Estimating bodyweight is something even the most experienced equine professionals find difficult to do, and yet an accurate estimate of bodyweight is a crucial for feeding, worming and administering medications correctly.
The most accurate way to measure your horse's bodyweight is to use a set of livestock scales; however few of us have the luxury of a set of scales at our disposal. Fortunately, two methods of estimating mature horse bodyweight using measurements of the horse's girth and length have been developed and are summarised below.
Method 1: Girth Measurement
The first method involves a simple girth measurement. The girth measurement should be made by placing a measuring tape (or a piece of string that you can measure later) around the horses girth, just behind the withers and elbows as shown in Figure 1 and taking the measurement after the horse breathes out. Once you have taken the measurement, round it up or down to nearest 10 cm and use the table below to estimate your horse's bodyweight.
|
Bodyweight (kg) |
Girth Length
(cm) |
Mature Horses |
Pregnant Mare
(8 months) |
Pregnant Mare
(9 months) |
Pregnant Mare
(10 months) |
Pregnant Mare
(11 months) |
|
80 |
45 |
46 |
48 |
50 |
53 |
|
90 |
70 |
71 |
74 |
78 |
82 |
|
100 |
90 |
92 |
95 |
100 |
105 |
|
110 |
120 |
122 |
127 |
133 |
140 |
|
120 |
150 |
153 |
159 |
167 |
176 |
|
130 |
185 |
189 |
196 |
205 |
216 |
|
140 |
230 |
235 |
244 |
255 |
269 |
|
150 |
285 |
291 |
302 |
316 |
333 |
|
160 |
345 |
352 |
366 |
383 |
404 |
|
170 |
410 |
418 |
435 |
455 |
480 |
|
180 |
475 |
485 |
504 |
527 |
556 |
|
190 |
545 |
556 |
578 |
605 |
638 |
|
200 |
615 |
627 |
652 |
683 |
720 |
Figure 1: Shows where to take the girth and length measurements to estimate the bodyweight of your horse.
Method 2: Girth and Length Measurement
A slightly more accurate method of estimating bodyweight is to take a girth and length measurement. Again, the girth measurement is taken after the horse breathes out and the length measurement should extend from the point of the horses shoulder to the point of the buttocks as shown in Figure 1. Both measurements should be made in centimetres. Once you have obtained the measurements, you can use the following equation to estimate bodyweight:
Bodyweight (kg) = [Girth (cm) x Girth (cm) x Length (cm)] ¸ 11 800
|
