Re: calculating horse's weight

[Gayle Ecker <gecker@uoguelph.ca>]

Hi Beth,
One way to estimate that is to use the weight tapes however, these are not
very accurate and can be way off on some body types.  It is not
very accurate on a pregnant mare and will not show you water losses.  It
is useful to get a general idea of the weight for feeding however. 

A second way is to use the following equation:
body weight (lbs) = [heart girth (inches)2  x length (inches)] / 330

where, heart girth is the measure around the barrel in inches squared, and 
length is measurement from point of the shoulder to the point of the
buttocks.

If you prefer metric:
body weight (kg) = [heart girth (cm)2  x length (cm)] / 11,880

If you are very accurate in your measurements, this can be within 5% of
the actual weight, but is less accurate for young foals.
The heart girth measurement should be taken just behind the withers and
elbows (the path of the girth or cinch) after the horse has breathed out.
Get someone to help you take the length for better accuracy, then measure
the point of the shoulder (the furthest forward or anterior point) to the
posterior or most rounded out part of the buttocks (also called the
tuber ischii for the anatomy buffs).

Hope this may be helpful.
Gayle

On Tue, 23 Jun 1998, Beth Glace wrote:

> Hi all,
> Susan recently gave a formula for calculating how much weight a horse 
> could successfully carry.  This requires knowing your horse's weight. 
>  How do you estimate that?  
> Sorry if this is a dumb question!
> thanks,
> Beth
> 
>