How to Calculate How Much Weight a Horse Can Carry

The strength of the horse has benefited man for thousands of years. But carrying too much weight causes excessive stress to a horse, increasing the risk of injury or strain. To keep your horse healthy and injury-free, you should be aware of how much weight he can safely carry. If you know your horse's weight, a simple mathematical calculation will estimate how much weight he can safely carry. If you don't know his weight, enlist a friend to help you gather the information to estimate it.

Things You'll Need

  • Tape measure
  • Paper
  • Pencil
  • Calculator (optional)
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Instructions

    • 1

      Measure your horse's heart girth in inches. Hold one end of the tape measure at the top of your horse's withers, and then measure along the girth line and up the other side to the starting point. Your measurement line will be slightly angled. Write the heart girth length down.

    • 2

      Measure from the point of your horse's shoulder to the point of its rump in inches. This will be your horse's body length. Write this down.

    • 3

      Square the hearth girth, and multiply by the length. Divide the result by 300, and add 50 to get the horse's approximate weight in pounds. For example, the approximate weight of a horse with a heart girth length of 75 inches and a length of 60 inches would be 75 x 75 x 60 / 300 + 50 = 1,175 pounds.

    • 4

      Multiply your horse's weight by 0.20 to get the approximate maximum weight he can carry. The example horse could carry 1,175 x 0.20 = 235 pounds.