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Weight is one of the main characteristics of a horse, along with breed or color. Experienced horse breeders must follow the growth dynamics of thoroughbred pets. Knowing how much a horse weighs is necessary for successful breeding, treatment, calculation of optimal sports and work loads, for selling the animal.
The mass of any horse is not constant and changes throughout the life of the animal. Weight is influenced by many factors, such as age, diet, housing conditions, and purpose.
Horse weight is not constant
Weight categories and body condition
The weight of the animal is an important criterion for the classification of horses. Depending on the body weight, all horses can be divided into several categories:
- Light - a category with only an upper limit of 400 kg. This includes horses weighing up to 200 kg, and small ponies weighing no more than 20 kg.
- Animals of the middle category gain from 400 to 600 kg.
- Heavy horses reach 600 kg and more.
Another important characteristic of a horse is body condition. With the help of it, an experienced specialist will immediately determine in what conditions the animal is kept and what is its intended use. The following categories of fatness are distinguished:
- Unsatisfactory. In such an animal, upon visual inspection, you can see more than three ribs, protruding shoulder blades and bones of the croup. There is no subcutaneous fat, and there is not enough muscle mass. This condition of the horse is usually the result of poor maintenance, insufficient nutrition, too much work or disease. Often such exhaustion is characteristic of an old animal.
- Sports (training). This is a normal condition for horses participating in sporting events or races at the racetrack. They are characterized by tight shapes and well-visible relief muscles, animals have excellent health.
- Working. The main purpose of a horse is high performance. The animals are moderately fattened, but do not have fat deposits. This degree of fatness is observed in working, rolling and agricultural horses.
- Factory. The main task of horses is procreation. They have rounded shapes, a complete diet and enhanced nutrition. Such maintenance helps mares to carry foals.
- Exhibition. Horses intended for exhibitions or various shows. The animals are well-fed, look great, well-fed and have no pronounced muscles. The shape and smooth shiny coat favorably emphasize the appearance and beauty of such a horse at an event.
Ponies are classified as light horses
Average weight by breed
How much an adult horse will weigh depends primarily on its breed. A huge number of the most diverse breeds have been bred in the world, but any of them can be attributed to one of three weight categories.
Light category.These include ponies and small horses of local selection:
| Breed | Height at withers, weight |
|---|---|
| Falabella | The height at the withers is from 40 to 75 cm, the weight of the horse ranges from 20-60 kg. |
| American miniature | The horse is no higher than 85 centimeters, weighs 50-70 kg. |
| Shetland ponies | Height - 65-110 cm, weight - up to 200 kg. |
| Australian pony | Height - between 120 and 140 cm, weight - up to 270 kg. |
| Welsh pony | It grows up to 137 centimeters and weighs 300-350 kg. |
Medium category. These are breeds specially bred for sports and large working horses:
| Breed | Height at withers, weight |
|---|---|
| Trotters (American, Oryol, Russian, French) | Height at withers - within 142-162 cm, weight - 400-500 kg. |
| Arabian horse | 1.50-1.55 m, up to 450 kg. |
| English horse | 155-170 cm, 450 to 550 kg. |
| Trakenenskaya and Budenovskaya | Up to 168 cm, weight - up to 500 kg. |
| Holstein | Up to 175 cm, weighs from 500 to 550 kg. |
Heavyweight category. These are draft and heavy draft breeds. Among them are:
| Breed | Height at withers, weight |
|---|---|
| Ardenne heavy trucks | A stallion of this breed can weigh 700-900 kg, the height is approximately 152-163 cm at the withers. |
| Vladimir heavy trucks | The average weight of a horse of this breed is about 900 kg, the height at the withers is 170 cm. |
| Kleydesdale | 163-183 cm, 800-900 kg. |
| The Percherons | Height at the withers can reach 175 cm, weight - up to 1000 kg. |
| Brabancons | The horse reaches 160-170 cm, but there are individuals and 180 cm each, such a horse will have a decent weight: 800-1100 kg. |
| Shire | Height - from 173 cm and above, weight - from 900 kg. |
Determination of mass
There are eight main ways to determine how much a horse weighs.
Scales for farm animals
You can determine how much any horse weighs, quite accurately, on average, the weighing error is no more than 1 kg. The structure is a platform with a fence mounted on the sensors.
Car weights
Such scales are found in car services or in large warehouses. The error is much greater than that of specialized scales, but, as a rule, such a mass measurement is quite sufficient.
Special measuring tapes
In European countries, special ribbons of three types are produced: for ponies, riding and heavy draft horses. They are marked with a scale in kilograms. To determine the weight of a horse, it is necessary to measure the volume of the chest with a tape of the required type and select the appropriate division.
Sewing tape measure
You can roughly measure the weight of a horse using a regular measuring tape. You need to take 2 measurements: body length and chest volume. The mass is calculated by the formula:
M = V2 × L, where V - chest volume, L - horse length.
When measuring, the horse needs to be level. The result can be influenced by the thickness of the animal's fur, therefore, the calculated weight before and after shearing is significantly different.
Matorin's method
This formula is suitable for calculating the mass of any horse:
M = 6 × V - 620, where V is the chest circumference in centimeters.
Durst method
For this method, special coefficients are derived, which are calculated for each type of horse.
The calculation is made according to the formula:
M = V × K, where V is the chest circumference in centimeters, and K is the coefficient.
K = 2.7 for light category horses, 3.1 for medium category, 3.5 for heavy category.
Calculating horse weight through height
You can determine the weight of a horse through its height
The height of a horse is taken in centimeters and is measured as the distance from the ground to the highest point of the withers. To calculate, you need to multiply the height and the coefficient, which depends on the weight category of the horse.
For the light category:
- thick - 2.58;
- medium - 2.3;
- thin -—2.10.
For the heavyweight category:
- thick - 3.39;
- thin - 3.06.
Formula of Platonov and Dzeverin
The method was developed in 2004 and provides an accuracy of up to 96%. This is comparable to weighing a horse on a specialized scale.
Formula: M = 37.82 × W + 53.01 × B + 3.74 × L + 3.95 × T - 867.47, where:
- W is a value equal to 0 for race horses and trotters, 1 - for heavyweights;
- T - chest girth;
- B = 0 for horses under 5 years old, 1 for older horses.
World record holders by weight
One of the largest horses in the world
The Shire is considered the largest breed of horses; the weight of this animal is about 1100 kg. Even among the Shire, there are outstanding horses, whose weight is included in the Guinness Book of Records. There are giants among horses of other breeds.
Sampson
The absolute world record was set in the middle of the 18th century in Bedfordshire, Great Britain. The largest horse in the world is a stallion named Sampson, which by the age of 6 reached 220 centimeters, and his weight was 1520 kg. Until now, no horse in the world has broken this record.
Big Jake
The current world growth record was recorded in 2010 and belongs to a horse named Big Jake from the Brabancon breed from Belgium. His height at the withers is truly gigantic and is 217 cm, weight - 2600 pounds (1180 kg). These parameters make him the tallest horse in the world. The owner of Big Jake is currently collaborating with the Ronald McDonald House Foundation, and the horse participates in charity performances.
Until 2010, the tallest horse was the Shire stallion Remington (210 cm).
Nordram Lascombe
The stallion of the Shire breed Noddy from Australia has today grown to 205 cm. But in terms of weight, it is he who is currently the world leader with a live weight of 1300 kg.
Dr. Le Ger
This stallion lived in France at the beginning of the 20th century. This representative of the Percheron breed in 1910 was recognized as the largest horse in the world. His height at this time was 213 centimeters, weight - 1372 kg. Until now, French horse breeders have not managed to raise a single horse of similar size.
Brooklyn Supreme
This representative of the Brabancon breed was also one of the largest horses. Its height at the withers was 198 cm, while the weight was close to the record - 1451 kg.
Duke
The horse lives in the UK and has impressive growth. According to the latest data, Duke has grown to 207 cm. His owner claims that the stallion continues to grow at a good pace and can bypass Big Jake in the near future. The secret of Duke's size lies in his unique diet. It includes special varieties of apples and special herbal infusions. Every day, Duke eats almost 8 kg of grain and drinks about 100 liters of water.
Morocco
One of the largest representatives of the Percheron breed. The growth of this giant is 215 cm, weight - 1285 kg.
Cracker
This horse is the heaviest and most powerful member of the Shire breed. His height is 198 cm, which is not very much in comparison with other record holders, but Cracker's body weight is impressive - it exceeded 1200 kg when the stallion turned 16 years old.
Digger
This stallion is a member of the Royal Horse Guards. With a height of 196 cm, he weighs 1200 kg. This horse was awarded an entry in the Guinness Book of Records, as it continues to grow even at the age of 12 years. Digger's diet consists of 75 liters of water and about 30 kg of hay daily.
Horses are wonderful and amazing animals with amazing variety. The smallest representatives reach only 40 cm in height, and real giants grow above 2 meters and can weigh over a ton.
