What Does A Furlong Mean In HorseRacing Terms ?
The term Furlong or Furlongs are now only mainly used as a measurement unit of distance in horse racing. A furlong is equal to one eighth of a mile in distance or 8 furlongs is 1 mile.
Originally the term furlong came from two words ‘furrow’ and ‘lang’.
These terms go back as far as the ninth century at least.
Eventually being put together to make the word FURLONG.
‘Furrow’ meaning a long, quite shallow trench or grove made in the ground by a plough.
A whole furlong was the distance a team of oxen could pull a plough before they had to rest.
‘Lang’ another old English word meaning tall or long.
A furlong was believed to have been used in horse racing originally, because horse racing took place in field next to ground that had been ploughed. Therefore the measurement of distance could assessed quickly by the number of furrows made in the average ploughed field.
A furlong was still a standard measurement of distance until it was abolished in 1985 when we went metric officially. However is still commonly used as a term in measuring horse racing distance.
Furlong conversion Link
1 furlong equates
One 8th of a mile
220 yards
660 feet
201.168 meters
All good interesting information on why we call a furlong a furlong.
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