Horses hooves, like our finger and toe nails, also grow continuously and need to be trimmed. To do this, the horses shoes need to be removed and their hooves trimmed every 4 -6 weeks. After trimming their hooves new shoes are fitted. The person who cares for a horse's feet is called a farrier or blacksmith. Horses are measured by the width of a human hand - 4 inches or 10 centimetres.
Measurement is taken from the ground up to the withers, the highest point on the horse's shoulder.
A light horse such as a Lipizzana measures between 15.1 and 16.2hh while a heavy horse such as a Shire is between 16.2 and 17.2hh. Ponies are under 14hh. It is possible to age a horse fairly accurately up to10 years of age by their teeth. Whether they are first teeth, permanent teeth, the presence of incisor teeth, the length and slope of teeth all help indicate a horse's age. It is more difficult to age adult horses by their teeth.