Ergot (horse anatomy)

This article is about the part of a horse. For the fungus, see Ergot.
On this horse, the ergot is a small point at the back of each fetlock
back leg of a horse just above the hoof with a hand lifting away the feathers to reveal the eergot growing from the fetlock
Ergot on a heavy horse with feathers.

The ergot is a small callosity (Calcar metacarpeum and Calcar metatarseum) on the underside of the fetlock of a horse or other equine. Some equines have them on all four fetlocks; others have few or no detectable ergots. In horses, the ergot varies from very small to the size of a pea or bean, larger ergots occurring in horses with "feather" – long hairs on the lower legs. In some other equines, the ergot can be as much as 3.8 cm (1.5 in) in diameter.[1]

Ergot comes from the French word for rooster's spur.[2]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ridgeway1905 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Clothier, Jane, The Ergot, p.15, Equine News Autumn 2010