how accurate are weigh tapes?

[Horses24-7]

the reason i ask is ive weigh taped my lad whos 17hh and hes taped in at 560kg

hes ideal on condition scoring- definately not underweight (the fittest hes been since ive had him) but 560kg seems very light to me?

 

[Feisty Mare]

Hmm I'm not convinced on them with big horses - my 16.3/17hh comes out as around 500kg yes he actually weighs (on a weighbridge) 600kg! A lot of his height comes from his legs - he is not a "big" horse just tall. Maybe try the formula to work weight out, it's on the back of my weigh tape but don't have it to hand.

 

[xRobyn]

My horse taped at 510kg and was weighed by Spillers as 556kg so pretty close to be fair. Now I just add 50kg to the tape. It might not be accurate the whole way round but it gives an idea

 

[Oberon]

The Tank measured at 625kg and then went on a weigh bridge and it was around 650kg.

He's a 16.1hh Ardennes x ID!

 

[charmeroo]

Err - No!

My big horse measured about 630kgs on the weightape and on a weigh bridge he was actually 787kgs!!!

 

[dafthoss]

Not very! My boy was 405kg on the weigh tape and 494kg on the weigh bridge hes not that much of an unusual shape either.

 

[NeilM]

We spoke to a senior vet about weight tapes quite recently. They are not accurate at all, BUT; they are a good way of keeping a regular check on your horses weight.

We have two, and old'un and a fat lad, ... erm I mean, a good doer. We weight tape them around once a month, a little more often when it's cold, as our older mare can loose weight very fast. We then enter the measurements (we actually measure cm's not weight) into a spreadsheet...yes I know, very nerdy, but it means we have a month by month guide of the pair of them going back four years, since we got the sturdy conveyance (that's polite for fat lad).

For this sort of thing, weight tapes are excellent, for a real measure of your horses weight, I would say they are dodgy, at best.

 

[Bikerchickone]

I use a weigh tape quite regularly on mine, but more so that I know if they've put any weight on or lost any since the last time I measured. I wouldn't use it as a proper weight guide, I just use it to make sure I'm feeding correctly for them to maintain rather than go up and down. Can't really see how they could possibly be accurate for any and every horse anyway!

 

[Bikerchickone]

Neil put that so much better than I did lol!

 

[NeilM]

I use a weigh tape quite regularly on mine, but more so that I know if they've put any weight on or lost any since the last time I measured. I wouldn't use it as a proper weight guide, I just use it to make sure I'm feeding correctly for them to maintain rather than go up and down. Can't really see how they could possibly be accurate for any and every horse anyway!

I'm pleased to see that the OH and I are not the only 'weight nerds'

Just to make you feel even better, the vet; who lectures / teaches at Langford said our nerdsheet...I mean spreadsheet, was a fine example of "best practice".

 

[BombayMix]

I don't think they are accurate but they give you a gauge. As long as you always measure in the same place if one week it reads 450 and a month later it says 500 you know the horse must have gained weight!