How many chains is 1 hand?

One hand equals approximately 0.004992 chains (about 1/200 of a chain). Since 1 hand = 4 inches = 0.1016 m and 1 chain = 20.1168 m.

How many hands are in 1 chain?

One chain contains approximately 200.4 hands (66 feet / 4 inches per hand x 12 inches per foot = 198 hands). More precisely, 66 feet x 12 / 4 = 198.

Is this conversion practical?

Rarely. If describing a paddock in chains and a horse in hands, converting between them could help visualize how many horses fit in a given field length.

Hands to Chains (hh to ch) Converter

1 hh = 0.0051 ch

1 Hand equals 0.0051 Chains (1 hh = 0.0051 ch). Convert Hands to Chains with formula, table, and examples.

One hand equals approximately 0.004992 chains, or about 1/200 of a chain. A chain (66 feet / 20.12 m) contains approximately 200.4 hands. Both units come from the English measurement tradition but serve different worlds: hands for horses, chains for land surveying.

How to Convert Hands to Chains

ch = hh ÷ 198

Divide the value in Hands by 198

Take your value in Hands
Divide by 198
Read the result in Chains

Common Hands to Chains Conversions

Hands (hh)	Chains (ch)	Status
1 hh	0.0051 ch
5 hh	0.0253 ch
10 hh	0.0505 ch
14 hh	0.0707 ch
17 hh	0.0859 ch
50 hh	0.2525 ch
100 hh	0.5051 ch
200 hh	1.0101 ch
500 hh	2.5253 ch
1,000 hh	5.0505 ch
5,000 hh	25.2525 ch
10,000 hh	50.5051 ch

Good to Know About Hands to Chains Conversion

The hand and chain both derive from the English foot-based system. The hand (4 inches) measures the animal; the chain (66 feet) measures the field the animal grazes in. Both are practical units born from rural English life.

Hands to Chains: What You Need to Know

A chain is about 200 hands long. A cricket pitch (1 chain) would fit about 12.5 horses standing nose-to-tail (at 16 hands each). When old English property records describe boundaries near stables or paddocks, converting between chains and hands helps reconcile land and equestrian measurements.

What is a Hand? hh

Exactly 4 inches (10.16 cm). The standard unit for measuring the height of horses, measured from the ground to the withers.

Imperial horse height measurement equestrian

Learn more about Hand →

What is a Chain? ch

Exactly 66 feet or 4 rods (20.1168 m). Invented by Edmund Gunter for land surveying. 80 chains make one mile. Still used in US public land surveys.

Imperial land surveying US public land

Learn more about Chain →

Going the other way? Use our Chains to Hands converter.

Hands to Chains FAQ

One hand equals approximately 0.004992 chains (about 1/200 of a chain). Since 1 hand = 4 inches = 0.1016 m and 1 chain = 20.1168 m.
One chain contains approximately 200.4 hands (66 feet / 4 inches per hand x 12 inches per foot = 198 hands). More precisely, 66 feet x 12 / 4 = 198.
Rarely. If describing a paddock in chains and a horse in hands, converting between them could help visualize how many horses fit in a given field length.

Non-Frequently Asked Questions About Hands to Chains

Questions nobody should ask - but someone did.

A horse is about 8 feet (24 hands) long from nose to tail. A chain is 66 feet (198 hands). So about 8.25 horses fit in one chain. A paddock 1 chain x 1 chain = about 68 horses if packed tight. Nobody packs horses this tight. They bite.
Not directly. But horses dragged the surveyor's equipment, including the chain itself. The horse measured in hands pulled the chain measured in links across the field measured in chains. The hand-unit animal was the chain-unit transportation. A beautiful circle of measurement.
A chain (66 feet / 20 m) square paddock is about 0.1 acres. The recommended minimum paddock for one horse is about 0.5-1 acre. So a 1-chain square paddock is too small. You need at least a 2x3 chain paddock for a comfortable horse. Horses need room to be horses.