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The skeleton of the horse consists of a framework of bones combining to form a rigid support for the body mass and there movement, in response to the contraction of muscles and the consequent activation of joints provides locomotion. The skeleton of the horse consists of skull bones, vertebrae, which form the spinal column, ribs a chest bone - 'sternum' - which is attached to the 8 “true“ pairs of ribs, and bones in front and hind legs. The spinal column can bend to the left and to the right, but is not flexible throughout the length of the spine because of the vertebrae: Part 1: 7 neck vertebrae (the first one is the atlas): most flexible part of the spine Part 2: 18 chest vertebrae: relatively stiff area because of connection with the ribs Part 3: 6 lumbar vertebrae: more flexible because there is no connection to the ribs, and because of the flexibility of the lumbar vertebrae, the horse is able to produce the haunches-in. Part 4: 5 connected croup vertebrae, this area is not flexible. Part 5: 15-20 tail vertebrae. So the flexibility of the spine differs by area: The neck is the most flexible part (1), followed by the lumbar region (3). Bending in the ribs (2) is hardly possible and the croup vertebrae (4) are connected and cannot bend at all. The hind leg contains seven joints: 1. the sacro iliac or lumbo-sacral-joint, which connects the spine with the hind legs 2. the hip joint 3. the stifle joint (pronounced st-eye-full joint) 4. the hock joint 5. the fetlock joint 6. the pastern join 7. the coffin joint So the hind leg has many joints, which make it resemble a “accordion” or a ’’spring’’. This gives a good bending and carrying potential to the hind leg.
