Keratin is a tough fibrous structural protein that is found in skin, hair and horn. There are several types which vary in hardness - the hard keratin found in hair and horn has a high sulphur content, the keratin in the epidermis of the skin is softer and has a lower sulphur content.

Softening and ablation (peeling) of cells of the horny layer of the skin or the destruction of horn in the hoof through bacterial or fungal infection. Examples include white line disease and thrush.

A horny tumorous growth in the inner layers of the hoof wall. It is often visible as a distortion of the white line filled with slightly discoloured softer horn. It may be spherical or cylindrical in shape.

A form of surgery in which damage to skin and adjoining tissues is kept to a minimum. The technique makes use of endoscopic imaging  that displays images of the field of operation on TV monitors (e.g. laparoscopes to look into the abdominal cavity or arthroscopes to look into a joint cavity), allowing the surgeons to work with specialised instruments through small, stab incisions rather than having to create a large surgical wound to view the field of operation.

A term used to refer to the carpus of the horse. Anatomically speaking this term is incorrect; its use originates from the joint's resemblance to the human kneejoint.
The true equivalent of a human knee in the horse is the stifle joint (the joint between the femur and the tibia in the hind limb).

A pad that can be attached to the farriers knee to provide a degree of protection when working in a half kneeling position.

Knock-kneed / carpusvalgus: a conformational fault of the forelimbs when viewed from the front. An imaginary line dropped from the shoulder passes through the lateral portion of the carpal joint; the carpal deviates medially.

Abnormal flexion of the fetlock joint during weight bearing to the point of contact between the dorsal surface of the fetlock and the ground. The cause of this may be reduced function (paralysis) of nerves (specifically the N. radialis in the forelimb and the N. peroneus in the hindlimb), or proprioceptive deficits (reduced awareness of one's body position). Horses with a flexural deformity involving contraction of the superficial flexor tendon have extrmely upright fetlocks and are predisposed to this disorder.