Content

• Steps
• Tips

The ancient Egyptians invented many measuring methods many thousands of years ago. The hand is still one of the traditional measuring instruments. Horse height can be expressed in palms, inches, feet, and meters.

Steps

1. 1 Buy a measuring stick with a scale in your palms. If there is none, you can use a tape measure.
   • Measuring sticks can be purchased at specialized stores, the Internet, veterinary equipment warehouses and trade fairs.
2. 2 Place the horse on a firm surface parallel to the ground, making sure the horse's front legs are as straight as possible.
3. 3 Place the end of a measuring stick or tape measure against one of the horse's front hooves, pull the measuring tool up to the withers.
   • The horse's withers are at the top of the horse's shoulders, between the neck and back, and is considered the highest point of motion. The head is located above the withers, but is not suitable for accurate measurement of height, due to constant movement.
   • Pull the tool to the highest point of the withers. For a more accurate measurement, extend the length of the instrument to the ridge between the shoulder blades.
4. 4 Write down the result. If there are inch marks on the tape measure, use them.
   • If you used a measuring stick, you already know how tall the horse is in the palms of your hands. Inches or centimeters will need to be transferred into the palm of your hand.
   • One palm equals four inches, so divide the result in inches by 4. For example, if the horse's height at the withers is 71 inches, divide 71 by 4. The result is 17 palms and 3 inches remaining. Thus, the height of the horse is 17.3 palms.

Tips

• Half palms are recorded as 0.2, not 0.5
• The Measuring Stick is the fastest and most accurate tool for measuring a horse's height.
• Horse height is still measured in the palms of the hands in many countries. However, this system is gradually being replaced by metric measures.
• The average height of a horse is usually around 16 palms.
• In England, horses below 14.3 palms are considered ponies, regardless of breed.