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The hand is a non-SI unit of measurement of length standardized to Template:Cvt. It is used to measure the height of horses in many English-speaking countries, including Australia,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.<ref name=omafra/> It was originally based on the breadth of a human hand. The adoption of the international inch in 1959 allowed for a standardized imperial form and a metric conversion.Template:CN It may be abbreviated to "h" or "hh".<ref name=brander/> Although measurements between whole hands are usually expressed in what appears to be decimal format, the subdivision of the hand is not decimal but is in base 4, so subdivisions after the radix point are in quarters of a hand, which are inches.<ref name=omafra/> Thus, 62 inches is fifteen and a half hands, or 15.2 hh (normally said as "fifteen-two", or occasionally in full as "fifteen hands two inches").<ref name=omafra/>
TerminologyEdit
"Hands" may be abbreviated to "h", or "hh". The "hh" form is sometimes interpreted as standing for "hands high".<ref>"How big is a hand?" AllHorseBreeds.info. Template:Webarchive</ref><ref name=autogenerated2>Hand Conversion</ref><ref name=autogenerated1>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> When spoken aloud, hands are stated by numbers, 15.0 is "fifteen hands", 15.2 is alternately "fifteen-two" or "fifteen hands, two inches", and so on.<ref name=autogenerated2 /><ref name=autogenerated1 /><ref name=shlei/>
To convert inches to hands, the number in inches is divided by four, then the remainder is added after the radix point. Thus, a horse that measures 60 inches is 15 hands high (15 × 4 = 60) and a horse halfway between 15 and 16 hands is 15.2 hands, or 62 inches tall (15 × 4 + 2 = 62)<ref name=autogenerated2 /><ref name=shlei/> Because the subdivision of a hand is a base 4 system, a horse 64 inches high is 16.0 hands high, not 15.4.<ref name=omafra/> A designation of "15.5 hands" is not halfway between 15 and 16 hands, but rather reads 15 hands and five inches, an impossibility in a base 4 radix numbering system, where a hand is four inches.<ref>Measure Horse Height Accurately</ref>
HistoryEdit
Ancient EgyptEdit
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The hand, sometimes also called a handbreadth or handsbreadth, is an anthropic unit, originally based on the breadth of a male human hand, either with or without the thumb,<ref name=omafra/> or on the height of a clenched fist.<ref name=pant/>
On surviving Ancient Egyptian cubit-rods, the royal cubit is divided into seven palms of four digits or fingers each.<ref name=selin/> Five digits are equal to a hand, with thumb; and six to a closed fist.<ref name=clagett/> The royal cubit measured approximately 525 mm,<ref name=lepsius/> so the width of the ancient Egyptian hand was about 94 mm.
| Name | Egyptian name | Equivalent Egyptian values | Metric equivalent | Imperial equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal cubit | <hiero>M23-t:n-D42</hiero> meh niswt | 7 palms or 28 digits | 525 mm | 20.67 in |
| Fist | 6 digits | 108 mm | 4.25 in | |
| Hand | 5 digits | 94 mm | 3.70 in | |
| Palm | <hiero>D48</hiero> shesep | 4 digits | 75 mm | 2.95 in |
| Digit | <hiero> D50</hiero> djeba | 1/4 palm | 19 mm | 0.75 in |
Biblical useEdit
In Biblical exegesis the hand measurement, as for example in the Vision of the Temple, Authorized Version Template:Bibleverse, is usually taken to be palm or handbreadth, and in modern translations may be rendered as "handbreadth"<ref name=niv/> or "three inches".<ref name=ncv/>
United KingdomEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The hand is a traditional unit in the UK.<ref name=omafra/> It was standardised at four inches by a statute of King Henry VIII, the Horses Act 1540 (32 Hen. 8. c. 13),<ref>32 Hen. 8. c. 13: An Acte for Bryde of Horses.</ref><ref name=mort/> but some confusion between the various types of hand measurement, and particularly between the hand and the handsbreadth, appears to have persisted. Phillips's dictionary of 1706 gives four inches for the length of the handful or hand, and three inches for the handsbreadth;<ref name=phil/> Mortimer gives the same, three inches for the Hand's-breadth, and four for the "Handful, or simply, Hand",<ref name=mort/> but adds "The hand among horse-dealers, &c. is four-fingers' breadth, being the fist clenched, whereby the height of a horse is measured", thus equating "hand" with both the palm and the fist. Similarly, Wright's 1831 translation of Buffon mentions "A hand breadth (palmus), the breadth of the four fingers of the hand, or three inches",<ref name=buffon/> but the Encyclopædia Perthensis of 1816 gives under Palm (4): "A hand, or measure of lengths comprising three inches".<ref name=perth/>
Use in measuring horsesEdit
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Today the hand is used to measure the height of horses,<ref name=omafra/> ponies, and other equines. It is used in the US and also in some other nations that use the metric system, such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland and the UK. In other parts of the world, including continental Europe and in FEI-regulated international competition, horses are measured in metric units, usually metres or centimetres. In South Africa, measurements may be given in both hands and centimetres,<ref name=omafra/> while in Australia, the equestrian regulations stipulate that both measurements are to be given.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In those countries where hands are the usual unit for measuring horse height, inches rather than hands are commonly used in the measurement of smaller equines including miniature horses/ponies,<ref name=amr/> miniature mules,<ref name=amms/> donkeys,<ref name=alberta/> and Shetland ponies.<ref name=edwards/>
A horse is measured from the ground to the top of the highest non-variable point of the skeleton, the withers.<ref name=omafra/> For official measurement, the spinous process of the fifth thoracic vertebra may be identified by palpation, and marked if necessary.<ref name=jmb/> Some varieties of Miniature horses are measured at the base of the last true hairs of the mane rather than at the withers.<ref name=amr/>
For international competition regulated by the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI) and for USEF competition in the US, a horse can be measured with shoes on or off. In the United Kingdom, official measurement of horses is overseen by the Joint Measurement Board (JMB). For JMB purposes, the shoes must be removed and the hooves correctly prepared for shoeing prior to measurement.<ref name=jmb/>
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
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