Pelvis vs the Hip

The pelvis and the hip are two different things. It’s important to understand the difference especially when speaking with a vet or body worker if you are explaining this area to them.

The pelvis is made up of two large bones (divided into the ilium and ischium) that fuse in the middle at the pubic symphysis. The main bony landmarks we can feel on the outside of the horse are the tuber coxae (this is often mistakenly called the “hip”) , the tuber sacrale and the tuber ischii.

The actual “hip” is a joint consisting of the head of the femur sitting inside the acetabulum of the pelvis. This area cannot be easily palpated in the horse because it sits deep underneath the surrounding musculature, what you can feel is bony projection (greater trochanter) of the femur. There is another “bump” slightly below this which can be felt (sometimes mistaken for a tight muscle) which is the third trochanter (bony projection) of the femur.

If you find the Latin names of the pelvis hard to remember you can refer to the tuber coxae as the “point of pelvis”, the tuber sacrale as the “top of pelvis” and the tuber ischii as the point of buttock.