How tall is a horse in feet

Most world think of steeds as rather big creatures, and also for the many part, this is true. The average steed stands roughly five feet tall and weighs 800-1200 pounds. Come be taken into consideration a horse, the pet must stand at least 57 inch tall, despite some equines are barely more than 2 feet! on the other finish of the spectrum, part beastly steeds weigh in at 2200 pounds and also stand fine over 6 feet tall. Today, we’re discussing equine heights, and also in this write-up will sheathe the the smallest to the tallest and also everything in between.

You are watching: How tall is a horse in feet

What Is the Average height of a Horse?

Though horses span a huge range of sizes from fairly compact to exceptionally massive, most of them fall somewhere closer to the middle. ~ above average, steeds are about five feet in height. Many horses are taller and plenty room shorter, yet five feet is about average. That course, horse heights aren’t typically expressed in inches. Rather, they’re usually expressed in hands, and a five-foot-tall horse is 15 hands in height. Nothing worry, we’ll dive right into hands and measurements a bit an ext in-depth shortly.

The problem is, over there are just too plenty of different each other of steed that come in such a selection of sizes that it’s really difficult to get a true average. Our average elevation of 5 feet doesn’t fully account for the small ponies and miniature steeds that stand substantially shorter, i beg your pardon is why it’s best to look in ~ average horse heights by breed.

Image Credit: jacotakepics, Shutterstock

Average height of the Most renowned Horse Breeds

To aid you gain a far better idea of average horse sizes, let’s take it a look in ~ some typical breeds and a couple of that are less famed as well, including the shortest and also tallest horse breeds.

American Miniature Horse – together the name implies, the American Miniature horse is a miniaturized version of a full-size horse, which took 400 year of selective reproduction to achieve. In ~ the maximum, they can stand 34 inches tall, though many are roughly 30-32 inches. Thoroughbred – Thoroughbreds space lean and strong horses that are generally used because that racing. The average elevation of a Thoroughbred is 16 hands, which amounts to 64 inches.

Equine size Chart

TYPE	HANDS	INCHES
MINIATURE	6.2	26
6.3	27
7	28
7.1	29
7.2	30
7.3	31
8	32
8.1	33
SMALL HORSE	8.2	34
8.3	35
9	36
9.1	37
9.2	38
SHETLAND	9.3	39
10	40
10.1	41
10.2	42
10.3	43
11	44
PONY	11.1	45
11.2	46
11.3	47
12	48
12.1	49
12.2	50
12.3	51
13	52
13.1	53
13.2	54
13.3	55
HORSE	14	56
14.1	57
14.2	58
14.3	59
15	60
15.1	61
15.2	62
15.3	63
16	64
16.1	65
16.2	66
16.3	67
17	68
17.1	69
17.2	70
17.3	71
18	72
18.1	73
18.2	74
18.3	75

Why Are horses Measured in Hands?

Today, measuring noþeles is quite an easy thanks to modern-day tools like tape measures. Yet horses were very first domesticated countless thousands of years in the past, and back then, tape measures didn’t exist. So, people used what was easily accessible instead, i beg your pardon was your hands. Measure up a equine with your hands ended up being the standard, and we still use it today.

Granted, back then, there was no linked standard other than the hand, and also everyone had actually different-sized hands, making the a fairly imprecise system. Now, a hand has actually been standardization to four inches. This way you can easily convert hands come inches by merely multiplying the height in hand times four. For example, 15 hands multiplied by 4 inches comes the end to 60 inches.

See more: What Is The Formula For Sodium Sulfide? ? Sodium Sulfide

Sometimes, you can see a decimal behind a hand measurement, such as 15.1. In this case, the .1 represents an inch. So, 15.1 hands same 61 inches. 15.2 hand is 62 inches. 15.3 hands equate come 63 inches. And since there room just 4 inches in a hand, after ~ 15.3 hands comes 16 hands, i beg your pardon is equal to 64 inches.