The removal of dead (necrotic), damaged, or infected tissue from a wound to improve the healing potential of the remaining healthy tissue. Removal may be surgical, mechanical or chemical.

The set of teeth develop in the embryo and emerge shortly after birth. They are eventually lost and replaced by the permanent teeth. In horses the complete set of deciduous teeth are present 6-9 months after birth and contains 24-28 teeth (12 incisors, 12 molars, occasionally 4 canines).

A distension of the subtendinous calcaneal bursa (between the calcaneus and the end of the achilles tendon (gastrocnemius tendon).

The tendon connecting the deep digital flexor muscle to the palmar/plantar surface of the distal phalanx. It lies underneath the superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) along the back of the cannon and passes through the SDFT where this inserts on the middle phalanx.

A disease or condition that gets steadily worse and is characterised by a gradual deterioration of the function of a body tissue or organ.

Caps are the remnants of deciduous teeth that fail to be shed after erruption of the permanent teeth. They may lead to pain and difficulties in chewing.

A morphological feature of horses' teeth. The dental cup is an oblong hollow formed by the the central enamel, which is filled with cementum (a softer material) and appears darker than the neighbouring surface of the tooth. The cups decrease in depth with increasing wear of the teeth and eventually disappear altogether. The order in which they disappear from the incisor teeth is used as an indicator of the horse's age.

The height of the thorax as measured from the point of the withers (spinous process of the 5th thoracic vertebra) to the sternum.

A leaf-like structure that is a feature of the lamellar dermis that covers the parietal surface of the coffin bone. There are approximately 600 primary lamellae running in a proximo-distal direction down the entire dorsal surface of the distal phalanx. The lamella project at right angles to the surface of the bone and are perpendicular to the papilla of the coronary dermis. Each primary lamella is covered in 100-200 secondary lamellae which also extend in a proximo distal direction and serve to increase the surface area of the dermis.  The horn covering the lamellar dermis is the inner most layer of the hoof wall (stratum lamellatum).

A disease of the skin which occurs as a result of continuous exposure to moisture, for example on the back and croup or horses kept outside in wet conditions or on the front of the cannon bones in horses which have their legs hosed down daily. The symptoms usually start as tufts of hair which are easily pulled out and progress to scabs and pustules over a larger area. The disease is caused by a bacterium called  Dermatophilus congolensis, which is frequently present on the skin of healthy horses and is easily transmittable from horse to horse as well as from horse to humans. To invade the skin, the bacterium requires small wounds or moisture softened skin.