Anatomy is vital to understanding the physiology and the inner workings of the horse.

From a horse owner perspective, knowing the basic anatomy can help you communicate with equine professionals regarding the health of your horse. An understanding of anatomy is critical to understanding how horses eat, breathe, rest, and exercise, both in health and in disease. Knowledge of basic abdominal and thoracic anatomy helps us understand how each of the organ systems function and how medical interventions might work. For example, knowledge of the anatomy of the respiratory and cardiac systems helps us understand how equine athletes do their jobs, and is critical to developing better training methods, injury prevention, and disease prevention and treatment.