Horse pasterns are the connective joints between the fetlocks and the hooves. Pasterns are your horses finger bones. Horses effectively run on the remainder of their thumb and index fingers that have fused into the hoof. The two longest phalanges or phalanxes of the horses fingers are fused into the pastern. If the shoulder is steep, the angle of the pastern will be steep, which results in a rough, short stride. If the horse's hocks turn inward, the horse is considered cow-hocked. University of Missouri Extension is an equal opportunity/access/affirmative action/pro-disabled and veteran employer. The track had been attended by Ulysses S. Grant in earlier days and witnessed record-breaking racing, but, not hosting Thoroughbreds, it failed to turn a profit. Where Is The Cannon Bone On A Horse? In December 1851, a tremulous and sickly traveller arrived at San Francisco harbour, having made a long and gruelling journey across the Pacific from Australia. This is because the sesamoid bones are imbedded in the suspensory ligament, that constantly pulls on the fragments, in addition to the pain from the damage to the ligament itself. It also involves internal bleeding and some swelling. The pasterns are fine. What Are The Different Types Of Racehorses? Assateague Island ponies are shorter, stockier animals that live wild, and therefore, offered an untrained population against which to compare Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds. Avulsion fractures are where a piece of bone is pulled away by the abnormally strong action of an attached tendon or ligament. Fractures of splint bones are very common. The small sesamoid bones at the back of the fetlock joint act as a form of 'pulley' for the suspensory ligaments. Jump racing horses are particularly at risk of this sort of injury. The larger muscles at the rear of a horse are the ones that give them drive, so theyre the first ones that will feel the strain if overworked.