The digital pulse is taken on the inside of the pastern, right below the fetlock. The navicular bone lies behind the coffin bone and under the small pastern bone. The injuries on the sesamoid bone or the rim of the pastern were avoided. Highflyer was a bay stallion with a sock on a hind pastern. The coffin bone meets the short pastern bone or second phalanx at the coffin joint. Another horse, Araldo, shattered a hind pastern when frightened by a spectator after the race. Traditionally, the ideal pastern joint of the front leg was a 45-degree angle. The length of the pastern joint is determined by the length of the first phalanx. His pastern bones were short and somewhat too upright, making him more vulnerable to injury. The joint between these two bones is aptly called the "pastern joint". Ringbone is exostosis (bone growth) in the pastern or coffin joint of a horse. A nicely sloped pastern increases the likelihood of a long career. The horse will show pain when the pastern joint is moved or rotated. The slope of the shoulder is often the same as the slope of the pastern. Of less concern is pastern dermatitis ("greasy heels").