Chapter 7: Anatomy Introduction

Question 1

Limb

Answer 1

Appendage from the trunk of the horse that includes the leg

Question 2

Leg

Answer 2

Portion of the limb from the knee or hock down

Question 3

Digit

Answer 3

Portion of the leg from the fetlock down

Question 4

Dorsal

Answer 4

The front aspect of the legs

Question 5

Palmar

Answer 5

The back surface of the front legs

Question 6

Plantar

Answer 6

The back surface of the hind legs

Question 7

Solar

Answer 7

Referring to the palmar and plantar aspect of the coffin bone, as well as the ground surface of the foot

Question 8

Cranial

Answer 8

The front surface of the upper limbs

Question 9

Caudal

Answer 9

The back surface of the upper limbs

Question 10

Proximal

Answer 10

Closest to the center of mass

Question 11

Distal

Answer 11

Furthest from the center of mass

Question 12

Medial

Answer 12

To the inside of the limb

Question 13

Lateral

Answer 13

To the outside of the limb

Question 14

Hoof

Answer 14

Horny covering on the outside of the bottom of the leg. Made of six regions

Question 15

Corium

Answer 15

Sensitive structure that creates and nourishes a horny structure

Question 16

Flex

Answer 16

Decrease the degree of, or angle of, a joint

Question 17

Extend

Answer 17

Increase the degree or angle of a joint

Question 18

Near

Answer 18

Always the left side of the horse, regardless of where you are standing in relation to the horse. Compare to port of a ship; like port, the word “near” has four letters, as does the word “left”

Question 19

Off

Answer 19

Always the right side of the horse, regardless of your position. Opposite of near.

Question 20

Bones (PUT IN ANSWER)

Answer 20

ANSWER HERE

Question 21

Joints (PUT IN ANSWER)

Answer 21

ANSWER HERE

Question 22

Tendons

Answer 22

Tissue that attaches the muscles to the bones. Tendons are highly inelastic, and they glide in lubricated sheaths that are called synovial sheaths. Tendons are tough, fibrous, and are used for movement.

Question 23

Muscles

Answer 23

Fibrous tissue that has the ability to contract. Attached to bones via tendons, muscles pull, not push, so one group of muscles on one side of a bony system will contract to pull on that system, and then relax as the opposing muscles on the other side contract to pull the system in the opposite direction.

Question 24

Ligaments

Answer 24

Strong connective tissue that binds bones together. Most ligaments connect bone to bone, but there are some notable exceptions. Most ligament tissue is also elastic, but again, there are exceptions to that rule as well. The primary function of ligaments is to support the skeleton.

Question 25

Fascia

Answer 25

Layers of fibrous tissue found throughout the body. Fascia surrounds muscles, nerves, bones, organs, and blood vessels and interpenetrates most of the horse’s body.

Question 26

Arteries

Answer 26

Thick-walled, muscular vessels that resemble small hoses. Arteries transport bright red, oxygenated blood from the heart to the rest of the body.

Question 27

Veins

Answer 27

Veins are collapsible, thin-walled vessels that return the blood from the extremities to the heart. Veins run next to arteries in the limbs, but the dark red, deoxygenated blood is traveling the opposite direction.

Question 28

Nerves

Answer 28

Cable-lice bundles of axons that convey information to the brain. They provide a common pathway for the electrochemical nerve impulses that lets the brain know what the extremity is feeling. In the leg, there are primarily sensory nerves, which feel pressure, heat, cold, pain, etc. Going to the muscles are motor nerves, and these tell the muscles when to contract.