Horse height converter: hands to cm
Convert a horse’s height between hands, centimeters, inches and meters. Type hands the way they are written, like 15.2.
That's 1.03× as tall as an Arabian, while a Thoroughbred is 1.03× taller.
What it means
How big a horse is that?
Measured from the ground to the top of the withers, where the neck meets the back. One hand is exactly 4 inches (10.16 cm).
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That height every way
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Three things worth knowing
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Hands × 4 + inches
For 16.1 hh: 16 × 4 = 64, plus 1 makes 65 inches, times 2.54 makes 165 cm.
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The width of a hand
Traders once measured horses with their palms laid flat, one above the other. Henry VIII fixed the hand at 4 inches in 1541.
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15.2 is not 15.2
15.2 hh is 15½ hands, not 15.2 hands. Treat it as a decimal and you will be off by almost 2 cm.
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Background
About measuring horses in hands
Horses and ponies are measured in hands of 4 inches, from the ground to the highest point of the withers. Heights are written hands.inches: 15.2 hh means 15 hands and 2 inches, which is 62 inches or 157.5 cm.
The figure after the point is never a decimal, so 15.5 hh does not exist: after 15.3 comes 16.0. In competition, a pony is any animal of 14.2 hh (148 cm) or less.