Equines are measured in units. Some registries use inches to determine size, since it is generally easier than trying to convert to hands. A hand is four inches.

The story behind this unit of measurement goes, that once there was a King that wanted to measure his favorite horse. Not having a device back then to measure with, he used the only thing he knew would be consistent - the palm of his hand. He could then go anywhere and know that his horse measured 15 widths of his hands, and another measured 14 hands, and so forth. Since then, the hand has become the unit of measure. The letters HH or hh after the numbers stand for Hands High. The single letter H or h may also be used, standing just for "hands."

Parts of a hand can also be given after the whole unit, following a decimal. For example, 10.2 hands means 10 hands and 2 more inches (4 x 10 = 40, plus 2" more would come out to a total of 42 inches). Following this line of reasoning then, 10.3 would be 10 hands and 3 inches or total of 43 inches. There is no such thing as 10 hands 4 inches simply because that, since a hand is equal to 4 inches, it would then only be an additional hand. However, even fractions of an inch can be listed, such as 10.3 and 3/4 hh (read as ten-three and three-quarter inches).

Some Perspectives

3.3 hands - 15" at the withers (the smallest mature horse ever documented!)
6.2 hands - 26" (the smallest known mule in the world, General Grant)
7 hands - 28" (Miniature donkeys & horses start around this height).
8 hands - 32" (considered Miniature size for donkeys, horses, & mules).
9 hands - 36" (breakover from Miniature to Small Standard for donkeys).
9.2 hands - 38" (maximum height for Miniature donkeys with BOTH parents registered as Minies; but still Miniature listing for Mules).
10 hands - 40" (breakover for small standard donkey to Standard donkey; 40" Mules still considered Miniature).
11 hands - 44" (Standard donkey size).
12 hands - 48" (breakover from Standard to Large Standard donkeys).
12.2 hands - 50" (breakover from Miniature Mule to Saddle Mule).
13 hands - 52" (considered Large Standard Donkey now).
13.2 hands - 54" (breakover from Large Standard to Mammoth for Donkey Jennets).
14 hands - 56" (breakover from Large Standard to Mammoth for Donkey Jacks).
14.2 hands - 58" (typically the height change from Pony to Horse).
15 hands - 60" (typical for many Horse breeds and Mules as well).
16 hands - 64" (getting pretty large for a Donkey! Typical height range though for some Horse breeds).
17 hands - 68" (now seen in some Warmblood Horse breeds and a few mules).
19.1 hands - 77" or 6 foot tall at the withers (the height of the tallest Mule in the world, Apollo born 1977 in Tennessee, as listed in the Guiness Book of World Records! Also the current height of the largest horse living, a Percheron gelding from Texas.)
21.2 1/2 hands - 86 1/2" at the withers or 7 foot 2 1/2 inches (Tallest horse ever documented, a Shire gelding named Sampson who measured this in 1850 according to the Guiness Book of World Records).

(This Page last updated: September 18, 2004)