Type of Joint | Location | Structure | Function | Fibrous | The fibrous joints are sort of connective sutures in the skull and pelvic girdle of the horse. These joints generally allow little to no movement. | Fibrous joints are made up of connective tissue. There is no cavity or space between the bones generally allowing no movement. There 3 types of fibrous joints; sutures, syndesmoses and gomphoses. | These joints are not joints that allow movement between any of the bones within the horses body. These joints are purely just joints that hold other sections of bone together but only structurally such as holding the skull together. | Cartilaginous | The cartilaginous joints are joined by cartilage such as the joint between the sternum and rib and also between vertebrae of the spine. These joints only allow slight movement. | These are joints joined by cartilage to one another. There are two types of cartilaginous joints; synchondrosis and symphyses. The first are found in developing bones usually in young horses and hyaline cartilage covers the end of the bone but the connection is made through fibrocartilage. | These joints allow very little movement but does allow some. These primarily are in place to provide structure, support, stability and protection of the bone. They reduce friction and also acts as a shock absorbed for any sudden blows. | Synovial | These joints meet together in a joint capsule such as where the carpus and radius meet. | These are the only joints that have a space or cavity between bones. This space or cavity is filled with synovial fluid which lubricates the joint. The ends of the bones that are joined are again, covered in hyaline cartilage and the joint is surrounded by a capsule made up of connective tissue. | These joints allows for a lot of movement such as extension, reduction, straightening, flexing and rotating. These are the joints within the body that allow the maximum level of movement and most of the joints in the body are synovial. | Ball and Socket | These joints are found in placed such as the hip, where the femur rests in a cup like socket in the pelvis, or in the shoulder, where the humerous fits in a socket in the shoulder. | In a ball and socket joint, there is a ball – shaped end on one bone fits into a cup shaped socket of another. These are then held in place by fixed ligament. The way these fit together, allows for free movement. | The ball and socket joints allows for free rotation and movement around the joint body. The ball end of the joint is able to spin around providing the ability to move anywhere within a 360ᵒ angle. | Hinge | These are formed between two or more bones where they can only move on one axis to flex or extend. They are typically found between the pedal bone, short pastern and long pastern. | These joints are where a surface of one bone, usually cylindrical shaped, fits into a groove on another joint and this provides movement on one axis. This joint is usually to bend or extend the legs predominantly. | Hinge joints are typically joints that are free moving but only in u and down or side to side motions rather than all of the way round. Allows for extension and flexion. An example of this is when the horses leg moves forward and extends when galloping. | Gliding | These are joints that meet at a flat or nearly flat surfaces. Examples of gliding joints are found in the knee and neck of the horse. | These joints are a formed edge of one bone fits into a groove on another. This is done on a flat or nearly flat surface. This is so that the bones slide together one another. | Gliding joints are the least mobile of the 3 synovial type joints. It works to facilitate movement and allows the bones to move by gliding along one another on a flat or nearly flat surface. | Pivot | An example of a pivot joint is situated at the base of the skull. This allows the head to move on an axis and this allows the head to move side to side. | In this joint, one main bone is known as an atlas bone and moves around another axis. This means that one bone rotates within a collar like system formed by another bone. This allows for turning movement. | The pivot joint allows movement only around one main axis or anchor point and generally allows approximately 180ᵒ worth of movement. An example of this is when the horse is able to move his neck to look side to side. |