How To Measure Horse Weight ?

It's easy to measure you horse's height accurately.
To determine how tall a horse is measure the horse, in inches, from the ground in a straight line up to the highest point of the withers. This is illustrated in the photo below by the yellow line.

Above: The height of a horse is properly measured, in inches, from the ground to the highest point of the withers
For the most accurate measurement the horse should be on firm, level ground with its front feet even, or close to even.

Calculating The Results:

After you have measured your horse you will need to convert the results from inches to "hands." Horse height is correctly referred to by a unit of measurement known as a "hand." One hand is equal to four inches.

The gray mare in the photo above is 58 inches from the ground to the top of her withers. When 58 is divided by 4, you have 14.5. The 14 is the number of hands, and the .5 means another half of a hand, or another 2 inches. This means she is 14 and one-half hands tall.

Correctly Writing And Speaking The Results :

he correct way of writing "14 and one-half hands" is to write "14.2". It is not correct to write it as "14.5". When correctly written, the number before the period is the number of hands, and the number after the period is the remaining number of inches. The number after the period should NOT stand for a fraction. Horseman usually say a measurement like this one out loud as "fourteen two" or "fourteen and a half."

A Few Examples

Below are a few examples of how to correctly write down a horse's height. Remember, the number in front of the period is for hands and the number after the period is the remaining inches.

15 - This is a correct way of writing that a horse is 15 hands tall

15.0 - Another correct way of writing that a horse is 15 hands tall

15.1 - This is the correct way of writing that a horse is 15 hands, 1 inch tall

15.2 - This is the correct way of writing that a horse is 15 hands, 2 inches tall

15.3 - This is the correct way of writing that a horse is 15 hands, 3 inches tall

15.4 - Wrong! This means that a horse is 15 hands, 4 inches tall. Since a hand is equal to four inches, this horse is actually 16 hands tall.

15.5 - Wrong again! Some people incorrectly use the number after the period to stand for fractions of a hand, but it should stand for inches. So, some people write "15.5" to mean 15 and a half hands, but this should correctly be written as "15.2".

If you like, you can add "hh" to a measurement, as in "15.1hh". The "hh" stands for "hands high."