Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Usually found in high-withered horses of any breed; Often implies a less-developed muscular bed for the saddle to rest on. The saddle will often bridge in this area to pinch the withers, creating soreness of the withers and muscles. The horse is then less willing to move out, extend the shoulders, or use its back, especially for speed or jumping.
Most horses have 18 thoracic vertebrae. The processes at the withers can be more than 30 centimetres (12 in) long. Since they do not move relative to the ground as the horse's head does, the withers are used as the measuring point for the height of a horse. Horses are sometimes measured in hands – one hand is 4 inches (10.2 cm). Horse heights ...
Obese American horse: fat deposits can be seen on the back, between the ribs and on the rump. The horse body mass is highly variable, depending on breed, model, physiological state, condition, owner's purpose and usage of the animal. Always 65 % to 75 % water, it is divided on average between 50 % muscle, 11 % bone and 10 % fat.
In a study of the 1990 Purina Race of Champions (a 241 km/ 150-mile, 2-day endurance race), the top seven finishers of the race (i.e. highly competitive horses) had significantly lower body condition scores and marginally less rump fat than horses eliminated for metabolic criteria (i.e. less competitive horses).
As a horse's muscles change with age or conditioning, one saddle may not fit during its entire life, and no saddle fits all horses. A properly fitted saddle should have enough height in the gullet to clear the withers of the horse and not be so wide as to press on the spine, but not be so narrow as to pinch the back and shoulders of the horse.
Haflinger (7½" gullet) are very wide, designed for semi-draft breeds such as the Haflinger horse, which are short-backed, heavy, low-withered horses. Often have a flat pitch (usually greater than 94 degrees) and very little rock. Draft - (8" gullet), are designed for riding Draft horses. Usually greater than 94 degrees
The muscles are attached to bone relatively high in the body, which results in small differences in attachment making large differences in movement. A change of .5 inches (1.3 cm) in muscle attachment can affect range of motion by 3.5 inches (8.9 cm) and propulsion power by 20 percent. [24]
It forms the "forearm" of the horse along with the ulna. Ulna: caudal to the radius, it is fused to that bone in an adult horse. Shoulder joint (scapulohumeral joint): usually has an angle of 120-130 degrees when the horse is standing, which can extended to 145 degrees, and flexed to 80 degrees (such as when the horse is jumping an obstacle).