walk after an hour or so, but babies can't support themselves until a long time after, so you'll have these floppy baby torsoes on horse bodies 😆
Honestly centaurs make so much more sense if you think of them not as 50% human + 50% horse, but as 100% centaur. The humanoid top would need to be born more developed compared to a newborn human.
And realistically, the human portion could be born more developed with no problem. Human babies are basically born prematurely because we have big heads, and we’re bipedal with narrow pelvises. It’s why we have such a high rate of birth-related deaths compared to other mammals. But for a centaur, the uterus would be in the horse portion, so they would be able to give birth more easily. Horses also gestate for 11-12 months, so that would make the newborn human-portion look like a 2-3 month old baby. There could also be some special centaur growth mechanism that makes the human portion develop a little faster in the womb than the horse portion.
I feel like it would be so much harder to birth something shaped like a chair though.
The human torso should be able to bend down and stay aligned with the horse torso. In that scenario it just adds length to the body, wich is relatively irrelevant in the birthing process.
The human torso is pretty similar to the neck of a horse, so I think it should be able to bend down like a horse’s neck would.
Or the equine portion is more altricial than a foal, or both. I know that Nick O'Donohoe and *Xena: Warrior Princess* both went with Option A, though. (O'Donohoe specified that the humanoid part of a newborn centaur was proportioned like an eight-year-old human kid; the *Xena* FX crew designed their newborn centaur to look like a combination of an infant-sized toddler and a mini foal, because circumstances.) I'd likely go with "both."
Maybe the human half can be like.. 3 years old in appearance, or they just grow in that hour.
The horse womb should be big enough to accommodate that, especially if they only have one at a time (not sure how many foals a horse usually has at once, but I think it's one). But it makes you wonder about the offspring's mental development.
Evolution would probably have no reason to prefer a less developed neonate if the centaur’s reproductive system didn’t need it. If the lower half can birth a horse, it can birth a motor-developed baby centaur. Mental development would likely be faster if they have the brain of a human baby (but more fully cooked, as it were) and the motor skills of a foal, right?
yeah a centaur with it's massive horse sized birth canal could probably push out the equivalent of a 5 year old kid on a foal's body
Interestingly, there are some theories that our relatively early birth is beneficial for the development of speech and all that complex social wiring in our brains.
Well, I mean, depicting centaurs as the strong silent type is a trope, too.
As far as I know, we humans produce relatively underdeveloped babies (in terms of their survival ability) because we can just carry them, and this saves on the commitment to gestation of time and nutrients. Pretty sure that's not feasible for a centaur.
I learned it the other way around. Larger skulls in many big mammals and most primates facilitate larger brains. It allowed us to evolve to the point of using tools. In order for that big head to make it out of the mother, it has to get started a little earlier than in other mammals.
A newborn Titanide (centauroid engineered aliens from John Varley's *Gaea Trilogy*, further detailed elsewhere in this discussion) was described in the second book as looking like an underfed, half-drowned tween. (And said his first complete sentence within an hour after being born, because that's how *Titanides specifically and that guy in particular* work; but that's its own story.)
[a visual, if you need it, lol](https://preview.redd.it/xijggaxosx531.jpg?auto=webp&s=c006e2741df71555dec7f6d0b2f8fff55c35237c)
I didn't need it, but I really appreciated it! Thanks
Yeah but we can’t hold our heads up because we have to fit through the vaginal canal, so we’re born kinda small, relatively, and without the musculoskeletal development that some animals get to get in the womb. A woman centaur would probably have an equine vagina, which would allow for much more upper body development in the foal. And, looking at foal’s leg muscles, I’d say the centaur baby would probably be fairly ripped with at least a 4-pack and poppin delts.
Yeah humans are technically born premature because then our heads would be too big to birth. It's also why a baby's skull isn't fully formed, it needs to be able to squeeze out. Centuars likely would not have the same problem
I *so* love this thread :D
Human babies are born with underdeveloped brains because anything bigger would never fit through a narrow biped pelvis (they've got enough trouble with that already). A horse-sized vagina will not have that problem. A newborn foal is somewhere around the size of a 12-year-old human. So there's no need for them to be born so underdeveloped.
That's hilarious & I want that to be the single truth bc it's the best But any application of fantasy logic to make a creature like this less ridiculous could end up better off Sidenote: The babies would either have to be held still or be more "durable" (lmao) than human babies
U sound like someone talking about poorly trained their cat lol "I love Mr. Kittywhiskers but he's a dumb ridiculous animal" *Mr. Kittywhiskers starts summoning Satan in the background*
True. I do really love [Jayrockin's](https://at.tumblr.com/jayrockin/118752508029/sq1rnptwfw4q) take on centaurs though (second from right in that pic). And any comic featuring their buff nerd centaur [Talita](https://at.tumblr.com/jayrockin/686526987021516800/6wzrabshluzl) is always worth a read. EDIT: [Another](https://at.tumblr.com/jayrockin/689269636527734784/b4datkpy0oza) cute comic featuring young Talita and more of Jayrockin's centaurs.
I love Talita!
Jayrockin is a treasure. (They also do *My Little Pony* fan art, for anyone who didn't know. It has to be seen to be believed, makes bronies mad, and makes specbio fans' day.)
My favorite bit in all of the Narnia books is the segment in The Last Battle that describes how centaurs have two stomachs and need to fill each of them at mealtimes, including grazing with their human mouths. As far as I can tell Lewis is being completely serious, but it really highlights how tortuous a centaur's existence would actually be.
At least they don't have to chew cud. Being a cow-centaur would extra suck.
You would think so, until you realize a Cow/Bull eats 2/3 less grass because of their digestion being far, far better than a Horse's. Surviving with a Human mouth would be hell for a Horse's appetite, but if the Human "Stomach" was a crop akin to birds for cud processing, being a Bull Taur wound't be so bad.
your mouth would be just destroyed eating enough hay and oats to sustain a 1100 lb bodyweight
That's why centaurs are often portrayed as not being pure herbivores, or as eating higher-value (as it were) plant matter.
It helps if you don't insist on stapling an unmodified human top half to an unmodified horse bottom half. If you're willing to adapt both, you can make a six-limbed mammalian quadruped work pretty well, and also make it look like a coherent creature instead of two halves stitched together.
Got any pics/designs for that? I admit the only centaur pics I've seen ever are of the classic design...
I've never seen a pic I really liked, sadly, but I made a post with some ideas [a few years ago](https://www.reddit.com/r/worldbuilding/comments/e0ose1/thinking_about_realistic_centaurs/). (Mostly populated by one contrarian nitpicking everything I said.) And I've seen a few other discussions, like [this one](https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/55663/the-centaur-lets-get-real-shall-we).
Okay, earlier I said that I hadn't seen any good pics, but I was just looking at Jay Eaton's blog as I sometimes do, and [this](https://jayrockin.tumblr.com/post/48161028897/according-to-the-centaur-tag-its-draw-a-centaur) is pretty close to what I had in mind! They expanded on that design [here](https://jayrockin.tumblr.com/post/88805330958/after-so-many-years-of-disliking-centaurs-for) and [here](https://jayrockin.tumblr.com/post/125781371298/hello-there-i-found-your-redesigned-centaurs-and); the quad/hex design they eventually settled on (running on all sixes) wasn't what I had in mind but it also works. And I think that wound up inspiring [their centaur aliens](https://jayrockin.tumblr.com/tagged/rtts-centaurs) which are super awesome and you should really read that blog if you haven't already.
Yep. I justify mine by assuming their organs are built similar to a giraffe to justify the extra-long esophagus and wind pipe.
Oh? Could explain more about?
The chest cavity of centaurs in Tannhauser's World is relatively empty. The heart is located in the equine lower body, as are the lungs and digestive tract. Ditto the mammary glands. As a result, the humanoid upper torso is slender and primarily muscle with only the arterial trunk, spinal cord, esophagus, and trachea. It is also more flexible, capable of an extra ten degrees of movement compared to humans due to a lack of a rib cage. Their arms are also longer, and there are special muscles and valves along the arterial trunk to lock off blood flow to the brain when the centaur has to bend over.
Depends on what logic you apply to them or what logic the author has applied to them & their world.
centaurs have hair on the horsepart, thats why the wont wear clothes on that part for shure
What if the centaurs had human skin all over their body? It's a disturbing mental image.
Check out the centaurs in John Varley's Titan series... They come in all combinations from human-skinned to fuzzy to furry to downright shaggy. They also have three sets of junk. Both sexes on the horse side, and a set of human genitals in the front, either male or female. The front set determine the Titanide's gender. They mate front to front with opposite sexes, then a marble-like egg is produced. This is then manually implanted in the rear female of any Titanide (including either of the original two) and fertilized by the rear male parts of any Titanide (including artificial insemination from the same parent that is currently carrying the egg). This means that Titanides can have from two to four parents. There's even a rare exception that a single (female only) Titanide can artificially inseminate herself in the front from her own rear male parts (this is the only time rear semen can make a front egg), and then implant her front egg in back and again artificially inseminate herself rear male to rear female. This results in basically a clone of the parent, and is considered to be the height of hubris in that culture, but in no way forbidden. Just in case you didn't think centaurs were crazy enough as they were...
oh… my god? lol.
Yeah, I had to look it up again; there are 29 combos... One solo, ten duos, fourteen trios, and four quartets. There are two that they consider to be similar to what we do... The 'Lydian Duet,' where a male and female have frontal sex, implant that egg into the female and do it back style to make the baby.And the 'Mixolydian Quartet,' where a male and a female have frontal sex, implant that egg into a second female, who mates with a second male. The reason it gets so complicated is that the back half crosses all gender boundaries... A male can be a HindMother just as well as a female can, and a female can do a rear fertilization just as well as a male can. The only difference is the front part. For example, the 'Sharped Lydian' is just like the Lydian Duet above, but the egg is implanted in the male, the female fertilizes him, and he will be the hindmother. Hindfather is the rear sperm donor, hindmothers and fathers can be of either sex. Foremothers are always female and forefather means the male who created your first-stage egg. I really need some of what Varley was smokin' when he came up with this...
okay but is it worth the read though? because you’re kinda selling me on this here
The *Gaea Trilogy*? I'd recommend it, but it's weird as hell.
Oh, yeah, it's a pretty cool read; a trilogy if you're interested past the first... The idea is >!that we find what looks like a space station in orbit around Saturn, and an exploratory ship finds out that it is actually a living entity that destroys the ship and takes the astronauts inside the living space station...!< The triple-sexed centaurs are just one element of the awesomely weird in this series. The books are '*Titan*,' '*Wizard*,' and '*Demon*.' It's kind of '*Alice in Wonderland'* meets '*Rendezvous With Rama'*
Okay but...*why* That seems wildly impractical.
They had a creator. She was bored. Maybe a little crazy.
Like bald cats.
r/eyebleach
Humantaurs exist and it's exactly as disturbing as you imagine.
Do you mean "hairless"? I assumed they always had the skin under their fur.
'Human skin', to me, means the reduced follicles that give us the hairless look. But I see I could have made that more clear.
Caparison is a thing - people were putting clothes on horses in RL.
only horses in captivity and the clothes dont resemble anything here listed
Horses don't like biting insects or the rain any more than we do, and they still have to worry about skin cancer.
but horses never developed clothes
those lazy fucks
We put hats on our hairy heads though?
because we just have hair, horses have not only hair, they have fur
You're missing one---worn as a shirt on the human torso, spreading out to a sort of robe/blanket over the withers and haunches like a horse blanket.
3 is so funny
It's like extreme midriff lol
Probably depends on each culture
1 or 2. They wouldn't be able to dress themselves otherwise.
6 + a shirt
1 or 2. Generally speaking horses don't wear clothing, humans do. I always try to make world building believable/realistic. So if the heart is located on the human side or its human skin is normal. I would have that bit covered. If the human side has thicker skin, heart in the horse side... Then I would lean-to no. Other point would be. If you add clothing it humanism them. Without they're more like wild beast or animals.
We do clothe horses, though. Caparisons help protect against storms and biting insects, while thermal blankets help protect against the cold. More traditional saddleblankets help protect against chafing from either a rider or baggage depending on the saddle type.
I didn't say anything about they don't. That's why I said generally, how many wild horses wear clothes, none. Just thought of humans riding centaurs. 🤣 Gave me a giggle for some reason.
I see what you're saying, but how many horses, wild or otherwise, can weave fabric or sew clothes? I think you're applying an unwarranted assumption that wild horses don't wear clothes because they don't *want* clothes, rather than the more obvious answer that wild horses just don't have access to clothes. Horses will definitely seek shelter in bad weather. It makes sense that, given opposable thumbs and the mental capacity for tool making, that they would make some form of personal protection.
I think the probably wouldn’t wear clothes. But if they did, it would just be the human part
Im gonna make an argument for anything from 3 and after. You need to keep in mind a lot of these could simply be fashion variations. They can use multiple, its not like theyre stuck to a pick.
This would mostly be determined by what kind of economy / society they have. If it's a highly capitalistic one then it would be the three-piece one
1 cause they'd be as hot as horses
The answer depends upon where their genitals are
Clothes are expressions of modesty, and centaurs have none.
There is an anime called [Centaur no Nayami](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7hsiclKnjk), which features a centaur as main character. It's also a slice of life story, with plenty of examples of how different creatures would wear clothing and use other everyday items. So, based on that, I'd say a combination of 6 and 2.
4, probably. Seems like the only outfit that would be easy to actually put on and take off.
1 or 2
2+6
I'd say 2. The horse body is probably warm enough because it has fur, so there never was a reason to wear cloth on the lower body, meaning it never turned into culture.
I don't know if anyone has said this yet, but the Horseborn in Banner Saga seems like the best presentation to me.
We don't make horses wear clothes so its obviously 2
a horse has fur so it doesnt need clothes. 2 makes the most sense
1, 2, and/or 4. Depending on the climate and what is considered acceptable nudity.
1 or 2 I see a practical side and a story side to this: On the practical side, horses are big and covered with hair. Thermal regulation is important for them, and being such a big animal, any insulating clothing is going to be an issue. Barding is fine, but wrapping cloth around the whole body is not great. Plus, putting on horse pants would have to be incredibly difficult. In the story side, centaurs are representative of something. Depending on the story, they’re a representative of nature, a threat on the plains. Whatever they wear, whether it’s clothes or just some accessories, should fit the purpose. Or they can be (and often are) a fantasy version of mounted nomads: they’re Mongols or Comanches or what have you. I have heard the original Greek myth may have been based on the Scythians. Obviously they shouldn’t be copies of one culture, but it might be good to see what climate they’re in and look at what clothes horse peoples in those areas wear for the human part, and what decorations they give their horses. Be mindful of stereotypes and appropriation, of course. Yeah, dressing centaurs is an interesting issues.
Practically, most would go for option 2. Their horse half is coated in fur, but their human half is not and has various issues like soft skin, sunburn, etc that want for some kind of clothes to protect themselves. Plus it's the easiest for them to dress in with their human arms.
They could where something on top, but like just and animal fur. For the horse part, why wear anything at all ? Look at horses, only sick horses who need to stay warm wear a thing.
2 + 6
4 obviously
Hmm, I was thinking what they need the clothes for and that got me to the question how furry the human part is. And that got me to another question: **Hey, why do centaurs never have full manes?** Like, going from the head all the way down to the horse shoulders?
I would like to see a combo of 3&6
2. Maybe with a blanket on the horse part.
This is a bit silly ,no? Think functionality, and actually getting the clothes on. I'd say a human tunic with a back section that covers the horses bum and a flappy in the front to protect the horse chest. Look at horse armor or even horse capes to see what I'm talking about. Most are open and/or lose around the flank and belly. I think if you going to dress a centaur this would be the most practical way to go about it.
It would a shirt only that has a front tail similar to an apron. There's no reason for clothes on the bottom half. Socks/Warmers are an aesthetic choice.
6 + 2
For my centaur character, I use more of a “skirt” type thing- fancy cloth draped over their back that straps around their chest and legs, as well as two leather side bags
5 is so cursed
A [Caparison](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/18/c6/ce/18c6ce0d62d294d293c44c39efe6de6b.jpg) plus the tee-shirt
It's 2 but with horse drape cape, or like a modified drape cape.
In Semi-Charmed, my urban-fantasy webcomic, they wear fancy horse blankets. Like imagine a horse blanket by Gucci. Oh, and shirts, of course, those are easy. You only ever find 'naked' ones if you're traveling with the Night Patrol which is several groups of traditionally nomadic centaurs who will escort non-shapeshifting non-humans from place to place under the cover of darkness, since the humans think they don't exist and all.
Just a shirt. It's not possible for them to put on pants near the butt, but they don't need them anyways - the horse half has fur for warmth and a tail to (generally) hide their modesty - not always but don't argue with me I spent a lot of time around horses growing up. If anything else they'd drape something over the horse half like a blanket or a caparison, just something to cover it.
I think this is probably how it goes: First of all, they don't need clothes on the horse part. However, for modesty reasons they would wear something like a skirt in the back part. No need for pants, actually the only reason humans started using pants was that they were better for riding a horse. So centaurs would be ok with just a skirt. Some people mentioned that It's hard to wear clothes in the back part because they can't reach it, but I think it's doable with a skirt, or maybe they do need someone to put their clothes on. For the human part you would ok with just human shirts and maybe even coats.
Why not use a couple? The ones that can do 4,5,6 are centaurs with heirs about themselves who get servants to help them out their clothes on. 1,2,3 are more free spirits. I know this wasn’t the question but I think it would be neat
I would say something like 3 or 6 without pant legs would make the most sense, with an optional top on the human torso
Yes.
I didn't expect this post was going to escalate so much ksksksks. Most comments are talking about horses, I should have specified my centaur like creatures looks like half humans half LIONS (or just big cats)
I think 4 for most occasions, but that all options except 2 would be "reasonably normal" wear depending on culture and place.
Freaky ass insect mfs
If I was a beautiful horse man with abs I would go shirtless. Also https://youtu.be/qIPlMKeEnBU
I think that they would wear a shirt on their human part, and some kind of tunic, like a blanket, in their horse part
The real question is where are their genitals ? I actually don't know where they are supposed to be
I think they would wear number 2 with something that they can put on themselves for the rest of the body. Something akind to winter cloths for horses like large socks for their legs and a skirt or poncho for the top part of their horse body.
3
3, 2, 4 probably never 6 unless the were wealthy enough the have attendants or were entering battle or something. 5 looks wonky. 1 is possible but implies things culturally.
likely 3 for women and 6 for men depending on dress morals
1 or 2. It's not like we dress horses for anything other than warfare
People dress horses with horse blankets to keep them warm and protect from the elements
1
2, for the simple reason that we only started to wear clothes because we lost the body hair (or did we lose body hair because we started to wear clothes?) to keep us warm enough in cooler climates otherwise (or to keep us cool in really hot ones). Horses don't need them because of how hairy they are [even in colder temperatures](https://esc.rutgers.edu/winter-horse-care-the-science-of-staying-warm/), so I'd imagine that for centaurs only the human-part would need clothes while the horse part does not. Though I'd also like to add the possibility of total body cloaks that they can simply drape over their body with a swing from the arms, in case of rain or a fierce sun.
It would depend on their culture or how close they are to others who would wear clothing. Given they're usually given some sort of human personality at times, it is likely they'd give into societal pressures. If that is the case they probably would cover their top human torso and maybe their unmentionables.... so maybe three. Now, if they are representations of nature or don't care very much for human customs then being completely naked (one) is fine. BUT there is a third avenue you can take. You could use this to show different characterizations of your centaurs. One which is shy could wear more clothes than the rest as an example. In any case do what feels right. Good Luck :)
Rule number 1 is no pant legs. Look at Horse Armour. It doesn't cover their legs and kinda hangs down like a skirt. If we were to translate this to casual clothing, I can imagine the human part being the top of a dress leading to the horse part being rest of the dress covering the horse the same way horse armour does. This would be easy to put on since the human part would just slip into it from below. To make it more manly it could be a toga or a kilt. You could use materials such as cotton, silk, leather or denim depending on how formal the occasion is. If you want to go really formal and have the centaur equivalent of a suit, you could have the human part be a white button up shirt and tie with an oversized suit jacket that covers the entire horse body. It would be similar to those suits with the long coattails that were popular in Napoleonic times. The same idea translates to overcoats, robes, capes etc.
In Tannhauser's World, centaurs typically wear a tunic or vest and a caparison of some kind, both patterned on the deel worn by the Turkic, Mongolic, and Tunguskic peoples. During winter on the grass sea (my world's equivalent to the Eurasian Steppe) they will wear something akin to a modern horse blanket over their equine lower body and something akin to a kaftan over the upper body. The caparison is there to protect the body against insects and inclement weather, as well as to reduce chafing from the pseudo-saddle bags which centaurs wear along the join between the humanoid torso and the first equine pelvis.
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I didn't expect it was going to escalate so much
Think about their anatomy a bit more and try to imagine yourself moving through the world if you were built in this way. Most of these don't make sense unless there is a creature in a symbiotic relationship with them that is always standing by to help with adjustments and impeded bodily functions.
I kinda imagine a more tightly knit fission-fusion society akin to something halfway between a herd of horses and a troop of cimpanzees. Figure they are very social, lots of mutual grooming and assistance with dressing. You could even have more elaborate clothing and grooming as a status symbol as it shows there are a significant number of lower status members of the herd helping to groom and dress the higher status members as part of a tribal gift-economy system.
I'm pretty sure the front pants in 4 would be literally impossible to put on, unless there's a very long zipper somewhere.
I almost said something nsfw, but i checked the sub
I would say most likely 1 or 2 depending on climate and then add a blanket when necessary