The Skin of the Horse

The thickness of the skin of the horse varies from 1 to 5 mm. in different regions, and is greatest at the attachment of the mane and the ventral surface of the tail.

The glands are numerous and are larger than those of the other domesticated animals. The sebaceous glands are specially developed on the lips, the prepuce, mammary glands, perineum, and labia of the vulva. The sweat glands are yellow or brown in color. They occur in almost all parts of the skin, but are largest and most numerous on the outer wing of the nostril, the flank, mammary glands, and free part of the penis.

In addition to the ordinary and tactile hairs certain regions present coarse hairs of great length. The mane (Juba) springs from the dorsal border of the neck and the adjacent part of the withers; its anterior part, which covers the forehead to a variable extent, is termed the foretop (Cirrus capitis). The tail, with the exception of its ventral surface, bears very large and long hairs (Cirrus caudæ). The tuft of long hairs on the flexion surface of the fetlock (Cirrus pedis) gave rise to the popular name of this region.

The development of these special hairs varies widely, and is in general much greater in the draft breeds than in others. In Shire and Clydesdale horses, for instance, the hair on the volar aspect of the metacarpus and metatarsus and fetlock is often so long and abundant as to account for the term “feather,” which is commonly applied to it by horsemen.