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Many years ago, on Hollywood Squares, one of the celebrities was asked something like, "True or false, a horse's knee bends backwards?" I answered "false," the celebrity answered "true," and the MC gave the answer on the card, "true."
The real answer is "false". Horses have front
legs and back legs. On the back leg, the joint that looks like it is where the
knee of a human is, does bend backwards. This is not the knee. This joint is
the equivalent of a human's ankle. A horse has one very long toe below that
joint. The next joint that is higher up the rear leg, up near the hip, does
bend forward, and is the equivalent of the human knee. So, have we found the
horse's knee? Not yet.
We have found the equivalent of the human knee, up near a horse's hip. But, according to horse breeders (who name the various parts of a horse), the horse's knee is on its front leg (illogically), the joint that bends forward, just like a human knee. This joint is the equivalent of the human wrist, and the horse only has one front toe below that. Above this "knee" is a backward bending joint, up near the shoulder, which is the equivalent of a human elbow.
Comparative Anatomy names the various bones of the vertebrates (animals with backbones), and a horse has a patella ("knee cap") back there near its hip. But, these scientists don't normally use "knee" or "wrist" when writing technically. They use the names of bones, and muscles... So, the horse (or dog) breeders are the people who determine the official names of parts of a horse (or dog).
But, either way, a horse's knee bends forward.