Explanation of the measurement of racehorses in the hands, including the height of the triple crown-winning war admiral

War Admiral is one of the best-known Thoroughbreds in American horse racing history due to the dominance the animal demonstrated during its heyday in the 1930s. Among War Admiral’s many accomplishments, winning the coveted Triple Crown in 1937 It is the main of his successes. To this day, winning the Triple Crown is a feat that has only happened eleven times in the history of the sport.

The beloved horse known as War Admiral was born in 1934 and came from very good stock. The colt was the product of successful breeding between an accomplished racehorse named Man o’War (a former Preakness Stakes winner) and a mare named Brushup. Although War Admiral had a very large sire (Man o’War was 16.2 hands), War Admiral was considered short by racehorse standards at 15.2 hands tall, a full hand shorter than the sire of he. By contrast, the average horse competing in elite competitions like the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes stands 16 hands tall.

The terminology of measuring height in terms of hands is still used in the sport of horse racing, although it is rarely understood by outsiders. The actual conversion is that one hand is equal to four inches. Therefore, a horse that is 16 hands tall is five feet four inches tall. This is the height when the animal is on all four legs and not when it is standing on its hind legs. The proper notation for a horse that is five feet one inch tall (61 inches) is to write 15.1 hands. The correct way to write 15 and a half hands tall is actually 15.2 hands (not 15 and a half or 15 hands and two inches).

An accurate measurement of a horse’s height involves measuring a straight line upwards (vertically) from where a hoof touches flat ground to the highest point on the animal’s back. The highest point on a horse’s back is known as the withers, a term meaning the space between the shoulder blades in a four-legged animal. To clarify, when measuring a horse’s height, the head and neck are not taken into account at all, as standard comparison is basically comparing horse heights based solely on how high their shoulders are off the ground without take into account the size of the neck and head.

The 2003 film Seabiscuit incorrectly depicts War Admiral (the dominant horse of the Seabiscuit era) as 18 hands tall. This theatrical prop exaggerates the horse’s height by 2.2 hands, the equivalent of 10 inches. Anyone familiar with horses understands that exaggerating a racehorse’s height by two and a half hands (correctly spelled 2.2 hands) or 10 inches makes a significant difference since the fit goes from describing a racehorse to size. small to describe a large one. For comparison purposes, consider the difference between describing a basketball player as 6’10” tall when his actual height is 6’0″. By NBA standards, you are effectively describing a player who is in the bottom ten percent for height as one who is in the top ten percent for height.