Photo Gallery - The Growth Plate Story - Two Year Old
This gallery features a few long bones, representative cervical (neck) & thoracic (back) vertebrae, as well as, the sacrum from a two year old colt. Refer to the "Skeletal Development" page for explanations of the ossification process.
The long bones of the 2 year old, distal to (above) the carpal (knee) and metatarsal (hind cannon) bones all have open (unfused) growth plates at either end of the shafts. The vertebrae of the neck (cervicals), back (thoracics), lumbar and sacrum also have open growth plates at either end of the vertebral body. The pelvis from our specimen broke in half during recovery because the junction at the pubic symphisis does not completely fuse until 3 - 4 years of age.
MOST STARTLING OF ALL ... is the SACRUM. Scroll down to see the photos.
***Most racehorses begin training at 18 to 20 months of age and many race as 2 year olds.***
