1. Bone: Skeletal anatomy Flashcards
What is the functions of bone?
- Gives support and rigidity
- Act as levers for the muscles, providing locomotion & movement
- Protects internal organs
- Stores Ca, P & Mg
What are the 4 shapes of Bones?
- Flat bones
- Short or cuboidal bones
- Irregular bones
- Long bones
What is the purpose of the flat bones? What is an example?
- Acts as protection
- Skull
What do short or cuboidal bones do? What are some examples?
- Acts as shock absorbers
- Carpal bones, tarsal bones, phalanges
What are the purpose of irregular bones? What are some examples?
- Perform specialized functions (protect spinal cord, control tension of a tendon like a pulley)
- Vertebrae, sesamoids, patella
What do Long Bones do? What are some examples?
- Act as supporting columns and levers
- femur, humerus, radius, tibia, metacarpal
When it comes to the axial skeleton what is contained in the skull?
34 of the 206 bones in the horse’s body are in the skull
What is the function of the Vertebral column (spine)?
- Provides support to suspend the enormous weight of the gut
- Houses and protects the spinal cord
- Provides rigidity that enables transfer of movement from rear to front
What are the 5 regions of the spine?
- Cervical
- Thoracic
- Lumbar
- Sacrum
- Caudal (coccygeal)
What is contained in the cervical region of the spine?
- 7 Vertebrae
- Atlas (1st)- nodding of the head
- Axis (2nd)- Twisting movement of the head
- Arranged in an “s” does not follow the crest of the neck
What is contained in the Thoracic region of the spine?
- Most horses have 18 vertebrae
- Large dorasl spinous process
- The horse’s withers = T3-T10
- Each thoracic vertebrae attaches to a pair of ribs
What is in the Lumbar region of the spine?
- 6 vertebrae ( having 5 makes it shorter, stronger lion/coupling)
- Large transverse processes
- Lumbosacral joint = where lumbar join the sacrum ( portion of spine capable of flexion)
4.
What is in the Sacrum region of the spine?
- 5 vertebrae
- Fused together
- Attached to pelvis; forms the sacroiliac joint
What is in the Caudal (coccygeal) region of the spine?
15-20 vertebrae forming the tail
How is the range of motion in the spine work?
- The horse’s back is relatively inflexible from the withers to the tail
- Neck,tail, and lumbosacral joints are the most flexible regions of the horse’s spine.