Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Developing Learning Models To Teach Equine Anatomy And Biomechanics, Zandalee E. Toothaker

Honors College

Animal owners and professionals benefit from an understanding of an animal’s anatomy and biomechanics. This is especially true of the horse. A better understanding of the horse’s anatomy and weight bearing capabilities will allow people to treat and prevent injuries in equine athletes and work horses. Currently, teaching anatomy is based on dissection of cadavers and study of figures in textbooks. Dissection is expensive and presents logistical difficulties associated with sourcing, storage, and disposal of cadavers. Also, post mortem tissue changes obscure how the muscles support the bones and make the specimens unsuitable for representing biomechanical principles. Cadavers may also …