Horse Measurements

I can run it by some horsey type friends and see wha tthey say...

A hand is 4 inches. You string test a horse as a 1-2 yr old. Take a piece of string from their elbow to their fetlock and turn it (using the elbow as a point and turn it so it goes around their withers). This gives you an expected maturity height.

I've heard of two ways. One is kind of like the string test, i think. Take a piece of string/rope and place it at the lowest point of the chest, where the front leg meets it, if that makes sense.... then drop it down to the ground, so you have a measurement from the ground up, then swivel it around so the rope goes upwards towards the withers, and that should give you an estimated wither height. I know i just worded everything wrong and confused you! The other way, is you take a measuring tape, or piece of rope/string again. Angd measure from the very middle of the knee joint, down to the ground, making sure its straight down. What ever that measures in inches, is how many hands the horse will be. That just reminded me that we need to measure our young ones to see how tall they will be.

A hand is four inches. So a horse that is 14 hands would be 56 inches at the withers. Some say that if you make a piece of string the same distance as from their elbows just in front of the girth to the ground you can estimate their height at full maturity. You just take that same string and place it at the elbow and stretch it up towards the withers. However high the string reaches should be how tall they will get. Horses get their growth in the legs first. I've never tried it but they say it works. Good luck to you.