Hand (unit) Biblical exegesis the hand measurement, as for example in the Vision of the Temple, Authorized Version , is usually taken to be palm or handbreadth, and in modern translations may be rendered as "handbreadth" or "three inches". The hand is a traditional unit in the UK. It was standardised at four inches by a statute of King Henry VIII in 1540, but some confusion between the various types of hand measurement, and particularly between the hand and the handsbreadth, appears to have persisted. Phillips's dictionary of 1706 gives four inches for the length of the handful or hand, and three
Domestication of the horse horse of the Iron Age was still relatively small, perhaps high (measured at the withers.) This was shorter overall than the average height of modern riding horses, which range from about . However, small horses were used successfully as light cavalry for many centuries. For example, Fell ponies, believed to be descended from Roman cavalry horses, are comfortably able to carry fully grown adults (although with rather limited ground clearance) at an average height of Likewise, the Arabian horse is noted for a short back and dense bone, and the successes of the Muslims against the heavy mounted knights of