fetlock

Definition

A joint of the horse's leg below the knee or hock and above the hoof.

Etymology

From Middle English fitlokes, feetlakkes pl, equivalent to foot + lock (“tuft of hair”). Cognate with Middle Low German fitlok, fitlock (“fetlock”), Dutch vitlok, vittelokke, vitslok, German Fissloch, Fisloch, Fislach (“fetlock; pastern”).

Example Sentences

• "It was the better part of a mile wide, but save for some fathoms in the middle, where the Sker current ran, it was no deeper even at flood than a horse's fetlocks."