The horses are hoofed mammals of the order Perissodactyla, characterized by having unpaired toes on their legs. Specifically, horses (Equus ferus caballus) only stand on one finger.
Horses, due to their domestication and the use that human beings give them, have a tendency to suffer damage at the muscular or bone level. In fact, there are parts of your body that can suffer injuries that are easily preventable, you just need to know their anatomy and physiology.
Therefore, in this article on our site, we will talk about the anatomy of the horse, seeing its external morphology, knowing the parts of the horse, its bone and muscular structure.
Equine anatomy
The horse's anatomy or external morphology is divided into head, neck, trunk and limbs.
Anatomy of the horse's head
The horse's head is the most expressive part of this animal. It has square pyramid shape, with a base at the nape of the neck. The position of the head with respect to the neck should be about 90º.
In racehorses the head tends to be more horizontal, which makes it easier for the animal to take large breaths of air through the nostrils. Rejoneo or draft horses usually have their heads in a more vertical position, which makes it difficult to see. Due to the position of their eyes, they also have two blind spots, one just behind and one just in front.
The horse's head is divided into several regions:
- Forehead or forehead: At the top of the head, the forehead borders the nape, the ears, the calf, and the eyes.
- Ternilla: is the elongated and rigid area between the eyes, under the forehead and next to the chamfers.
- Chamfer: Longitudinally next to the ternilla, limits with the eye and with the nostrils.
- Temporal basins or pits: there are two depressions on each side of the eyebrow.
- Temples: region between the eyes and ears.
- Eyes: separated from each other, surrounded by the temple, the forehead, the chamfer, the calf and the cheeks.
- Carrillo: lateral part of the head.
- Beard: corners of the lips.
- Belfos: lower lip, thickened and very sensitive.
- Jaw: rear lateral part of the horse's jaw.
Anatomy of the horse's neck
The horse's neck is trapezoid-shaped, with a thinner base where it joins the head and wider at the trunk, although there may be variations according to race. The same thing happens with the upper region of the neck, where the manes are inserted, it can be straight, concave or convex depending on the breed. Males tend to have thicker manes than females.
Sometimes the neck can show a very pronounced convexity near the head, called a "swan neck". The neck plays a very important role in the balance and activity of the horse, depending on its position with respect to the head.
Anatomy of the horse's trunk
The horse's trunk is the largest region of its body. Depending on its genetics and breed, the shape and corpulence of the trunk will vary, endowing the horse with some qualities or others.
The trunk is divided into:
- Cruz: it is a tall and muscular region, just at the end of the neck and the insertion of the mane. The height of a horse is measured from this point to the ground.
- Back: is the region bordering the withers in front, the flanks on both sides and the spine in back.
- Lomo: it is the region of the kidneys, it limits with the back and the rump.
- Grupa: is the most posterior part of the back. It limits with the tail, the back and, laterally, with the haunches.
- Cola: is an appendicular region, covered with mane. It helps them to communicate and drive away annoying insects.
- Haunch: Along the sides of the rump, on the thighs.
- Chest: under the neck. It has a vertical medial line that separates two large muscles.
- Armpits: area under the front legs.
- Cinchera: it is where the girth is placed, it limits in front with the armpits, behind with the belly and, laterally, with sides.
- Belly: it should be slightly voluminous, not hanging. The belly varies according to sex, age, physical exercise, etc.
- Sides: is the area of the ribs.
- Flanks or flanks: is the area behind the sides, on the belly and before the haunches.
Anatomy of horse limbs
The anatomy of the horse's limbs is designed to support the weight of the animal, especially the front legs. These are the ones that support most of the body weight.
The main regions of these extremities are:
- Back: borders the neck, the side and the withers. It is a muscular region.
- Shoulder: is the area where the scapula meets the humerus.
- Arm: borders the back and the forearm. It is the first region of the limb.
- Elbow: is the humerus-radius-ulnar joint.
- Forearm: It is bounded above by the arm and elbow, and below by the "knee".
- Knee: It is one of the most important areas of the horse, it can suffer many injuries. Despite being called the knee, it is actually the region of the wrist.
- Caña: area between the "knee" and the horse's fetlock. This region grows until the horse is two years old. It is bounded below by the tendon.
- Tendon: This is where the main tendons and ligaments of the leg pass. It is bordered below by the horse's fetlock.
- Menudillo: it is located between the cane and pastern. In the posterior area is the horny appendix, vestige of primitive fingers.
- Pastern: is the area of skin before the hoof. It has an angle of 45º with respect to the ground.
The hindlimbs or hindlegs of the horse have regions other than the forelegs from the cane upwards, after the cane, the zones are the same.
The different regions are:
- Thigh: muscular area bordering the flank, stifle and haunch.
- Babilla: here we find the real knee. Where the femur meets the tibia, through the patella.
- Leg: Between the stifle and the hock.
- Hock: is the region between the leg and the cane. It is an important area because it supports the effort of traction or the impulse during the jog.
Horse muscles
Continuing with the anatomy of the horse we will talk about the musculature of the horse. As in other animals, it is, together with the bones, ligaments and tendons, what allows the animal to move. The muscles are made up of smooth muscle, which is the one that lines the digestive tract or viscera, striated muscle, which are the motor muscles that can move voluntarily and the cardiac muscle , from which the heart is formed.
The horse has about 500 muscles in its body. Only in the ears they have 16 muscles. The region of the head is very important, since it is the area through which the horse receives most of the information from its environment, in addition to transmitting it. It is part of the language of horses. All the muscles that a horse has in its head are used to gesture, move its eyes, chew, grab objects or food with its lips, etc.
On the other hand, the cane region hardly has any muscles, instead they have eight tendons and one ligament. Injuries in this region can cause lameness that will require months of rehabilitation.
Horse skeleton
Horses have approximately 205 bones Of all of them, 46 of these bones correspond to the vertebrae, 7 cervical (neck), 18 thoracic (thorax), 6 lumbar and 15 caudal. The first cervical vertebra is known as atlasThis vertebra joins the skull and corresponds to the nape of the horse. The second vertebra is called axis, it is articulated with the first vertebra and allows the horse to move its head laterally.
The thoracic vertebrae are very superficial and, being where the mount is placed, it has a tendency to suffer certain pathologies, as well as the lumbar vertebrae, where the horse's rump is. The caudal vertebrae correspond to the tail.
Horses have 36 ribs, 18 on each side. The sternum is made up of one bone and the skull is made up of 34, including the ossicles of the ear medium.
The thoracic and pelvic limbs are made up of approximately 40 bones each set. Unlike other animal species, horses do not have clavicles, so the foreleg is directly attached to the scapulae (back bones) through muscles, tendons and ligaments.
A thoracic limb is formed by the following bones: scapula, humerus, ulna and radius, carpus (corresponding to the "front knee "of the horse, which is actually the wrist bone), pastern, first phalanx, second phalanx, and tejuelo (inside of the hoof). Horses, as perissodactyl hoofed animals, rest on a single toe.
Each pelvic limb is made up of the bones of the pelvis and limb. The pelvic bones are ischium and ileum The hind leg bones are femur, patella, tibia, tarsal bones (ankle), metatarsal, sesamoid, first phalanx, second phalanx, navicular bone and third phalanx.
