A guide to your Horse's Weight
We have all struggled at some point to calculate our horse’s weight - usually with a worming paste in one hand and a lead rope in the other! Obviously it is beneficial to have an accurate estimate of your horses weight when it comes to giving medication – but can also be useful for working out daily feed rations. Saving you money on both occasions.
It's important that worming and medicine doses be as accurate as possible. Under-dosing runs the risk of building resistance to bacteria or internal parasites. Overdosing is an expensive waste of medications and can lead to side effects you hadn’t counted on.
We have all seen tables like the one below which are good for giving you a general idea of a “normal” horses weight – but as you can see the weight ranges can vary dramatically - and of course what really is a “normal” horse?
WEIGHT GUIDE |
Type |
Height at withers
(hands) (cm) |
Weight range
(kg) |
Shetland |
8-10hh |
81-102 |
200-230 |
Pony (small) |
10-12hh |
102-122 |
225-355 |
Pony (large) |
13-14hh |
132-142 |
250-360 |
Galloway |
14-15hh |
142-152 |
275-400 |
Lightweight hack |
15-16hh |
152-163 |
350-500 |
Heavyweight hack |
16-17hh |
163-173 |
450-600 |
Draught |
16-18hh |
163-183 |
550-810 |
A far more accurate tool to obtaining the true weight of your horse is to use a calculation based on the dimensions of the horse. The New South Wales Department of Agriculture developed the following formula, which is generally proven to be very accurate – but can be out by up to 50Kg in extreme cases.
Weight in kgs = (Weight (kg) = [girth (cm2) × length (cm)] ÷ 11 000
Look to complicated?
Weight in kilograms = equals the girth in centimetres squared (that is, multiplied by itself), then multiplied by the length of the horse (in centimetres) from the point of the shoulder to the point of the buttock. This number is then divided by 11,000 to give the final result.
Double check this calculation with the table above to see if it corresponds, if it does, it's pretty likely your estimate is pretty accurate. If there is a big difference re-check your maths and consider if your horse is a heavier or lighter type.
An option for the rest of us who are mathematically challenged, is to visit you local weigh station. You will find one in most areas.
Your local weight station may let you just walk your horse on – then just subtract your weight. Alternatively drive on with your horse in your float, and weigh in. Remove the horse and weigh again. The difference is naturally the weight of your horses.
It's certainly not an exact science, but you should be able to get an estimate within a few kilograms.
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