Download the worksheet to test your knowledge!
How much does your horse weigh? Do you know how to figure it out without using a scale? What measurements do you even need to know to calculate your horse’s weight? Knowing how to weigh your horse without a scale and just a normal measuring tape is an important skill, so we’re giving you the chance to learn how to do it along with some SmartPakers on SmartPak’s Barn Field Trip.
The fourth video in our Barn Field Trip series focuses on how to weigh a horse with both a weight tape and a normal measuring tape. Click here to download a worksheet and test yourself along with the SmartPakers!
Every few months, SmartPak sends both new and current employees from every department to a local barn to learn about basic horse care from Dr. Lydia Gray, SmartPak’s Staff Veterinarian.
Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to our channel to learn when the next video in the 6-part series gets posted. If you missed any, you can always go back and check them out on our playlist.
Bad with numbers? Let us do the math for you with our Horse Weight Calculator from our Horse Health Library!
Is there a different denominator in the equation for ponies, to find the weight?
Hi Kym,
What a great question! It may surprise you to learn that there’s still a lot of active research in this area, and even a “Healthy Horse” app for purchase since it turns out that the formulas that predict a horse’s weight the best are quite complicated. If you still want to try and figure it out on your own, substitute the 330 denominator for full-size, adult horse with 299 for ponies, 301 for yearlings, and 280 for weanlings.
—Dr. Lydia Gray
My horse, a former lesson horse bless his heart, likes to puff up when you girth him. He also sucks in air when I use the weight tape around his heart girth. Any suggestions for how to get an accurate reading?
What an interesting question! Consistency is the key when it comes to using weight tapes in horses, so you’ll have to figure out a way to measure him on a regular basis that you are confident is “standardized.” One approach may be to weight tape him AFTER he’s been worked and probably isn’t sensitive to girthing any more. Another idea is to place the weight tape around him, snug it up till he notices and begins to puff up, then maintain the tension on the tape while you walk him (this idea may take two people). I bet there’s a way to clicker train him to accept the weight tape without sucking in air too!
– Dr. Lydia Gray