Advice please for escaping horse!

cabbagepatch88

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I'm looking for some advice please!

My horse lives out in a field with natural shelter on his own. This suits him.down to the ground as he has to live out due to suffering with hock spavin and he is riggy and horrendous with other horses and just enjoys his own company.
He is a serial fence breaker and at my last yard he was constantly breaking through post and rail and electric tape.
When I moved him to the new field I was blessed in that the grazing with fab. It's about 1.5 acres and in an L shape so I split the field in 2 so I can rest part of the field.
In the last week or so the decent grass has disappeared and despite ne feeding hay he's on the rampage.
Last night I got a call to say he had escaped into next doors field, he'd leapt a fence and a 6 foot ditch to get over.
Today I've put him in the grassier half and to separate the fields I'm using the tall posts with 3 layers of thick white tape which is electrified.
Despite him getting through a bale of hay today he's prowling the fence line like an angry lion at the zoo.
Any ideas? Should I try adlib haying? Will he explode if I do that? He's a 550kg cob.
No where to tie haynets :(

Any ideas much appreciated :)
 

Tnavas

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Cunning little Houdini! :cool:

Is he wearing a rug? If so and the rug is insulating him from the electric fence hang a piece of light metal chain from the front straps of his rug, needs to b elong enough to be able to touch his legs or chest so that when he barges the fence he gets an electric shock.

Hobbles are the next option and I've seen that done with a pony that repeatedly jumped out. It does work.

Double electric fence line wide enoough apart to put him off jumping it.

Years ago I had a youngster that I thought was jumping out, eventually discovered that he would shimmy under the bottom wire so also put a line low down too.
 

cabbagepatch88

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He was rugged but I have taken it off tonight :p
I did think about hobbles but thought that might be a bit cruel...can.they walk at all in them? From the pictures I've seen they look as though they would limit movement completely...
 

Tnavas

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Hobbles prevent the horse from being able to take big steps or to pick up speed. Generally used on the back legs, they are padded straps that do up around the pasterns and the have a length of rope or leather between them so the horse can't take a big step.

Sometimes it's the old thing 'Have to be cruel to be kind' - jumping out has major hazards - getting caught in fences, over eating or should he jump out onto the road the risk of being injured or killed by traffic.

Do check he'snot sneaking under the wire, some get really cinning and roll under the bottom wire.
 

PennyJ

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I take it they're not to be used permanently?

I would have thought the moment you took them off every day to give him a break he would be back to his old escapology tricks, so permanently as in 24 hours a day for a while until he gets the hint surely? Otherwise I suppose a field with 6 foot thick strong hedges all round might keep him in?

Naughty boy.
 

Tinseltoes

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I know how you feel.My section A is a houdini,but since new cob arrived shes been good.Now hes the one who plays with the fences,pushing on them when Im not looking.Today I put some posts in the ground and put electric fence up.
You can put those contraptions that screw into the posts and thread electric tape thru them.Thats what I did today.
 

Jools1234

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you need to train your horse to wear hobblesand they should be worn on the front legsnot the back.

you would be better off finding out why he is jumping out of his field. if there is grass, water and shelter then maybe you are under estimating his need for company?
 

muff747

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Isn't it dangerous to tie their legs together? - if he does attempt to jump a fence and gets it caught on a post.:eek: I've seen a couple of horrible injuries where they have come down onto a post and pierced between the front legs and another pierced the shoulder.
We have an escapee at our yard. You firstly have to be absolutely certain the electric fence is working fully and not earthing onto anything, you definitely need "those contraptions that screw onto the posts" or even weeds or bushes will reduce the shock, especially when it's wet weather. Then you need to put up a tall row with a smaller row about a metre behind. It won't work if the fence isn't working fully though.
And if your horse isn't shod, it won't feel it as much, steel shoes do make a better connection to earth:eek:
If they consistently get a good shock each and every time, they will end up being put off attempting to jump, you have to knock their confidence.
Also don't use non electrified tape anywhere e.g. to fence off small gaps in hedges, and always have the electric on, otherwise you're teaching them to try it out cos it doesn't shock sometimes.
Good luck.
I used to have a pony that regularly broke out and went walk about the area! He was lost for two days once until someone phoned the police and said there was a couple of ponies (he used to take friends with him) in next doors garden leaning over and eating their roses!!
 

piebaldsparkle

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What you need to do is dig a MASSIVE ditch round the whole field and then build a bridge or two. HHO has trolls to spare who can guard the bridges for you. ;):p:D
 

Tnavas

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Good grief. Hobbling a turned out horse all day......crikey.

OP why not just put him on an extending lead attached to a washing line? My neighbours do it with their dog, works a treat.

You've obviously never had a seriel Houdini - it works, its safe and far better to do this than fiind your horse tangled in the fence or under a car!
 

Jools1234

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it works,

tying all 4 legs together would work too but i would not recommend that either.

hobbles are not safe, they were designed to use in open areas with no traffic or fencing as a means to keep as horse close whilst allowing it to graze when fenced areas were not avaliable.

if you hobble a horse that jumps out and it tries to jump out with the hobbles on it is likely to end up in a fight with then fence and the chances are the horse will come of worse
 

MagicMelon

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I've got a similar horse and I have found the higher electric fence posts WITH those loop things that farmers often use, duct taped onto the post so they stick directly up in the air - giving even more height. You can add them to wooden fence posts too. Just gives quite a bit more height, has worked at stopping mine jumping out (and electrified of course)!
 

Tnavas

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Jools1234 I spent many years at a riding school where the owners daughters pony was hobbled 24/7 because it would jump out over any of the fences - and they were good solid fences too.

Hobbles may have had the purpose of use to limit a free grazing horse but in this circumstance having a fence around the perimeter is really not a consideration.

Horses are not stupid they don't try to jump with hind legs hobbled!
 

Jools1234

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Jools1234 I spent many years at a riding school where the owners daughters pony was hobbled 24/7 because it would jump out over any of the fences - and they were good solid fences too.

Hobbles may have had the purpose of use to limit a free grazing horse but in this circumstance having a fence around the perimeter is really not a consideration.

Horses are not stupid they don't try to jump with hind legs hobbled!

if the horse jumps out thefence needs to be higher,the fence for my old mare was a fraction over 6ft tostop her jumping out, she had water/grass/shelter and i tried with and without company-in this case though the horse has water/grass/shelter and is out alone (thats my understanding of it anyway), maybe he just needs company.

horses can be stupid if panicked or jumping for company hobbles iwll just increase his stress and he may try to jump out any way-so for me the fencing would be a huge consideration.

op if you did feel the need to use hobbles i would take the time to hobble train your horse, and use just a single strand of electric fence as then he would be less likely to injure himself if he did still try to jump out
 

Patterdale

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'I have a good plain wire fence' is an oxymoron.

And horses are stupid. And even the supposedly clever ones sometimes make serious errors in judgement......

But if you want to tie the legs together of a horse who's main hobbies are going radj round the field and taking on the fences then be my guest, it's your vet bill, not mine!
 

cabbagepatch88

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Hi everyone,
Thank you so much for your replies. Last night I had to go and put his rug back on as it was bloody freezing and I took a metal chain with me and looped it trough his rug.
Worked a treat, he was still there this morning :D
 

muff747

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Jools1234 I spent many years at a riding school where the owners daughters pony was hobbled 24/7 because it would jump out over any of the fences - and they were good solid fences too.QUOTE]

This doesn't make it the right thing to do - you have to use common sense here - not follow a bad example.
Common sense would be, if the horse jumps over a decent fence - it is still too low
 
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