Horse breeds · from TrotleyAmerican Quarter Horse weight and height, with the genetic tests that matter
Quarter Horse weight covers a wide range, and the heavy muscling behind it ties into several inherited conditions that UC Davis can test for before a mating or a surgery.
Short answer
Most Quarter Horses weigh 1,000 to 1,300 pounds and stand 14.2 to 15.2 hands.
Virginia Cooperative Extension puts the breed at about 15 hands and 1,000 to 1,300 pounds (454 to 590 kg). eXtension gives 14.2 to 15.2 hands (58 to 62 inches), and the University of Kentucky lists 14.2 to 17 hands, so taller horses exist.
Virginia Cooperative Extension, eXtension Horses and University of Kentucky
| Source | Height | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Virginia Cooperative Extension | About 15 hands | 1,000 to 1,300 lb |
| eXtension Horses | 14.2 to 15.2 hands | Not given |
| University of Kentucky | 14.2 to 17 hands | Not given |
| Oklahoma State University (the foundation sire Steel Dust, foaled 1843) | 15 hands | About 1,200 lb |
The sources describe the breed in general. A healthy horse can sit outside these ranges.
Why the range is so wide
Virginia Cooperative Extension’s weight range spans 300 pounds, while eXtension’s height range spans four inches, so most of the difference is muscle and condition rather than frame. Oklahoma State notes that Steel Dust, the 1840s stallion whose type gave the breed its early reputation, stood 15 hands and weighed about 1,200 pounds, the middle of today’s range.
Merck counts the Quarter Horse among the easy keepers, which hold weight on less feed than Thoroughbreds: about 0.03 Mcal of digestible energy per kilogram of body weight a day for maintenance, against 0.04 for hard keepers.
Daily hay for a 1,150 pound American Quarter Horse
The arithmetic uses 1,150 pounds, the middle of the Virginia range. Replace it with your own horse’s weight and the percentages scale with it.
Merck’s starting point for a healthy adult is 2 to 2.5% of body weight in feed dry matter a day, at least half of it forage, and 1.5% for an obese horse, with a warning that severe restriction can be harmful. These figures are our arithmetic from 1,150 lb, counting hay as 90% dry matter (Merck gives 88 to 90%).
As an easy keeper, a Quarter Horse at pasture often needs the lower lines. Check the result against body condition each month.
- 1.5% of body weight: 17 lb (8 kg) of dry matter, about 19 lb (9 kg) of hay
- 2% of body weight: 23 lb (10 kg) of dry matter, about 26 lb (12 kg) of hay
- 2.5% of body weight: 29 lb (13 kg) of dry matter, about 32 lb (14 kg) of hay
A weight tape example for an American Quarter Horse
The horse weight calculator uses the adult equation in the Merck Veterinary Manual: heart girth squared times body length, in inches, divided by 330, gives pounds. A heart girth of 73 inches and a body length of 71 inches gives 73 x 73 = 5,329, times 71 = 378,359, divided by 330 = about 1,147 lb (520 kg). Those measurements are our illustration of the formula, not a real horse.
Merck notes the equation slightly underestimates real weight and that a scale is the only exact method, so measure the same way each time to keep the trend reliable.
Genetic tests for Quarter Horses
The UC Davis Center for Equine Health lists a Quarter Horse and Related Breeds Disease Panel among the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory tests, run on hair samples with the roots attached. It says the American Quarter Horse Association requires HERDA and GBED testing for breeding stallions, and that GBED, HERDA and malignant hyperthermia are part of the AQHA five panel test. Five conditions come up most often:
- HYPP (hyperkalemic periodic paralysis): dominant, linked to heavy muscling and to descendants of the stallion Impressive. Attacks of tremors, weakness or collapse are unpredictable, and severe ones need emergency veterinary treatment.
- GBED (glycogen branching enzyme deficiency): recessive and fatal to affected foals. UC Davis estimates the carrier frequency at 8.3% in Quarter Horses and advises testing sires and dams to avoid carrier by carrier matings.
- HERDA (hereditary equine regional dermal asthenia): recessive. Skin along the back tears easily, usually noticed around age two when saddling begins. There is no treatment, and carriers have no known health problems.
- Malignant hyperthermia: dominant, set off by anesthesia drugs. UC Davis advises testing Quarter Horses and related breeds before general anesthesia.
- PSSM1: dominant, causing stiffness and tying up after exercise.
Feeding a horse prone to muscle problems
Two of those conditions are managed partly in the feed bucket. For HYPP, UC Davis recommends avoiding high potassium feeds such as alfalfa hay, brome hay and molasses, choosing later cuts of timothy or bermudagrass hay, and feeding small meals several times a day with regular turnout. For PSSM1 it advises keeping non-structural carbohydrate below 12% of the diet, exercising daily, and feeding low sugar grass hay with a good ration balancer. The two diets differ, so talk to your vet before changing the feed of a horse with a diagnosed muscle disease.
Body condition
Merck advises keeping adult horses between 4 and 6 on the 9 point Henneke scale, and the University of Georgia describes a 5 as a horse whose ribs cannot be seen but are easily felt. In the University of Minnesota’s measurements, 14% of stock horses, ponies and Arabians scored 7 or more, which Merck counts as overweight. Record the tape estimate and the score together each month, so a rising weight with a steady score reads as muscle and a rising score reads as extra fat.
Frequently asked questions
How much does an American Quarter Horse weigh?
Virginia Cooperative Extension gives 1,000 to 1,300 pounds (454 to 590 kg) for a horse of about 15 hands. Oklahoma State records the foundation sire Steel Dust at about 1,200 pounds.
How much does a Quarter Horse eat a day?
For a 1,150 pound horse, 2% of body weight is 23 pounds of dry matter, about 26 pounds of hay. Merck’s usual range of 2 to 2.5% gives 23 to 29 pounds of dry matter at this weight. These figures are our arithmetic.
Can a Quarter Horse carry a 200 pound rider?
The University of Minnesota reports that an average adult light riding horse can comfortably carry about 20% of its ideal bodyweight, rider and tack included. For 1,150 pounds that is about 230 pounds, so a 200 pound rider with 25 pounds of tack is just inside it. Conformation, fitness and terrain change the answer.
Should I test my Quarter Horse for HYPP?
UC Davis says horses that descend from Impressive and show signs are highly likely to be affected, and a hair sample with roots can go to its Veterinary Genetics Laboratory. Results read N/N, N/H or H/H. Ask your vet whether testing and a potassium aware diet make sense for your horse.
Sources
- Virginia Cooperative Extension, Horseless Horse Project Unit 2 (4H-931)
- eXtension Horses, Light Horse Breed: American Quarter Horse
- University of Kentucky Equine Programs, Horse breeds
- Oklahoma State University, Breeds of Livestock: Quarter Horses
- UC Davis Center for Equine Health, HYPP
- UC Davis Center for Equine Health, GBED
- UC Davis Center for Equine Health, HERDA
- UC Davis Center for Equine Health, Malignant hyperthermia
- UC Davis Center for Equine Health, Polysaccharide storage myopathy
- UC Davis Center for Equine Health, UC Davis horse tests
- Merck Veterinary Manual, Feeding Practices in Horses and Other Equids
- Merck Veterinary Manual, Nutritional Requirements of Horses and Other Equids
- University of Georgia Extension, Feeding strategies for peak performance in horses (B 1365)
- University of Minnesota Extension, Estimating actual and ideal bodyweight of adult horses
- University of Minnesota Extension, Guidelines for weight-carrying capacity of horses
Checked on October 2, 2026.
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See TrotleyMore in Horse breeds
- American Paint HorseA Paint Horse stands 14.2 to 15.2 hands and weighs about what a Quarter Horse does, 1,000 to 1,300 pounds.
- AppaloosaMost Appaloosas weigh 950 to 1,250 pounds and stand 14 to 16 hands.
- MorganA Morgan weighs 900 to 1,100 pounds and stands 14.2 to 15.2 hands.
- ThoroughbredA typical Thoroughbred weighs about 1,000 pounds and stands about 16 hands.
- American SaddlebredAn American Saddlebred weighs 1,000 to 1,200 pounds and stands about 15 to 16.3 hands.
- ArabianAn Arabian usually weighs 800 to 1,000 pounds and stands 14.2 to 15.2 hands.
- Horse weight calculatorFree tool: Estimate a horse’s weight from heart girth and body length with the formulas in the Merck Veterinary Manual, for adults, yearlings and weanlings.
