Hand (unit)

For other uses, see Hand (disambiguation).

The hand is a unit of measurement of length. It is now used only to measure the height of horses in some English-speaking countries, including Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.^[1] This unit started in ancient Egypt and was originally based on the distance across a human hand. Today it is equal to four inches or 10.16 centimeters. It may be abbreviated to "h" or the plural "hh".^[2]

Measurements called the hand (line 2) and the palm is (line 3), among others, on a human hand

References

1. "The "Hand" Measurement for Horses". Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Ontario, Canada. Archived from the original on 2013-05-01. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
2. Brander, Michael (1971). The Complete Guide to Horsemanship. London: A & C Black. pp. 444. ISBN 0-7136-1701-2. p.409