Horse Anatomy: Head & Neck Region

Series Summary

The horse has been used in warfare since as early as 4000 BCE. There is archaeological evidence in the steppes of Eurasia of fortified towns being built to defend against horse-riding bandits and raiders. In 1350 BCE, the Hittite tribe developed a written manual for successfully breeding and conditioning chariot horses. Thus, since before written history and throughout the recorded development of mankind, horses have been a powerful ally to victorious armies and successful agriculturalists. In Medieval Europe, the heavy armor of mounted knights required a new style of horses, strong like a draft horse but athletic like lighter breeds. The Destrier, and lesser so the Courser and Rouncey, became the type (not breed) of horse that would fetch the highest price among nobles and elite military officers. In this free horse care video series, ranch owner and horse rider Kathy Kentala teaches aspiring horse owners how to care for a competitive horse. Kentala first goes over the parts of a horse, familiarizing viewers with the basic anatomy. She also talks about nutrition and caring for the horse, how to use polo sport equipment, and how to attach a sports medicine boot to the horse. Kentala gives tips on catching a rough or hard-to-catch horse as well.

Video Transcript

"As we move into things that relate to the care of the horse, I find it imperative, that we understand some of the basic horse parts. Many of the horse parts equate to things that are on our body, so it's going to make that very simple, but I can promise you, there are many other parts that would stump, even some the most professional horse owners, so I like to pride myself from my 4-H background, on hoping to know many of the horse parts. We're going to start here with the head and neck. When we begin here, it's very simple. We can point out the basics. We've got ear, eye, muzzle, nostril, lips, forehead, jaw or jowl it might be called, as well as then we have some parts that are not as significant to the human body. You have what we call a throat latch, a very important part often identified, and fit of bridle. We have what we call the pole that part between the ears, that's significant, because you'll hear in training often, things about bending at the pole. Then we can follow down the top muscle of the horse, where the common part everybody knows, the mane, is attached, and that's called the crest. We have then the neck itself, and it moves into the shoulder. Those are the important parts of the horse, here in the head and neck region."