It certainly can create error, but only if the hand being used is the 4-inch
one (which European, Australian, and other overseas horse purchasers would
rightly assume is being used in the case of US horses). No doubt they make
the conversion to meters or metric hands if they see an ad for an American
horse that looks like an attractive purchase.
There's an old saying "Sell tall and buy short" that refers to the practice
of "fudging" a horse's height. Horses are sometimes intentionally
mis-measured (using a point on the neck above the withers) and claimed to be
taller than they really are, and some horses were even taught to stand
taller (extending their joints a little) when being measured so that they
would appear taller to a potential buyer. -- Jason
----- Original Message -----
From: "Daniel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2005 7:26 PM
Subject: Re: [USMA:34596] Re: Metric US draft horses
I can see where measuring a horse in hands in one place and in decimetres
elsewhere can create error.
If a horse is measured as 17.3 dm high but is called hand, an American
might assume it means 17 American hands and 3 inches. This would equal 71
inches or 18 dm. Thus the American might think the horse taller then it
is.
A Dutchman interpreting an English description of 17 hands 3 inches
(written as 17.3 hands) as 17.3 dm would think the horse shorter then it
is. Not knowing who uses what definition can only make it worse.
Or is this one of the situations that what the other guy doesn't know
won't hurt him?
Dan
----- Original Message -----
From: "James J. Wentworth" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, 2005-09-21 20:55
Subject: [USMA:34596] Re: Metric US draft horses
That is exactly what many equine businesses and stables have done. They
use a metric hand of 100 mm (1 decimeter).
Some countries (the Netherlands, in particular) measure horses' heights
in meters to two decimal places. The metric hand is easily related to
meters since 10 metric hands equals 1 meter (for example, a 17.3 metric
hand draft horse is 1.73 meters tall--just move the decimal point one
space to the left). Also, there's not much chance of confusing metric
hands and meters--a "1.73 hand" horse would be tinier than the smallest
miniature horse foal! :-) -- Jason
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Wade VMS Systems" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2005 6:49 AM
Subject: [USMA:34586] Re: Metric US draft horses
>The drive to preserve the 'hand' is a drive to protect the word 'hand'
>as a
symbol that the user is part of the 'in' crowd of horse person's who
understands the jargon of horses;
Surely there is a very simple solution to the hand. Simply replace it
by the decimeter, that way the numbers don't have to change.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Tom Wade | EMail: tee dot wade at eurokom dot ie
EuroKom | Tel: +353 (1) 296-9696
A2, Nutgrove Office Park | Fax: +353 (1) 296-9697
Rathfarnham | Disclaimer: This is not a disclaimer
Dublin 14 | Tip: "Friends don't let friends do Unix !"
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