question .......1 length

[richard-westwood]

there are a lot of knowledgable people on here and some may have experience with racehorses themselves .....i was just wondering if anyone knew the actual length of a racehorse in general as ive had to estimate it from photos ....rough approximations at the track parade rings etc .....i have a figure of 8.80 feet .....does anyone know if this sounds correct ?

[skylark2009]

Re: question .......1 length From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia A horse length, or simply length, is a unit of measurement that refers to the length of a horse from nose to tail, approximately 8 feet,^[1] It is commonly used in Thoroughbred horse racing, where it describes the distance between horses in a race. Horses may be described as winning by several lengths, as in the notable example of Secretariat, who won the Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths (248 feet (76 m)) More often winning distances are merely a fraction of a length, such as half a length. Distances smaller than that are similarly described in reference to the equine body with terms such as a "neck", a "head", a "short head", a "nose" or "the slimmest fraction of a nose." Using this from wikipedia, 248 feet = 31 lengths then approx 8 feet give or take