How To Measure a Horse

Here you can learn how to measure a horse and convert the measurement. Unless you have a measuring tape designed for horses you'll use a standard  tape and convert it to hands, which is the standard for measuring a horse's height.

Start by standing your partner square,  taking your tape near the front legs (so it will end up at the withers) and holding your foot on the ground to hold it in place.

Measure by drawing it up to the top of the withers, where the arrow shows.

Here you can see how it looks in a full view. Keep everything straight, and have a friend hold if he has a tendency to move.

Let's use the example of my mare above. She is 60 inches from the ground to the top of her withers.

To convert that to hands, you'll take the inches that you measured and divide it by four.

1 hand = 4 inches

Hand is abbreviated hh

number of inches measured/four = Hands

60/4= 15hh

Here are some other examples of converting a measure:

If she stood 61 inches it would be:

61/4=15.25  This would be 15.1hh

And so on:

62/4=15.50 or 15.2hh

63/4=15.75 or 15.3hh

64/4= 16hh

Check Out These Other Articles:

The Basics of Training

Beginner's Info

Start to Train a Horse

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