Hand (length)

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See also: hand

Hand-derived units of measurement:
1: Shaftment
2: Hand or handbreadth, commonly used to represent the width of the palm, sometimes including the thumb when closed against the palm
3: Palm, sometimes also represented by four fingers held together, which is slightly less than the true width of the palm at the knuckle
4: Span
5: Finger or fingerbreadth
6: Digit slightly smaller than a finger)

A hand (or handbreadth) is a unit of length measurement, originally based on the breadth of a male human hand and now standardized at 4 inches (about 10 cm). When used to measure height, it is abbreviated "h" (for "hands") or "hh" ("hands high").^[1]

Today the Hand is primarily used to describe the height of horses, ponies, and other equines in a number of different countries, including the USA, Australia, and the UK. In this context, one hand equals four inches (10.16 cm), and the horse is measured from the ground to the top of the withers. ^[2] So a horse that is 15 hands high (abbreviated 15 hh) is 60 inches (152 cm) from the ground to the top of the withers. Instead of decimal or vulgar fractions, a hand comprises four inch-long steps, so a horse 62 inches (157 cm) tall would be 15.2 hh (spoken as “fifteen two hands high”). An animal between inch increments may be measured by fractions, for example, a very tall pony might be 14.1-3/4 hh (57-3/4 inches)

A pony is up to 14.2hh (147 cm or 58 inches). An animal 14.2 hh or taller is classified as a horse. However, breed characteristics also play a role in defining animals as horses or ponies, particularly in breeds that may have some purebred representatives on both sides of the 14.2 divide.

In the United States, ponies in horse show competition, particularly for hunter/jumper classes, are sometimes further subdivided into sections, depending on height:

Small Pony: 12.2 hh or smaller
Medium Pony: larger than 12.2 hh, up to 13.2 hh
Large Pony: larger than 13.2 hh, but shorter than 14.2 hh

See also: pony

A miniature horse is either shorter than 9.2 or 8.2 hh, depending on the registry. The world's smallest horse, Thumbelina, is just 4.1 hh.^[3]

For Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) competition and for USEF competition in the USA, a horse can be measured with shoes on or off. In the United Kingdom much official measurement of horses is overseen by the Joint Measurement Board (JMB).^[4] For JMB purposes, the shoes must be removed before measurement.

[edit] See also

Horse
Pony, includes discussion of when height alone may not define an animal as a horse or a pony.
List of horse breeds, includes a discussion of the differences between horses and ponies