HANDS CONVERSION

By: A. Tadlock

Here is a handy table that will convert your horse's height in hands to show you how many inches, feet, or meters tall your horse is.

Traditionally, a horse's height is calculated in hands, one hand being equal to four inches. The measurment is taken from the ground level to the highest point on the horse's withers.


The red line is where the measurement would be taken, about in the middle of the withers, at their highest point.

Since a hand is equal to four inches, you can calculate your horse's height in inches by this formula:

4 x WH + FH = Inches high

Where WH stands for the horse's whole hands, and FH stands for any fraction of the horse's height left over.

For example, a 15.2HH horse's height could be calculated as follows :

4 X WH + FH = Inches high =
4 X 15 + 2 = 62 Inches high

Below is a table that converts the average height of horses to inches, feet, and meters.

HANDS	INCHES	FEET	METERS
12.0	48	4ft	1.2192
12.1	49	4ft 1	1.2446
12.2	50	4ft 2	1.27
12.3	51	4ft 3	1.2954
13.0	52	4ft 4	1.3208
13.1	53	4ft 5	1.3462
13.2	54	4ft 6	1.397
13.3	55	4ft 7	1.397
14.0	56	4ft 8	1.4224
14.1	57	4ft 9	1.4478
14.2	58	4ft 10	1.4732
14.3	59	4ft 11	1.4986
15.0	60	5ft	1.524
15.1	61	5ft 1	1.5494
15.2	62	5ft 2	1.5748
15.3	63	5ft 3	1.6002
16.0	64	5ft 4	1.6256
16.1	65	5ft 5	1.651
16.2	66	5ft 6	1.6764
16.3	67	5ft 7	1.7018
17.0	68	5ft 8	1.7272
17.1	69	5ft 9	1.7526
17.2	70	5ft 10	1.778
17.3	71	5ft 11	1.803
18.0	72	6ft	1.8288