SkullOne structure of 34 bones, counting the tiny bones of the ears. Its highest point is the nuchal crest, a ridge across the very back of it. The standard count for a horse is 205 bones.
Mandible (lower jaw)The largest bone of the face. It starts as two halves that unite in the second or third month after birth, and it hinges on the temporal bone on each side of the head.
Atlas (first cervical vertebra)A strong ring with no body and no spine on top. Two curved plates, the wings, stick out from its sides. The joint between this bone and the head is a hinge, which lets the horse nod.
Axis (second cervical vertebra)The longest of all the vertebrae. A peg at its front end, the dens, fits into the ring of the atlas. The atlas and the head rotate on it, which lets the horse turn its head.
Cervical vertebrae 3 to 7 (neck bones)A horse has seven cervical vertebrae. The atlas and the axis are the first two, and the other five are ringed here as one part.
Thoracic vertebraeUsually 18, one for each pair of ribs. Some horses have 19 and a few have 17. The tall spines of the first ones form the withers, where a horse's height is measured. The 4th and 5th usually reach highest.
Lumbar vertebrae (loin)Usually six, though five is seen fairly often. The missing one may or may not be made up by an extra thoracic vertebra. Their side processes are long flat plates.
SacrumFive vertebrae fused into a single triangular bone. It is wedged between the two ilia. Its five spines still show along the top, under the croup.
Caudal vertebrae (tail bones)Also called coccygeal vertebrae. The number varies a good deal from horse to horse, from 15 to 21, and 18 is taken as the average. That is the number used in the count of 205 bones.
RibsThere are usually 18 pairs. A 19th rib on one side or both is not rare. The first 8 pairs are sternal ribs, joined to the sternum by their cartilages. The other 10 pairs are asternal ribs.
Sternum (breastbone)Shaped somewhat like a canoe, with a keel underneath. The keel can be felt on a living horse. It is made of seven bony segments at birth, and a good deal of it stays cartilage for life.
Scapula (shoulder blade)A flat bone with a ridge, the spine, down its outer face. The horse has no collarbone, so this bone has no bony joint with the trunk. Muscles, tendons and ligaments alone hold the front leg to the body.
Humerus (arm bone)It runs down and back from the shoulder joint to the elbow. It lies at about 55 degrees to level ground. The triceps muscle, which straightens the elbow, starts partly on this bone.
Radius (forearm bone)Much the larger of the two bones of the forearm. It runs from the elbow to the carpus, and the reduced ulna is partly fused to the back of it.
Ulna (point of the elbow)A reduced long bone behind the radius. The two are partly fused in the adult. Its top, the olecranon, is the point of the elbow. The triceps muscle pulls on it to straighten the joint.
IliumThe largest of the three parts of the hip bone. Its outer corner, the tuber coxae, is the base of the point of the hip. Ilium, ischium and pubis meet at the hip socket and fuse at about one year of age.
IschiumThe rear part of the hip bone. It forms the back of the floor of the pelvis and lies almost level. Its thick, three-sided rear corner is the tuber ischii, where the biceps femoris and semitendinosus muscles of the thigh attach.
Femur (thigh bone)The largest and most massive of the long bones. A flange on its outer side, the third trochanter, is where the superficial gluteal muscle attaches.
Patella (kneecap)A large sesamoid bone that glides on the femur's lower end. The stifle matches the human knee. A shelf on the femur lets this bone lodge there and lock the joint, which helps a horse rest standing up.
TibiaIt runs obliquely down and back from the stifle to the hock. It is the main bone of this stretch of the leg. Its partner, the fibula, is only a slender rod beside it.
FibulaA much reduced long bone. It usually ends in a point one half to two thirds of the way down the outer border of the tibia. Its lower end is fused with the tibia.
Calcaneus (point of the hock)The largest bone of the hock, also called the fibular tarsal bone. Its top, the tuber calcis, is the point of the hock. It matches the human heel bone and is the lever for the muscles that straighten the hock.
Tarsal bones (hock)Usually six short bones, and now and then seven. The hock matches the human ankle and heel. The front leg has no joint like it: the joint halfway down the front leg is the carpus.
Third metatarsal bone (hind cannon bone)The large metatarsal bone. It is about one sixth longer than the third metacarpal of the front leg, and like that bone it has a slim splint bone on each side at the back.
Lower leg, knee to hoof: 9 parts 9
Carpal bones (knee)Seven or eight small bones in two rows. Horsemen call this joint the knee, but it matches the human wrist. The joint that matches the human knee is the stifle, on the hind leg.
Accessory carpal boneA disc-shaped bone at the carpus's back. It sits toward the outside of the leg. It is one of the carpal bones, and it is also known as the pisiform.
Third metacarpal bone (front cannon bone)The only fully developed one of a horse's three metacarpal bones. It alone carries a toe. Its partner in the hind leg, the third metatarsal, is about one sixth longer.
Second and fourth metacarpal bones (splint bones)Two much reduced bones behind the cannon bone. One lies on each side. Only the outer one, the fourth, shows from the side. The hind leg has the same pair: the second and fourth metatarsal bones.
Proximal sesamoid bonesTwo small bones behind the lower end of the cannon bone. Each is shaped like a three-sided pyramid. They are part of the fetlock joint, and ligaments keep them in position.
Proximal phalanx (long pastern bone)The first phalanx, between the fetlock joint and the pastern joint. It is about a third as long as the cannon bone. Older books call it the os suffraginis.
Middle phalanx (short pastern bone)The second phalanx, set between long pastern bone and coffin bone. About one half of it lies inside the hoof. Older books call it the os coronae.
Distal phalanx (coffin bone)The third phalanx, also called the pedal bone or os pedis. It is completely encased in the hoof and sets the shape of the hoof. A horse stands on a single toe on each leg, and this bone is its tip.
Distal sesamoid bone (navicular bone)A small, shuttle-shaped bone. It lies behind the joint of short pastern bone and coffin bone. The deep flexor tendon runs over it on the way to the coffin bone, and the bone acts as a fulcrum for it.
How this list was compiled: Every part name and detail line was checked on 2026-09-19, for facts only and with nothing copied, and every part name was read again in Sisson and on Wikipedia (Equine anatomy, Limbs of the horse, Skeletal system of the horse) on 2026-09-30; the accessory carpal bone in Sisson and the Merck page on the carpus. Bone names, counts and shapes: Septimus Sisson, The Anatomy of the Domestic Animals, 2nd edition, 1914, the chapter on the skeleton of the horse, read in the Internet Archive scan at https://archive.org/details/anatomyofdomesti00siss (public domain in the United States). The count of 205 bones, the horseman's names and the matching human joints: Wikipedia, Equine anatomy, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equine_anatomy, Horse, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse, and Limbs of the horse, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limbs_of_the_horse. The bones inside the hoof: University of Missouri Extension, guide G2740, https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/g2740, and Extension Horses, Bones of the Hoof, https://horses.extension.org/bones-of-the-hoof/. The everyday names knee, cannon, splint, pastern, coffin and hock: Merck Veterinary Manual, horse owner version, the pages on the carpus and metacarpus, the fetlock and pastern, the foot and the tarsus, under https://www.merckvetmanual.com/horse-owners/bone-joint-and-muscle-disorders-in-horses. Where two sources count differently we give Sisson's number: usually six tarsal bones, where the Merck page counts 8 bones in the hock joint as a whole. Counts that vary from horse to horse are given with their range. Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry, to our own part list and layout. Own original schematic drawing; nothing traced or copied, and the numbers and labels are our own. Licence: own work
How it works
This horse skeletal anatomy quiz shows a horse skeleton from the left side, with 33 numbered bones and no names. For the 9 small bones from the knee down, the drawing moves to a close view of the front leg.
Read the full guide
How this horse skeleton quiz works
A ring is lit when the page opens. Pick the bone's name from 4 choices, and missed bones come back at the end of the round. Start from narrows the round to one set, such as Lower leg, knee to hoof, and More options swaps the choices for Type it. Textbook and horseman's names both count: third metacarpal or cannon bone. Find it turns the question round: you get the name and tap the bone.
Print a blank or labeled horse skeleton
Print blank gives the skeleton with its 33 numbered rings and a line for each name. Print labeled is the same sheet with the names filled in, so a class or a riding club has a worksheet and its key.
A horse's knee is its carpus, which matches your wrist. The joint that matches your knee is the stifle, on the hind leg.
From the fetlock down the order is long pastern, short pastern, coffin bone. The navicular bone is tucked behind the last joint.
There is no collarbone. Muscles, tendons and ligaments alone hold the front legs to the trunk.
Questions and answers
How many bones does a horse have?
The usual count is 205: 54 in the spine, 36 ribs, 1 sternum, 34 in the skull and 40 in each pair of legs. Horses differ a little, mostly in the tail, which has 15 to 21 vertebrae.
Does it work as an equine skeletal anatomy quiz for a first course?
Yes. Each of the 33 parts has the textbook name first, such as distal phalanx, and the horseman's name second, such as coffin bone. The single carpal and tarsal bones and the separate bones of the skull are not ringed.
Why are only the left legs drawn?
The horse stands square, so from the side the right legs sit behind the left ones. The femur hides the pubis, so it is left off too. The small bones of the hind foot are drawn but asked only on the front leg.
What is the cannon bone of a horse?
The one strong bone from knee or hock to fetlock: the third metacarpal in the front leg and the third metatarsal in the hind leg. A slim splint bone lies on each side at the back of it.