The hand is a non-SI unit of measurement of length standardized to four inches (101.6 mm). It is used to measure the height of horses in many English-speaking countries, including Australia, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. When spoken aloud, hands are stated by numbers, 15.0 is "fifteen hands", 15.2 is alternately "fifteen-two" or "fifteen hands, two inches", and so on.
History
Ancient Egypt
thumb|left|250px|Detail of the cubit rod in the [[Museo Egizio of Turin, showing digit, palm, hand and fist lengths]]
The hand, sometimes also called a handbreadth or handsbreadth, is an anthropic unit, originally based on the breadth of a male human hand, either with or without the thumb,
In those countries where hands are the usual unit for measuring horse height, inches rather than hands are commonly used in the measurement of smaller equines including miniature horses/ponies,
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