What Is Hand?
A hand is a unit for measuring length. Today it is used mainly to tell how tall a horse is. One hand is fixed at 4 inches, which is about 10.16 centimeters.
Definition
A hand is a unit of length equal to exactly 4 inches.
In other units this is:
- 1 hand = 4 inches
- 1 hand = 0.3333 feet one third of a foot
- 1 hand = 10.16 centimeters
- 1 hand = 0.1016 meters
Horse height is usually measured from the ground up to the highest point of the shoulders, called the withers, using hands.
History / Origin
The hand comes from the width of a human hand. Long ago people often used body parts to measure things, like the hand, foot, cubit elbow to fingertip and span thumb to little finger.
The size of a real hand is different for each person, so this was not very exact. Over time, rulers and traders wanted a clear fixed size so they could agree on measurements.
In England the hand was used for farm animals and cloth. In the sixteenth century the hand became fixed in law as 4 inches. From then on, a hand no longer meant a real hand, it was a standard unit. This standard 4 inch hand later became common in countries that used the British system of units.
Symbol & Abbreviation
The hand usually has these symbols:
- h for hand
- hh meaning hands high, often used for horse height
Horse height is written as a number of hands and extra inches after a dot. The number after the dot can only be 0, 1, 2 or 3, because there are only 4 inches in a hand.
For example:
- 15.2 hh means 15 hands and 2 inches
- 14.0 hh means exactly 14 hands
Current Use Around the World
Today the hand is not used much for science or building work. Those areas mostly use the metric system or other standard units. However, the hand is still very important in the horse world.
The hand is used to measure horse height in:
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Canada
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Ireland
- Some other countries that follow British horse rules
Horse buyers, sellers and breeders use hands every day. Horse shows and official breed rules also state height limits in hands.
Example Conversions
Here are some common hand values changed into inches, feet and meters.
| Hands | Inches | Feet | Meters approx |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 h | 4 in | 0.33 ft | 0.10 m |
| 10 h | 40 in | 3.33 ft | 1.02 m |
| 12 h | 48 in | 4.0 ft | 1.22 m |
| 14.2 hh | 58 in | 4.83 ft | 1.47 m |
| 15.0 hh | 60 in | 5.0 ft | 1.52 m |
| 16.3 hh | 67 in | 5.58 ft | 1.70 m |
You can convert between hands and inches with these simple rules:
- Inches = hands multiplied by 4
- Hands = inches divided by 4
Related Units
The hand is related to several other units of length, especially those based on the human body.
- Inch the basic unit that makes up a hand, 1 hand equals 4 inches
- Foot a larger imperial unit, 1 foot equals 12 inches or 3 hands equals 1 foot
- Yard another imperial unit for length, 1 yard equals 3 feet or 36 inches
- Meter main metric unit for length, 1 meter is about 9.84 hands
- Palm an old unit based on the width of the palm, usually smaller than a hand
- Span an old unit based on the distance from thumb to little finger when spread
FAQs
Q: Why do horse people still use hands instead of meters?
Hands have been used for horses for many centuries. Horse rules, books and people in the trade are used to it, so the custom continues even in countries that use metric units for most other things.
Q: How do you read a height written as 15.2 hh?
The number before the dot is full hands. The number after the dot is extra inches. So 15.2 hh means 15 hands plus 2 inches. This equals 62 inches or about 1.57 meters.
Q: Can the number after the dot in hands be 4, 5, 6 or higher?
No. One hand is 4 inches, so the extra inches after the dot can only be 0, 1, 2 or 3. For example 15.4 hh is not correct. You should write 16.0 hh instead.
Q: Is the hand an official unit in the metric system?
No. The hand is part of older imperial type systems. The modern metric system uses meters, centimeters and millimeters instead. However, some countries still allow the hand as a special unit for horse height.
Q: Is a hand the same as a palm?
Not exactly. A palm is another old unit based only on the width of the palm without the thumb. It was usually around 3 inches. A hand for measuring horses is fixed at 4 inches.
Q: Where on the horse is the height in hands measured?
Horse height in hands is measured from the ground straight up to the top of the withers. The withers are the highest part of the back where the neck meets the body, above the shoulders.
