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Withers are the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped.In many species, this ridge is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height.
* The horse may have a downhill balance with the croup higher than the withers. See especially in Thoroughbreds, racing Quarter Horses, and Gaited horses. With this conformation, the horse can pull the hind legs further under the body, so there is a longer hind end stride, but the animal may not move in synchrony with the front.
The withers of the horse are made up by the dorsal spinal processes of the thoracic vertebrae numbers 5 to 9. [3] The skull consists of 34 bones and contains four cavities: the cranial cavity, the orbital cavity, oral, and the nasal cavity. The cranial cavity encloses and protects the brain and it supports several sense organs.
Horses are measured from the ground to the withers, which is the top of the spine between the horse’s shoulder blades. The most common unit of measurement for equines is “hands,” which is ...
Points of a horse. Equine anatomy encompasses the gross and microscopic anatomy of horses, ponies and other equids, including donkeys, mules and zebras.While all anatomical features of equids are described in the same terms as for other animals by the International Committee on Veterinary Gross Anatomical Nomenclature in the book Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria, there are many horse-specific ...
The height of horses is measured at the highest point of the withers, where the neck meets the back. [23] This point is used because it is a stable point of the anatomy, unlike the head or neck, which move up and down in relation to the body of the horse.
Horses' back shape can vary greatly from horse to horse. The upper curvature of a horse's withers, back, and loin is called the "topline." The line of the belly from elbow to flank is the "under line" or "bottom line." In terms of the back, both are important; a long underline with a relatively short topline is ideal.
Credit: Getty Images. Horses don't just run together. They also express affection through gentle nibbles. They use their teeth to scratch each other's withers, necks, and backs, often standing ...