Best Fencing?

MrsMozartletoe

MrsMozartletoe

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Currentyly have posts, stock fencing, and two rows of barbed wire.

The posts are fine but obviously the other two parts aren't: I'd like to replace when we can and in the meantime am using electric tape to keep the hroeses off the barbed wire.

Looking to put some new paddocks in. Just wondering what the latest and greatest (though would really like to keep the costs down) fencing options are that people rate.
 
We have standard post and rail fencing but with one strip of electric attached above the top rail and this works very well for us. We used to have just post and rail but our Appaloosa got into the habit of leaning on the top rail until it snapped, jumping the bottom rail and galloping around the garden! The electric strip has stopped that but the fencing overall is fairly easy to maintain and I feel it is safe (and also not horrible to look at).

ETA: Downside is that the wooden posts do rot over time of course and I am sure there are better options nowadays, although more money!
 
We've got standard post and rail dividing the paddocks, with dry stone wall around the perimeter, but we are so fed up of constant repairs that we are in the process of replacing the post and rail with hedgerows. Not the quickest process obviously but will have lots of benefits.

The dry stone wall is bowing out in several places and I'm dreading the cost of the repairs!
 
We use HorseRail at the yard. It's brown plastic that you can electrify, horses cant get stuck in it as it is quite flexible and forgiving when needs be but it is also virtually unbreakable and very strong.
 
I've just redone a large chunk of field. I would love to have used recycled plastic posts but good grief they are pricey! I have wooden posts at 4m with a single strand of plain wire on the outside and then two 'rails' of electric rope on the inside. The electric rope is on a mains fencer. I had post and rail previously and it looked smart for a few years but then started to decay - it only lasted 10 years in the end and it was much more expensive than the replacement.
 
We have equi-fencing around my fields. If does need a top rail and electrifying - my mare leans over the top to get grass / talk to other horses if not, and it drops and becomes scramble over-able. It's pretty useful though as dogs can't get in through it.
 
Thank you all :)

I think the double fencing sounds good but outwith the budget constraints (though will cost it out to compare with the other options).

There's dry stone walling around the outer field, but it's falling down in places and there's hawthorn trees growing out of it... Am not yet thinking of having it all fixed (that'll be a Lottery win!).

Have looked at the Equi-Fencing, thank you. It's a forerunner :)

Have asked for an indication of pricing for the HorseRail. It looks good. Might be a cost thingy.

Once I know where the fencelines are going then I'd love to do hedges. That's some way off though and a whole new thing to learn about :)
 
soloequestrian said:
I've just redone a large chunk of field. I would love to have used recycled plastic posts but good grief they are pricey! I have wooden posts at 4m with a single strand of plain wire on the outside and then two 'rails' of electric rope on the inside. The electric rope is on a mains fencer. I had post and rail previously and it looked smart for a few years but then started to decay - it only lasted 10 years in the end and it was much more expensive than the replacement.
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Damn. I'd hoped to go with recycled posts as life is full on and less maintenance needed the better. I'm trying to envisage your set up. Can't quite figure it out.
 
Dogs not getting though would be good. We don't (I think) get roamers with dogs but better to be safe than sorry. Aye to electricity dropping: our bobbers sharp know when its dropped and will plough through the current usual electric tape and posts. I think we need something physical, such as the Equi-Fence, and electric, but whether that's the usual rope or tape or the HorseRail type option.
 
I mean the fence drops where they hang over it :rolleyes: fortunately the ponies can't reach or I think they'd bring the whole lot down. It puts a lot of strain on the posts which sometimes break. Because it's not my field and I don't want to pay for fencing, I just stick the twist in electric holders into the posts and run rope over the top. I hook that to a battery which mostly keeps them off it. But I also run a separate double line of electric at the end of my field to keep them all away from that fence line so they can't interact with the other herd and break the fencing (again).

Equi-fencing is a good idea, and works well in some ways - but you need to be really careful how you set it up. My current system is a total pig, but that's largely because I need batteries at the far end of my field - if you have mains electricity it'll be a lot easier.

I was briefly at a yard with horserail in some paddocks which was really nice. They obviously ran out of money to do the rest though :p
 
EKW said:
We use HorseRail at the yard. It's brown plastic that you can electrify, horses cant get stuck in it as it is quite flexible and forgiving when needs be but it is also virtually unbreakable and very strong.
Click to expand...
This would be my choice for separating paddocks, looks tidy and very practical.

External fencing I'd want hedging & good quality post & rail.
 
So mine looks like a normal fence with two wires, one at the top and one about half way down the post. Those wires are actually electric rope. They are on the horse-facing side of the fence and then on the outside of the posts I have a single plain wire at the same height as the top rope so there is really strong physical barrier just in case the electric goes off.
 
soloequestrian said:
So mine looks like a normal fence with two wires, one at the top and one about half way down the post. Those wires are actually electric rope. They are on the horse-facing side of the fence and then on the outside of the posts I have a single plain wire at the same height as the top rope so there is really strong physical barrier just in case the electric goes off.
Click to expand...

Ah! I get it, thank you :)
 
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