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1 A hand is equal to 4 inches or 10.2cms. 2  You should measure your horse from the point of the withers to the ground. 3  A horse that is 61 inches tall is 15.1 hands or 15 hands and 1 inch or 15.1hh. 4  This is calculated using (61/4 = 15.25); the .25 is the decimal equivalent of one quarter and a quarter of 4 = 1; so 15.1hh.
As stated above, a horse's height is measured in hands. The origin of measuring a horse this way is very old, but easy to understand. In days long ago people did not have the common measuring devices (like tape measures, etc.) that we do today. To measure a horse, they used what was handy (no pun intended): Their hands.