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
History of the horse in Britain Act aimed at improving the height and strength of horses; no stallion under and no mare under 13 hands (52 inches, 132 cm) was permitted to run out on common land, or to run wild, and no two-year-old colt under 11.2 hands (46 inches, 117 cm) was allowed to run out in any area with mares. Annual round-ups on common land were enforced, and any stallion under the height limit was ordered to be destroyed, along with "all unlikely [small horses] whether mares or foals". Henry VIII also established a stud for breeding imported horses such as the Spanish Jennet,