Height/weight tape

[monica987]

a) Why are they so expensive?
b) could you not just use a tape measure? (to measure the size of their bellies

c)how does it tell if a certain horse is over/underweight coz of all the different breeds?

 

[monica987]

Forgot to add, is it worth buying one? they have a cheap one on ebay

 

[Christmas_Kate]

The idea is it measures their weight, not belly size. It also measures height.

I don't think 3 pounds is expensive

http://www.robinsons-uk.com/products/Productdetail.asp?ProductCode=49303

 

[Chex]

Thats way cheaper than at the tackshop, they were wanting £13 for one

.

 

[Christmas_Kate]

HOW much??? what a rip off!

 

[puddicat]

a) I agree with Katy - they shouldn't be expensive unless you're getting ripped off they are nothing more than a tape measure. The Dodson and Horrel weight tape is the most accurate, I have that and a Spillers tape but the Spillers tape isn't very clever.

b) No reason whatsoever, there are different several formula that be used to turn girth circumference measured using a tape measure into body weight. You would need a long tape measure of course.

c) it doesn't for a technical reason and that is it is only possible to speak about something being 'over weight' if you know BOTH its mass and its size. So 20 kg doggy could be skinny or fat depending on how big the dog is. That is why Body Mass Index takes both height and mass into consideration - the height measurement is a size reference. However that raises another interesting point which is that the pupose of measuring at the girth position is that the body shape is fairly invariant at that point. What determnines the measurement is the dimensions of the rib cage (which is skeletal so it doesn't alter in the adult animal) and the muscles that overly that region. It isn't a positin where a significant amount of fat is depositied but variation in muscle mass will give some variation in the girth measurement.

 

[Paint it Lucky]

There is a formula you can use to work out a horse/pony's weight:
(heart girth(cm) multiplied by Length ) divided by 8717

Length= from point of shoulder to point of buttock
Heart girth= distance all the way round horse from base of withers and round under the belly.

This isn't as accurate as most weight tapes but gives a rough idea.

If you post a photo together with the horse's height I could guess a rough weight and assess condition.

 

[monica987]

Thankies, i dont think £3 is expensive, Countrywide down the road was selling them for £28!! thats why io thought they were expensive