Week 2 · Anatomy & Conformation — Horsemanship Challenge

Whether you’re a lifelong horse owner or just beginning your equine journey, understanding why horses move, perform, and sometimes become unsound starts with a solid foundation in anatomy, biomechanics, and conformation.

This week, you’ll discover fascinating concepts that most horse owners were never taught, including why horses don’t have a collarbone, how the hindquarter muscles generate power, what the walk can reveal about soundness, and how subtle differences in conformation can influence long-term performance and health. We’ll wrap up the week with a real clinical case study that shows how all of these concepts come together in practice.

Each lesson is a small excerpt from one of Equine Institute’s comprehensive veterinary-developed courses. Our mission is to make professional-level equine education accessible to every horse owner through engaging, science-based learning created by veterinarians and experienced equine professionals. We hope this week gives you a new way of looking at your horse, and leaves you wanting to learn even more.

Days stay locked until they open. After Sunday, the full week remains available so you can catch up.

Today’s lesson PDF

This PDF is the full Monday lesson — the thoracic sling and the two soft-tissue “V” shapes that support the forehand. It is an excerpt from Equine Institute’s full veterinary-developed course, not a summary of the video.

Download Thoracic Sling PDF

Earn 10 points

Explore Equine Institute’s offerings, then enter the course you would choose. Stay signed in — after you submit, this page will confirm your 10 points without refreshing.

Explore Their Offerings

Lesson PDF

The biceps femoris is the largest and most lateral. The semitendinosus sits farther back and helps power the hip, stifle, and hock. The semimembranosus lies on the inside of the hind limb. Together they generate the power that propels the horse forward.

Download Pelvic Girdle & Hindquarters PDF

Hamstring Hunt · 5 points

Match each description to the muscle. Submit your answers for 5 points.

Largest and most lateral hamstring

Biceps femoris Semitendinosus Semimembranosus

Sits farther back and helps power hip, stifle, and hock

Biceps femoris Semitendinosus Semimembranosus

Lies on the inside of the hind limb

Biceps femoris Semitendinosus Semimembranosus

Lesson video

Watch this first — Equine Biomechanics: The Walk.

Follow-up clip

Then watch this Equine Institute clip of a horse walking.

Lesson PDF

Watch on a loose lead in a straight line — not on a tight circle, where even veterinarians can miss a subtle issue. A lateral walk or pace is a warning sign in most horses.

Download The Natural Gaits PDF

Earn 15 points

Watch your horse walk on a loose lead for about two minutes on level ground, then track that walk with GPS in the app and add notes:

Does the walk feel smooth and diagonal?
Does one step look shorter than the others?
Do you notice anything you had never paid attention to before?

Lesson PDF

Bodyworkers look for overall soft-tissue patterns. Veterinarians look for limb pathology. Both start with watching the horse move.

Download Evaluating Movement PDF

Earn 5 points

After today’s lesson, what is one thing you think you would notice that you might not have noticed before?

Lesson PDF

Ideally the hind cannon is nearly perpendicular to the ground. Too much hock angulation (sickle hocks) stresses ligaments. Too little (post-legged) reduces shock absorption and raises arthritis and locking-stifle risk.

Download Hind-Limb Conformation PDF

Earn 15 points

Use your horse — not a photo of another horse. Take four conformation photos and add them in the app, then note what you see from this week’s lessons:

Right side
Left side
Front
Rear

What to watch for

This mare has bilateral fibrotic myopathy, a mechanical lameness from scar tissue in the hamstrings. Her hind legs swing forward, then snap abruptly to the ground. The injury is non-painful once healed, but it restricts elasticity and changes how she moves.

Look for the movement pattern, what caused the scar tissue, how it affects soundness, and how the condition is managed — then connect it back to Tuesday’s hamstrings and Friday’s hind-end lesson.

Week 2 recap

After today, this full schedule stays open for arrears completion.

Explore Equine Institute’s offerings and submit the course you would choose · 10 pts
Hamstring Hunt · 5 pts
GPS walk + notes in the app · 15 pts
Movement observation · 5 pts
Your horse’s conformation photos — right side, left side, front, rear · 15 pts

Winner announcement

First and second place will be posted here after scores are tallied. This week’s prizes: the Equine Institute Pro Bundle and Draw It Out store credit.

Anatomy & Conformation
opens September 7.

Anatomy & Conformation

About
The Equine Institute

What’s It Weigh Wednesday

Up to 50 points
this week.

Top 5
this week.

September 7–13
2026

Your Horse Has No Collarbone

Today’s lesson PDF

Meet Your Horse’s Three Hamstrings

Lesson PDF

The Walk Never Lies

Lesson video

Follow-up clip

Lesson PDF

How Professionals Evaluate Movement

Lesson PDF

The Hind End: Where Soundness Is Won or Lost

Lesson PDF

Case Study · Fibrotic Myopathy

What to watch for

Recap, Review & Winner

Week 2 recap

See your horse
with new eyes.

Get the app

Anatomy & Conformationopens September 7.

Anatomy & Conformation

AboutThe Equine Institute

What’s It Weigh Wednesday

Up to 50 pointsthis week.

Top 5this week.

September 7–132026

Today’s lesson PDF

Lesson PDF

Lesson video

Follow-up clip

Lesson PDF

Lesson PDF

Lesson PDF

What to watch for

Week 2 recap

See your horsewith new eyes.

Anatomy & Conformation
opens September 7.

About
The Equine Institute

Up to 50 points
this week.

Top 5
this week.

September 7–13
2026

See your horse
with new eyes.