Electric fence escapees

dumpling

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Actually just about had enough!

I've had my pony for 7 years. In that 7 years we've been to a few different yards. All of which he's had electric fencing in the field and has totally had respect for it. At this yard there's electric fencing, but it's not electrified! Thus, horses have broke through it and now , even electrified, my boys seems to be braking through it!!!

Any ideas how to get him to respect it again? Could actually swing for him(and the yo!)It's amazing how much bad habits then can pick up!
 

coss

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make sure battery is very charged.
take a fence tester round the perimeter - you may find that there are breaks in it therefore weak points. you may hear it cracking at certain points in the fence, this means the charge is having to jump a gap and thus drains battery quicker and creates weak point.
Make sure the energiser is strong enough to cover the length of electric fence. mine is 1.6Joules which means it can take an electric fence of a couple of miles! i currently have 600-800m of electric tape and quite a small field. Its surprising how big the perimeters are so make sure the current is travelling strongly round the perimeter. Horses are good at finding weak points and if they aren't getting a big shock at that point they will break through.
Make sure pony is rugless. If you have enough time, have the fence off. And wait for horse to be leaning on fence and then turn it on - that way they have no expectation for the fence to be live (mine "sniffs" the fence to see if its on), they will lean and will have very good contact with the fence as you turn it on.
 

Dry Rot

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Surely a regular yard will have a mains powered electric fence energiser? I'm just a farmer but I have a paddock where I can put all the power through that fence, i.e. I switch off the power to all the other fences. Believe me, if they get a zap from that, they don't go back to check whether it is on! Any escapees go in there for a spell. That usually fixes the problem.
 

Toby_Zaphod

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Having electric fence with no electric running through it is an absolute waste of time.

If the horses have broken through it numerous times then I doubt if the tape has been reconnected properly. You will probably find that its just been knotted together & that will not be a good connection & the charge will not travel the full length of the fence. The tape/rope needs to have proper connectors to ensure the charge travels along it well.

If there is problems with the electrification of the fence then it will be one or more of the following:
a) poor re-connection after tape/rope has been broken.
b) battery powering the fence either needs charging or has sulphated & is no longer holding charge.
c) the energiser isn't strong enough for the length of fence it is powering.
d) there is undergrowth touching the tape/rope & this is earthing the fence & preventing the power travelling the fence length.
e) the earth spike isn't long enough (needs to be around 3' pr 1mtr long & knocked in deep.
f) check the voltage around various parts of the fence with a tester.

Providing all the above is alright & the fence is carrying a good charge then put your pony out without any rug on then if he decides to try & push through the fence he should get a good reminder not to do so. Hopefully that will teach him some fence manners. ;)
 

Syrah

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I had that problem at a yard I was at. The only thing keeping my mare in was a strand of white tape and the YO kept complaining that she was breaking through. Well she will if there's no electric going through it - doh!

What does the YO say about it?
 

dumpling

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Thank you. Well I am relieved in a way!
Went up to check and there was no electricity going through it at all even though battery attached, so thinking a dodgy battery. I knew fine well he wouldn't go through it if it was electrocuted!!

Yo's actually okay about it as the battery is not working. If he'd gone through it still electrified , I'd be looking at a problem!
 

coss

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Thank you. Well I am relieved in a way!
Went up to check and there was no electricity going through it at all even though battery attached, so thinking a dodgy battery. I knew fine well he wouldn't go through it if it was electrocuted!!

Yo's actually okay about it as the battery is not working. If he'd gone through it still electrified , I'd be looking at a problem!

its not necessarily the battery at fault - could be the energiser. have you got a multimeter?
 

dumpling

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I have no idea what that is! YO is dealing with it as its hers. It seems to be recurring which is why they've managed to go through the tape before. It was electrified yesterday so it just doesn't seem to be holding charge.
 

lachlanandmarcus

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Multimeter is a little thing that you attach to the fence and it will tell you if it is working and how much electric charge.

I choose instead an energiser with a built in charge meter, so every time I put the horses in I can see how much juice is left. Of course that doesnt stop a leakage elsewhere on the fence so you still have to make sure but it is very useful in knowing when to change battery.
the ones I use are speedrite ones from Rappa.
 

Dry Rot

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Anyone test a fence with a piece of grass? That used to be the way (but you won't catch me doing it!).

BTW, you'll need a proper electric fence tester, not a multimeter which I don't think works because the pulse will be too short to register.
 

coss

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i meant use the multimeter to check the juice in the battery ;) check the voltage should be at least 12V, if below 10 then it'll be doing very little ;)
 

Parker79

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I HATE ELECTRIC FENCING !! It used to be the most annoying part of keeping my horse in a field!

Is the fencing touching anything like branches, long grass, hedgerows etc? it might be losing its power if it is.
 

dumpling

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YO has gone out and bought new battery etc as the old one wasn't holding the charge for more than 2 days anymore.

I'm thankful it was something as simple as that !
 

Dottyfordylan

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Just had the same problem when we moved my boy took out 6 fence posts and went through four fields! Yo fixed faulty connection cracked the power up, I took his rug off and turned him out, sure enough he went up to the fence bold as brass pushed on it and got the shock of his life:p hasn't been near the fencing since!
 
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