How to Measure a Horse's Weight

Sometimes you need to know how much your horse weighs. Knowing your horse’s body weight is important when administering medications, de-worming and keeping an eye on your horse’s overall health.

Livestock Scale

The best way to get a completely accurate measurement of a horse’s weight is on a livestock scale. Some veterinarian clinics have livestock scales and some may have portable scales. Auction barns often have scales. It may be possible for you to get your horse weighed on a scale if you take him to one of these places.

Truck Scale

You might also be able to weigh your horse on a truck scale, but you will have to load your horse onto your trailer to take him there and weigh the whole rig, with and without the horse loaded on. The horse’s weight will be the difference between the two weights. 

If you weigh your horse on a different day than you weigh your empty trailer, things like how much gear you’ve got stowed and how much fuel is in the tank will affect the total weight. Truck scales are not as finely calibrated as livestock scales, so the weight may be out as much as 20 or 40 lbs, depending on how the scales are set up. Getting a weight this way is tricky and time-consuming.

Measuring Your Horses Body

If you can’t get your horse on a livestock scale, you can approximate its weight by measuring its body. An approximate weight can be measured with a special weight tape. Weight tapes are available at tack shops and feed stores. They are inexpensive and easy to use. They aren’t completely accurate, because they only measure around the girth of the horse, and don’t take into consideration other things like fat/muscle ratio, height, body type, and overall condition.