Horse question about height...?

Question

okay. ive seen people abbreviate hands as h or hh. is there a difference?

and ive also heard a hand is like anywhere between 4 and 6 inches. official measurement, please?

and is 16h(hh) really tall for a horse? how about 17h(hh)?

thanks in advance!!

Answer 1

nope no difference,

4 inches

for me 16hh is arverage, im only 4.11foot and i ride 17hh, most people consider 17hh getting quite tall, thats the size of the arevage clydedale

:) hope this helps

Answer 2

hh means hands high and thats the proper abbreviation.  1 hand is 4 inches.  16hh is a fairly big height for a horse but 17hh is definatly big.

Answer 3

There is no difference in h or hh. hh stands for Hands high and h just simply stands for hands, they mean the same thing. A hand is 4 inches, period. 16 hh is about an average height for a horse its not overally tall but its not short. 17 hh is considered tall though.

Answer 4

i think 16 hh is a pretty big horse, i used to own a 17hh gelding and he was huge, hands are measured about 4 inches,

Answer 5

I think that h and hh are the same thing... just two ways to abbreviate the same thing.

A hand is 4 inches.

16 hands isn't really that big.  I'm 5'2" and the horse that I usually ride is 15.2 hands... so we're the same height.  Getting on something that's a couple inches bigger doesn't make much difference.  17 hands is tall, but "really tall" is reserved for horses 18 hands and up.  But it's all relative.  I'm used to riding the big horses.  If you're used to a 15 hand horse and you get on a 16 hand horse it's gonna be really big to you, and 17 would be giant.  I've recently been riding a 17.2hh horse.  When I stand next to her, she looks tall and when I stand next to someone on another horse she looks tall... but when I'm riding she just seems normal.

Answer 6

A hand is 4 inches. I think h stand for hands and hh stands for hands high. It doesn't really matter though. It depends on the breed for a draft horse 17hh would be normal, but for a different breed it'd be huge!

Answer 7

A hand is 4 inches. It is abbreviated h (preferably) or hh. 15 hands. 15 hands high.

16 h is not really tall, that's average for a TB racehorse or field hunter. 17h is starting to get really tall - you won't find a racehorse that size, some of the warmblood breeds are normal in this range, and the draft animals. 17 is more standard for men's field hunters, etc.

Height in a horse is not reflected in jumping or racing ability, but it does affect brute strength, and with the rise of warmbloods (mixed drafts with hotbloods) some of the top performance animals are 16.2+ these days.

On the other hand, working quarter horses are usually 15.2 and under, even the ones that carry 200 lb men.

Answer 8

16H or 16hh as some put it is the same

A hand is 4 inches

I don't consider 16H really tall for a horse cause thats the height I'm used to working at.  Others may consider it very tall and I think it all depends on the size of the person.  I would consider a horse over 17H very tall to me.

Answer 9

For a start the abbreviations are exactly the same, also i believe that the official measurement is 4 inches, 16 is pretty tall 17 is very tall