Electric Fencing and Rugged Horse

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Shoei

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Hi,

I am in the process of prepairing for a new horse (when i find him). I have aquired part of a field next to our house so I was hoping to fence it with wooden posts and elecric rope (I think it is called Pollywire) using a mains energiser. Now my concern comes from the fact that my last horse did not respect electric fencing (battery) although she didn't really respect any fencing!

My new horse will be rugged up at times, probably with a full neck rug..... Do most horses respect mains fencing?
 
Get some bell wire - strip the plastic casing off it, sew two lines vertically up the front of the rug and two lines horizontally - they will then feel the fence even through a rug.
 
I think most do but it depends on the age and experience of the horse. A young horse of mine was rugged without my knowledege by YM and put in a field with electric fencing, ran into it and shocked himself on the metal buckle at the front of rug and charged off causing himself serious damage on a fence post.

Like anything I guess we need to be aware.
 
Loop some wire round the front of the rug so it's touching the horse, if the lean on the fence it makes a connection and zapps your horse, they'll only do it once.
 
I strip grazed my lad throughout winter, we started with the fence connected to battery, he would just break through fence and I was constantly repairing it. Decided to connect to mains, and he would jump it! The cob he was in with though wouldn't go near the fence, even when knocked down.
 
The real problem is that most horsey elecric fences are badly put up ,and constantly shorted out to earth. No one tests the voltage regularly or does any maintenance. No wonder horses have little respect for it. Also ,you need a really good earth,not just some silly peg stuck in the ground. Rug or no rug ,your horse would "bounce off" a fence giving the full 10,000 volt kick .
 
Spot on Mike :)

I do a weekly check round the perimeter of 'moi land' ;) and a daily check on the fencer, tape and units that the fuzzy's are using at that time.
Its easy for a branch to drop, or even twigs - which can short it out. Sometimes brambles (from next door :mad:) grow so quickly, that in a few days they can trail over the tape.

Every paddock has a full circuit of tape with solid posts on every corner & gateway - and lighter posts to carry the tape on the straights (with maybe an odd heavy post if the run is a long one. There is a goodsized deep earthing rod (2 ft+ in the ground) by every point where I put the energiser - this is where the fuzzy's cannot touch it as its close to the P & R fence - but outside the tape (if you get what I mean?)

What I dont do is sub-divide paddocks with tape/rope, except for little fuzzy who is well behaved. Instead, I've divided a couple or more of paddocks with P & R - but they still have tape set inside them to protect the fences.

To the OP - just ensure that you set the whole lot up properly & you 'ought' to be ok. I usually try out electric fencing on a new fuzzy when its close to another paddock with a horse in - but its close enough to the main fence that they have something to keep them in to start with - if they dont respect it..........
 
Shoei said:
Hi,

I am in the process of prepairing for a new horse (when i find him). I have aquired part of a field next to our house so I was hoping to fence it with wooden posts and elecric rope (I think it is called Pollywire) using a mains energiser. Now my concern comes from the fact that my last horse did not respect electric fencing (battery) although she didn't really respect any fencing!

My new horse will be rugged up at times, probably with a full neck rug..... Do most horses respect mains fencing?
Click to expand...


Please please please heed this warning, if you are using electric rope... put breaks in it (cut the rope, tie a loop at the end and put around insulator on a post, do another loop with the next part, put it round the same insulator, so they're touching and the current will travel, but there are free ends to come away if necessary) so that if a horse does get a leg caught, the rope will come free.
This stuff absolutely DOES NOT BREAK.
I hope I don't have to explain further, but will in a pm if absolutely necessary.
 
if you can hear your electic fence click or zap it is shorting out somewhere and you are loosing power. most horses respect electric fencing if set up properly, rugged or unrugged. the greedy rugged cobs will usually chance their luck a couple of times til they get a shock.
 
The Fuzzy Furry said:
Spot on Mike :)

I do a weekly check round the perimeter of 'moi land' ;) and a daily check on the fencer, tape and units that the fuzzy's are using at that time.
Its easy for a branch to drop, or even twigs - which can short it out. Sometimes brambles (from next door :mad:) grow so quickly, that in a few days they can trail over the tape.

Every paddock has a full circuit of tape with solid posts on every corner & gateway - and lighter posts to carry the tape on the straights (with maybe an odd heavy post if the run is a long one. There is a goodsized deep earthing rod (2 ft+ in the ground) by every point where I put the energiser - this is where the fuzzy's cannot touch it as its close to the P & R fence - but outside the tape (if you get what I mean?)

What I dont do is sub-divide paddocks with tape/rope, except for little fuzzy who is well behaved. Instead, I've divided a couple or more of paddocks with P & R - but they still have tape set inside them to protect the fences.

To the OP - just ensure that you set the whole lot up properly & you 'ought' to be ok. I usually try out electric fencing on a new fuzzy when its close to another paddock with a horse in - but its close enough to the main fence that they have something to keep them in to start with - if they dont respect it..........
Click to expand...

Still not enough earthing FF. More rods and separated by a couple of feet.
 
ofcourseyoucan said:
if you can hear your electic fence click or zap it is shorting out somewhere and you are loosing power. most horses respect electric fencing if set up properly, rugged or unrugged. the greedy rugged cobs will usually chance their luck a couple of times til they get a shock.
Click to expand...


I always thought this was the case, i check my fencing regularly to make sure all is o.k., however, when its wet i can hear it tick, but only by the energiser, would this be shorting out?
 
Mike007 said:
Still not enough earthing FF. More rods and separated by a couple of feet.
Click to expand...

Mike, I've only got 1 earth rod (about a 4' long one, right by the mains energiser), do you think I need additional earth rods, and if so, where?
Must admit that if my fencing is clicking I tend to leave it as it reminds the horses that it's on, so they're much less likely to touch it. Is this wrong? It still gives a really good belt, as I found out today when it was raining and I opened the 'gate', the plastic hook was wet and conducted the elec very nicely...
 
The problem with a single earth rod is that it can get "saturated " by returning current . It is so often the weak link in an otherwise good system . In Australia where it tends to be a bit dry (except recently:D)they often bury an old car for an earth.A bit overkill for here but the principle is the same.
 
I'm afraid my youngster doesn't respect electric fencing on the mains whether she's rugged or not. YO checks the current every other day, and we've now come to the conclusion that the filly is made of rubber.

With Genie when she had her big thick winter rug she didn't respect the fencing, so I looped some tape round her rug temporarily (made sure it would break if she got caught) and that did the trick.
 
Mike007 said:
The real problem is that most horsey elecric fences are badly put up ,and constantly shorted out to earth. No one tests the voltage regularly or does any maintenance. No wonder horses have little respect for it. Also ,you need a really good earth,not just some silly peg stuck in the ground. Rug or no rug ,your horse would "bounce off" a fence giving the full 10,000 volt kick .
Click to expand...

Totally agree with this, and definitely the earthing, we have 6 1m earth stakes on ours, fencing checked daily for damage and with volt tester several times a week because it protects hen pen as well. It runs at 10000v and has beaten our 2 houdini ponies that used to just walk through the battery powered fence.
 
hch4971 said:
Totally agree with this, and definitely the earthing, we have 6 1m earth stakes on ours, fencing checked daily for damage and with volt tester several times a week because it protects hen pen as well. It runs at 10000v and has beaten our 2 houdini ponies that used to just walk through the battery powered fence.
Click to expand...

Fly or fry you suckers:D:D. Fencing after my own heart:D
 
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