electric fencig, whats better tape or rope?

Have used both and tbh if they will go through one they will go through the other. I now stick to the thicker rope purely because it doesn't tend to flap about in the wind and stays on the poles where I put it (Iuse the 4ft poles).

When mine was runing through the fencing I upgraded my unit and temporarly set it on high so it gave a belt, she learnt (after a few touches) to stay away but I still have top watch her and set it high every now and then as she seems to know when I turn it down and will then 'challenge' it!!
 
I use tape which breaks if the horse is determined. There's someone near us who had 2 youngsters very badly injured when they got tangled in the rope - one of them was put down immediately and the other one will never be totally sound so I personally wouldn't use rope.
 
I prefer rope, simply for manageability - it doesn't get twisted and knoted ad easily as tape and as said above, doesn't flap about in the wind.

If I were in your shoes I'd run as many runs of rope as possible up the post- 3 rather than the normal one or two and possibly double depth ie you have two fence lines paralel to eachother, so it is harder for her to get through and make sure it has enough power going through it to give her a good zap. I'm having similar problems myself at the moment... it's not fun!!
 
Rope has the advantages that it is heavier and doesnt stretch in the wind.

However if a horse gets tangled it will NOT break. I know of 2 horses just in my area who have been tangled and had such injuries that have required them to be PTS

for that reason I use tape and would NEVER use rope, even more so with an animal with a tendency to go through it.

Is she rugged? or very hairy?

If rugged you can incorporate some tape into the front of the rug (the 40mm thick stuff is best) so that the charge is carried through. If very hairy it is possible that she isnt getting shocked so if you can I wouldnt be against clipping a bib on her front so she does get shocked.

You also need to check that your fencing is carrying a decent charge, have you had a fence tester on it.
 
Thanks for your advice i didnt even think about tape on her rug and clipping a bib clip on her will be doing all of this and will let you know how she gets on with it. thanks sam x
 
I had a similar problem with one of mine. Whilst I agree with all of the above regarding rope, escape from the field was not an option because they would be directly out into about 1000 acres of woodland!!!

The only way I got round it was to use permenant wooden posts and tension the corners properly so I could get a good tension on the rope. I also had to (and still do to this day) use 3 strands of rope.

Also make sure that your tape / rope isn't earthing on anything. Sounds daft, but all it takes is one area and it will totally pull the "zap" out of the fencing.

I wish I'd thought of the leccy tape through the rug trick!
 
Please don't use the rope. Use the widest tape you can get. Our mare went through the rope type when she was 5 and it managed to entwine around her off hind a cheese wired through one of her extensory tendons.
 
There is absolutely no scientific proof that horses see certain things any worse than humans so the idea that horses cannot see rope and must have tape is not correct. Rope has all the advatages, cheaper, better conductors (after all it is the electricity keeping the horse in - not the fence) easier to use, doesn't flap in the wind, those metal filaments in the rope are constantly being re-connected (in tape they are parallel so when one is broken that wire is now useless) looks tidier and just as visible.

I have no idea why anyone uses tape.

There is not much point in using an energiser at a lower setting, even powerful ones use 10 times less power than a 40watt light bulb. Keep it on full otherwise the horse may not get a satisfactory "thwack" and get through.

A good tip for a itinerant Houdini - smear some molasses or treacle on sections of the fence. It works every time a coconut.
 
did you not read the above posts re rope happily slicing through tendons?
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I do not understand why you would think that the rope is better than the tape! Better??? Doesn't flap in the wind??!!! Why, I should tell Beanie that and hopefully she will understand why she is now missing a tendon! I would far rather have a fence that i need and CAN fix than a young horse with the injuries that she had! Surely if it 'flaps in the wind', they are more likely to stay clear of it. Also if you tension it correctly it will not flap.Would you like me to post the pics of her severed tendon to prove a point that using rope nearly cost our lovely mare her life!
 
I don't understand what rope is.

We use electric fencing in France and ours is run of mains. We have wide tape on wooden posts. My filly ran through it once put just pulled it out of the fittings. She wasn't hurt but it gave her enough of a belt for her not to do it again.

Our colt has never gone through the fence and even my 17hh stallion respects it.
 
http://www.molevalleyfarmers.com/mvf/sto...less-steel-200m

rollin this is rope. obv it has a very high tensile strength, I havent heard of the same sort of issues with tape as I have with rope not breaking though I would imagine the 40mm stuff wouldnt break very easily.

I use 40mm on our semi permanent and dont have a major issue with stretching, The plastic posts I use 20mm.
 
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did you not read the above posts re rope happily slicing through tendons?
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Why did the horse go thru the fence in the first place - not working correctly perhaps? Been using EF for 35 years using plain wire without a single issue.

There is not much difference in the breaking strain so I cannot see it is much safer. When tape is under tension as you describe it also bunches up and rolls almost into a rope

One of the biggest faults with EF is that it is strained TOO MUCH. It should be loose so that there is a "rubber band" effect when it is under pressure. The strands should give with the horse and return when released

It is NOT the fence that is keeping the animal in but the psychological barrier created by the electronic "sting" that does the work.
 
mananzwa are you talking about rope or plain wire (the metal stuff) or twisted nylon wire?

for whatever reason I have never heard of a tape problem, I have heard of one horse seriously damaged and one pts within a 5 mile radius due to rope which is enough to put me off using it.

You will note I did also suggest the OP uses a tester to check her fencing.

I am very lucky that both of my horses are very good with electric fencing.
 
A friend of mine who is training to be a vet is paraniod about tape, because she came across a horse with severed tendons after getting tangled in tape. I saw on another post someone saying they'd only use plastic posts because they break. Yep, my friend's mare speared herself on a broken plastic post when she ran through fencing, narrowly missing her lung. So, as with so many things with horses, nothing is infallible.
I use rope and tape, but I prefer the rope because it is a better conductor and therefore possibly a stronger deterent.
 
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Surely if it 'flaps in the wind', they are more likely to stay clear of it. Also if you tension it correctly it will not flap.

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I really am very sorry that your mare was so severely injured - very traumatic and upsetting.

With regard to tape flapping - yes it will be more visible but as it is flapping it is causing fatigue on the metal filaments in the tape. As you know one way to break wire is to bend it back and forward until it breaks - called metal fatigue.
If you then tension the tape to eliminate flap this creates a second problem. Plastic stretches but the thin metal strands do not and may break. Obviously it is possible to tension the tape but there is a limit and you will be better off to create the rubber band effect I mentioned earlier.
 
Personally I would use the thickest rope you can find. I used to hate rope with a passion - I always thought there were more injuries caused by rope than by tape. My horse severed his leg on some of the very thin wire (like sheep wire) that was running around the top of the post and rail fence - he jumped the fence but the rope caught around his leg.

Anyway, then I saw the injury that one of my best friend's horse's sustined from tape - this was 40mm tape, tensioned properly attached to wooden posts (via correct connectors). The horse got his leg through the fence, and as he pulled it back the tape severed his tendon diagonally at an angle like \ from the backof the leg toward the bone. He had to be PTS as the prognosis was desperately poor. The vet who came out said he would never use tape, as although if hit square on it might break/do little harm, if caught at an angle it would cut like a knife through skin/muscle/tendon etc.

Now I try to stick to rope, but if I use tape, I use thin tape as at least this stands a better chance of breaking if a horse is tangled up in it. Hope that makes sense.
 
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