Welcome back. Now that we've discussed the characteristics of the normal horse, let's take a moment to learn about the familiar parts of the horse's anatomy. It's important when we're working with horses that we develop a common terminology that we can use together and with our veterinarian to identify areas of concern. By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to identify the greater parts of pertinent anatomy on the horse. It's important to know the horse's anatomy so that we can understand how their body moves and functions. And once we've made that understanding, then it's easier for us to identify if there's a problem. And it helps us keep our horses in optimal shape. It's important for us to understand the different parts of the horse's body and anatomy, and have a common terminology, so that we can better understand how the horse's body functions. And recognize what is normal and abnormal, and communicate that. So let's start now, with a review of the anatomy of the face. Tarnisha, here, is going to help us today, to demonstrate the different parts of the horse's face. When you're looking at a horse's face from the front, you want to look at their nostrils, which are here. The muzzle, which is the soft part over the top lip. We're also looking at the general face, we call this the same as we do in a human. We're looking at their eyes, their forehead, their ears and their pole. When you look at a horses head from the side, you can see a good profile of their mouth, again the nostrils. You have their cheek, their jaw apparatus here and then you have their throat latch. The neck on the horse is the long structure that connects the head with the shoulder. The top of the neck is called the crest and this is the area that hair or the mane grows out of. The horses' bones within their neck, their vertebrae, are actually in a different location than most people suspect. The vertebrae start just behind the pole, and they course down and they follow the lower part of the neck here, until they reach what's called the thoracic spine. This area here, is composed primarily of muscle. At the base of the neck, we have the withers. And the withers is a tall, prominent area that is made up from the processes that come up from the vertebrae. Remember, our spine is still pretty low here, several inches below the top of the withers. Below the withers we have the large scapula, or shoulder blade, and that is followed by the point of the shoulder, which exists down in the front of the horse here. The space that exists between the point of the shoulders is called the breast or chest. Some people call it the pectoral area. Below the shoulder, we have the elbow on the horse, which is similar to our elbow in anatomy. We have their forearm and then we have their knee. But remember, this is not a true knee. It's similar to our wrist or carpis. Below the knee, we have the cannon bone. The fetlock joint, the pastern joint, the coronary band and the hoof. Behind the front leg we move into the horse's torso, also known as their barrel. And the barrel of the horse is put together by their ribs, which come down from the spine. The top line of the horse, or the back, is where we put our saddle when we ride them. And, again, remember their top line sits well above their spine. As we approach the back of the horse, we get into the lumbar area. And when we're looking at the bottom of the horse's torso, we call this the belly. And the belly slopes up into the flank of the horse, here. If you have a mare, you'll see their udder, or mammary gland, just in front of the hind legs. In a gelding or stallion, you will have a sheath in penis in this site. The distance that travels all the way around the barrel just behind the withers is called the girth of the horse. And this is a girth distance or circumference that we will take sometimes to estimate their body weight. The back area here, courses up into the loin, and the loin then extends to the croup of the horse, followed by the tale. When we come to the high end of the horse, we have their pelvis and the horse's pelvis sits in a horizontal plane, unlike ours, which is in a vertical plane. Here, we have a structure that is called the point of the hip. This is part of the pelvis, but it's not truly the hip. The hip of the horse is actually located farther back in this position, and is buried under deep musculature, which makes it difficult to palpate. Below the horse's hip, we have their stifle joint. And the stifle joint is similar to our knee. It has a true kneecap. Below the stifle we have the gaskin area, here. And this courses down into the horse's hock. And the horse's hock is similar to our ankle. Below the hock, we have the cannon bone, the fetlock joint, the pastern joint. The coronary band, which is the junction between the haired and hoof area, and then the hoof itself. The tail of the horse is a structure that contains bones in the proximal or upper third. And then the rest of the tail is composed of hair. On the inside of all four limbs, we have a structure that is corny in appearance. It sheds and it grows and it is called the chestnut. The chestnut is actually of a strigil digit, where a digit once existed. Congratulations, you just learned the important anatomical terms that we will use throughout the rest of this course to describe the parts of the horse's body. You can download a list of these anatomical terms from our resource section. And we look forward to seeing you in our next lesson.
