weight tape and minis

[Cowboy's my baby]

Hello,

Just wondering if weight tapes give an accurate estimate of a mini's weight?

Thanks.

 

[Cowboy's my baby]

And, if not, what's the best way to "weigh" them if you do not have access to a scale?

Thanks again

 

[chandab]

They really aren't that accurate.

There are a couple of different formulas to calculate weight that are pretty good. The one I've used is the following:

[heart girth in inches (squared)]x length in inches divided by 330 for an adult (divide by 280 for weanling).

Heart girth is measured around the horse's barrel with the tape placed at the last hairs on the withers. Length is measured from the point of the shoulder to the middle of the muscle crease at the rear of the hindquarters. [you can use a regular seamstress measuring tape for this.]

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

I weight taped Deacon at 275, then brought him to the lab and put him on a horse scale and the reading said 280.

Usually they aren't that accurate, but so far its perfect for my boy, lol. When I did a mini "study" for large horses, two out of 20 were within 5 lbs, the rest were up to 300lbs off. The AVERAGE was 20% underestimated.

 

[MiLo Minis]

Our Miniature Horse club, the MHCO or Miniature Horse Club of Ontario did a weight clinic in the spring. We weighed our horses using a weight tape, formula and actual scale. We noted the body type as well. The results are posted in the clinic notes on our website www.mhco.ca The results are very interesting - check it out!