Are ponies horns solid?

[Horsing Around 28]

In Ponyville Confidential, when Rarity is trying to hide the saddlebag, Sweetie Belle hits Rarity's horn and it wobbles.

[GenderIsAnIllusion 2,177]

If you look at horns from our universe, such as Deer Horns, you see that they aren't exactly solid.... Like any other bone, a horn has a hollow spot in the middle to accommodate bone marrow.

[Dulset Tarn 441]

In Ponyville Confidential, when Rarity is trying to hide the saddlebag, Sweetie Belle hits Rarity's horn and it wobbles.

But it doesn't "wobble" like something soft, it jiggles like something hard and stiff.

[NavelColt 22,880]

* Twilight's horn got 'floppy' when she was under the influence of poison joke

* Celestia clashed horns with Chrysalis, sounded and looked fairly solid

 

I believe they're solid, yeah. Like others have said, they're usually a part of their bone structure.

[VitalSpark 1,830]

They're not solid. They're hollow. Ponies use them to keep candy in.

 

I assume they would be made of keratin, as real-life animal's horns are.

Actually true horns have a bone core and a keratin outer covering. Rhinoceros "horns" are made of pure keratin, but are not considered to be true horns by zoologists. Deer antlers are the opposite — bone with no keratin.

 

The narwhal was the only animal I could think of with a horn.

There's another good reason to consider narwhal "horns" when talking about unicorn horns.

 

In the middle ages there was a trade in unicorn horns. They were given occasionally as royal gifts, put on display at exhibitions, and used by the rich for their supposed magical healing properties. They were worth ten times their weight in gold. (And some of these horns were pretty heavy.)

 

So if unicorns don't exist, where did these horns come from? The narwhal, usually.

Edited February 18, 2015 by VitalTwilightSparkle

[The Peculiar Derp 193]

 Actually true horns have a bone core and a keratin outer covering. Rhinoceros "horns" are made of pure keratin, but are not considered to be true horns by zoologists. Deer antlers are the opposite — bone with no keratin.

Wow, I guess I learned something out of this as well!