Stephen Bly Down A Western Trail

A Full Sixteen Hands

June 16, 2022 Stephen Bly Season 4 Episode 5
Stephen Bly Down A Western Trail
A Full Sixteen Hands
Show Notes Transcript

WESTERN WISDOM  Season 4, Episode 05  "A Full Sixteen Hands" audio podcast by award-winning western author Stephen Bly. Sponsored by BlyBooks.com Legacy Series.  

"Sixteen Hands High" blog post article found here:  https://www.blybooks.com/2022/06/sixteen-hands-high-podcast/

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FULL SIXTEEN HANDS

At 6’2” I’ve never been accused of being small. In fact, my size 12 cowboy boots are an embarrassment in a world where the smaller the foot, the better. All of this is to point out why I look for a fairly big horse. When I climb on some little Texas pony I feel like my feet drag the trail.  

My horse Sundance stands right at sixteen hands. In measuring a horse, a hand equals four inches. This measures from the ground to the top of the horse’s withers. So, a horse of sixteen hands stands about 64”. The horses where I live are always larger than the horses in the southern plains. But, of course, men have been getting taller the past hundred years. So have their horses.  

Back in the Old West, a sixteen-hand horse was a rare find and considered as big a riding horse as there was. It’s not too surprising then that the cowboys took the term “a full sixteen hands” and began to apply it to men as well as horse.  

Now, when applied to another cowhand, the term had nothing to do with a man’s size or build. It was the supreme compliment of the range to say a man was a full sixteen hands high because that meant he was as trustworthy, reliable and capable a man as ever rode a western trail. 

You know, reputation meant a whole lot in the Old West. And a man who earned the title of being a full sixteen hands had the highest and most noble reputation of all. In the Old West physical stature and looks meant little. It was the strength of character and will that impressed the other men.  

Now, I don’t think times have changed all that much. A man’s real strength can never be seen merely by glancing at his appearance.  

The Bible says, “Man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7; Galatians 2:6). 

The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. There are still some men who stand a full sixteen hands. They might not look like body builders or ride tall horses but they have built a life of honest and integrity and loyalty and commitment to God’s principles. They are the pillars of moral strength and families and churches and communities all across the country.  

And rightfully so, they are the standard by which all the rest of us are measured. 

Stephen Bly

Circa 1995