The Spine
An animal's spine is a complex combination of bones, ligaments, muscles and nerves. The main function of the spine is to both provide a framework of support for muscle attachment and to protect the spinal cord and vital organs.
Each vertebra (spinal bone) articulates with another via the facet (spinal) joints. These joints are held together by a combination of supportive ligaments and muscles. Even though individual vertebral joints have very little mobility, the accumulative flexibility of the spine as a whole is considerable. This flexibility allows a horse or dog to perform at their optimum level and without it, fluent movement is impossible.
There are 31 vertebrae in the typical horse and 27 in a dog. Through the centre of these vertebral chains runs the spinal canal which houses the spinal cord. At regular intervals a pair of spinal nerves branch off the spinal cord exits the canal, through a small tunnel formed by adjacent vertebrae, called the Intervertebral Foramen (IVF). The function of these nerves is to relay information from the brain to all the muscles and organs in the body and in turn allow information to pass form these organs back to the brain.
This system known as the Central Nervous System (CNS) monitors and controls all organ and tissue function and for proper function to occur, the relay of information through the spinal nerves must flow unimpeded.
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