How accurate are those weight tapes?

MelissaH

MelissaH

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Dec 23, 2004
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I finally bought a scale for feed today and I used a tape to get a guesstimation of both horses. I want to weigh their feed so I give tthem proper amounts. How close are those tapes? Anyone use them to keep an eye on their horses.

Mo was about 850, 14.2hh & dube was about 1000 15.2 hh.

Lone was lighter tahn thought and one taller.
 
They are not that accurate but they are a good way to monitor change.
I think there are formulas out there that also take the length of the horse's body into consideration in addition to the heart girth measurement the tape provides. That might get a bit more accurate...
 
not terribly at all, for actual weight. they are useful to keep track of a horse who you are trying to diet or put weight on, since if you look at them every day, it's easy to miss a gradual loss or gain.
 
I tried using them a couple of times and, well, they told me that a 15.2hh was either a 14.1hh or an 18.3hh! Clearly, I was going wrong somewhere but the person nearby who laughed and said "I'll show you" got the same result :D
 
Haha that happened to me too Stella, :eek: was the reaction as no matter what way I used it I was told my 15.1hh horse was 18.3hh... was quite funny as she wasn't actually over-weight. Tapes confuse me :eek:
 
I have found they all differ so best bet is to use one and always use the same one. The formula is something like girth in cm squared times length all divided by some monstous figure like 11638, I used 3 tapes and got a range of 525kg to 675kg. As said earlier stay with the same one and you get an idea if they are gaining or loosing.
 
we just got a new one cos the old one was starting to split - and miraculously they have all put on weight ;)

We figure the old one may have stretched with time.

Its a good idea to combine weight tapes with doing condition counts. Our Fell develops fat pads over kidneys and starts putting a crest on without a massive change in his weight tape measurement. So we look at the overall picture and the tape measurement is just one part of it.

We've cut down turnout on the long grass this week, and all of a sudden they are eating up every scrap of hay at night... can't imagine why :rolleyes: (around 6 acres of grass that is a generous swathe, versus a couple of paddocks that are grazed short).
 
Not that accurate. I should`nt trust it, I have had my horses correctly weighed and then I used the weightape to see if it worked, and well: It did`nt. Not even close.
 
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I also have a weight tape, and it is acutally pretty accurate
We have in the village a weighing scales for weighing cows, horses, pigs, sheeps, cars, trailers etc. And last summer my hore was way overweight and the scales showed her 405kgs. My measuring tape should her at 400 kgs. :eek:

she is now at 366kg and as soon as the snow is gone i will be pottering down to the sacles to weigh her again.

I also use it to monitor her grass belly. whether its getting bigger or smaller :)

as to the height thing, never bothered with that bit.

As for the formula thats int he BHS Stable management book, i wanted to try it out but wasnt quite sure if i was measuring the horse out correctly :eek:
 
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The formula (although also an estimate) is as follows:
Heartgirth x Heartgirth x Length)/300 + 50 = Weight (lbs)

To clarify: measure your horse from the point of chest to the point of croup (inches) to get the length. Then measure your horse’s circumference (i.e. heartgirth).

And sorry, I am in the states so no metric for you! :p
 
i think in the BHS book its says to measure the length of the horse and the girth...

for the girth do you just measure aroudn the horse as if you were using a weight tape?

and the length? from point of chest to point of bum?
 
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