We are unable to collect your feedback at this time. At the base of the spinal column, near the first lumbar vertebra, is a collection of nerves called the cauda equina. They are called this because they resemble a horse's tail. Just above the cauda equina, the spinal cord ends and it continues on as this collection of spinal nerves through the vertebral canal. The cauda equina has approximately 10 fiber pairs at its base.