How to Measure How Much Your Horse Weighs

There are often times that you’ll need to know exactly how much your horse weighs.

Whether it’s for accurate feeding, dosing of medication, or simply to keep an eye on his body condition, knowing how to measure your horse’s weight is important to know.

How to Measure Your Horse’s Weight

There are several ways you can measure your horse’s weight.

Livestock Scale

If you’re lucky enough to have access to a livestock scale, this is obviously the easiest and most accurate way to measure your horse’s weight.

Truck Scale

Most of us don’t have access to a livestock scale, however, you may have access to a truck scale.

If it’s close and convenient you can load you horse up into the trailer, weigh your truck and trailer on a truck scale, remove the horse and weigh the empty truck and trailer.

To get your horse’s weight, simply subtract the empty weight from the loaded weight.

Weight Tapes

If you don’t have convenient access to a livestock scale or truck scale, the next best method is a weight tape.

A weight tape, like the one below, is simply a measuring tape with weights listed as well as inches.

While easy, weight tapes assume your horse has an “average” build.

They take an “average” horse as being 16 hh and weighing 1,000 lbs.

If you’re trying to measure a foal or yearling, a particularly skinny or large horse, these will not be accurate.

To measure your horse with a weight tape, make sure he is standing on a flat, level surface.

Simply wrap the weight tape around the horse’s barrel of his chest, behind his withers, around where the girth would go.

Hold it snug against your horse’s skin, but not so tight that it dimples or is uncomfortable for the horse.

A thick winter coat can interfere with your measurements.

The number on the weight tape where it meets the other end you’re holding is your horse’s weight.

Weight Formulas

There are several formulas that have been passed down for generations that will take the horse’s height and length or circumference at the heart girth to give you your horse’s weight in pounds.

Formula: square the heartgirth measurement and multiply it by the body length and divide the product by 330.

This is the weight of the horse in pounds. If you want to convert it into kg, you can simply divide it by 2.2

Measuring the hearthgirth: With a tape measure, measure everything around the horse’s girth to its wither, going just behind its elbows.

Measuring the body length: With the same tape measure, measure from the point of the shoulder to the point of the buttock. Always remember to keep a straight line.