Electric fencing Query

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HopefulHorse1971

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Hi I posted recently about purchasing my first horse. Subject to vetting she should be arriving next weekend. I am having her on DIY livery. She will be sharing a field with one other horse, don't know who yet as someone has reserved the space but hasn't found a horse to purchase. The other person and I will be responsible for putting up electric fencing to subdivide the field into summer/ winter grazing and if necessary to separate them depending how they ger on . Given 8 don't know when they will arrive I'm just planning to fence off part of it to start with . I wasn't sure how much fencing to purchase.
 
How big is the field? Can you measure it in any way where you would like the fence to run so you know how much tape and how many posts you need?

I would also fence it into two so that you don't need to go though one paddock to get to the second if the horses are separated initially. Taking a horse through a paddock with a loose horse that they don't know is awful, so avoid it if at all possible.
 
I don't put mine that close, i usually put them at least 5 metres apart! unless your horse is a real escape artist you can definitely get away with several meters between posts. I have some of the 5ft posts but again for most horses the 4ft ones are adequate.

i bought my last lot from UK country store, they had a good range. I have just bought an energiser that works off internal batteries or a leisure battery so I don't have to wait for OH to bring me a charged battery when it goes flat :p

the kits make it easy but when I looked it wasn't really any cheaper than buying the tape and posts etc separately.
 
Voss products are great - although the lead time less so. There are some basic decisions and facts that will determine what you need: power source, length of fencing - that helps choosing an energiser. What kind of fence - tape or rope and quality. Shape of area, height of posts+no of lines - driven by size of horses. I would call one of the good suppliers and ask for advice. A good digital fence tester! If you will be splitting the costs its a bit tricky until you have met your sharer?
 
Recommend Agri-Supply or Farmcare on EBay, £6.95 next day delivery for as much kit as you order and really good prices.

Tips: If you are using 5ft posts (or 4 ft) I recommend 10-12mm tape as the thicker stuff 1) is really hard to get tight on more than one strand on tall posts and 2) the wind will catch the thicker stuff and wiggle your posts loose constantly.

Don't buy the very cheapest tape if you can help it, it will fray quickly (I use their "Premium" which is still great value).

If you possibly can, use a wooden post with screw-in insulators for the ends or corners, that way you won't have bent posts and you'll have more security in the fence.

Earth stake at least 8" in the ground if you can and water it if you think your fence hasn't got much kick.
 
PeterNatt said:
alternate them so that one inside the electric fence tape and one outside as that way the wind can not blow an entire length of electric tape off the fence posts.[/QUOTE
Now I feel like a right idiot that I never thought of this! For some completely unknown reason I always assumed that they absolutely all HAD to face the same direction, but your way makes much more sense.
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My advice, buy good quality white electric fence posts. I made the mistake of buying extra cheaper ones and the spikes snapped off when moving the fence. My original good posts were from UK Country Store and are still going strong (quite a few years old), I also bought their internal battery energiser which is good, but I don't find it gives much of a kick, though has served me well over the years and I did buy a 2nd one of these when the first one broke. I am going to look at a solar one though. I paced out my field to work out how many posts I needed, I put mine about every 6 to 8ft apart to give it good visibility, I also use white tape so the horses see it when tearing around.

You could also go on google maps, satellite view, find your field and if you right click on it use the measure distance option, it's pretty accurate, you can then measure how many metres it is where you want to put the fence, then work out from there how many posts you need.

Exciting times - hope you have a wonderful time with your new horse.
 
QuantockHills said:
personally I dont like the electric 'rope' on plastic posts... i found that it doesn't break if they get caught on it and can cause horrible injuries.... i know it's a pain when they break the tape but at least it doesn't de-glove the leg....
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My partner bought me a reel of rope without telling me as a surprise, I don't like using it because it doesn't fit the fence posts correctly, you have to divide the three strands of rope and slide each one through separately, its ok when you have done it once, but initially its a right PITA.

My rope fencing is used as strip grazing across the width of the paddock and fixed by crocodile clips to the mains fence line which runs down either side of the length of the paddock and the crocodile clips makes it easier to disconnect from the mains when you've walked all the way up your paddock and realised you forget to turn of the mains electric switch at the gate! :rolleyes:
 
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QuantockHills said:
personally I dont like the electric 'rope' on plastic posts... i found that it doesn't break if they get caught on it and can cause horrible injuries.... i know it's a pain when they break the tape but at least it doesn't de-glove the leg....
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yeah I prefer the faff of tightening my tape now and then, i've seen several nasty injuries with permanent rope, I am happy to see tape as a consumable for the additional safety factor. the alternative is putting the safety breaking points in rope, but that's not foolproof IMO as you can only put so many in... my experience of tape is that it breaks readily.
 
I would never and will never use rope, awful stuff. 10-12mm tape is perfect to be able to tighten on the posts (I've developed my own figure 8 tightening technique also for long lengths you might need to move a lot or lengthen, use one reel per strand, so much easier than faffing pulling it all through to move the fence .

Oh and one more thing. Invest in some reels - proper ones or at a push, plastic free-standing hose reels.

Wind your tape onto that before you start.

You will thank me if you ever have to get a fence in, in a hurry. All my tape is on proper reels & I once got in 3 paddocks fenced with 3 strands (1 acre each) in 40 minutes, with no tears, wire in my fingers or hassle. Because I have reels. It literally makes me feel ill when I see spaghetti loose electric tape in balls - stresses me out completely.
 
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So agree with jnb about reels, otherwise even a few metres of tape can get inextricably tangled! I have reels made for hose pipies and can reel it in easily and any spare stays on the reel which sits steadily on the ground, rather than swinging about from a post!
 
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jnb said:
I would never and will never use rope, awful stuff. 10-12mm tape is perfect to be able to tighten on the posts (I've developed my own figure 8 tightening technique also for long lengths you might need to move a lot or lengthen, use one reel per strand, so much easier than faffing pulling it all through to move the fence .

Oh and one more thing. Invest in some reels - proper ones or at a push, plastic free-standing hose reels.

Wind your tape onto that before you start.

You will thank me if you ever have to get a fence in, in a hurry. All my tape is on proper reels & I once got in 3 paddocks fenced with 3 strands (1 acre each) in 40 minutes, with no tears, wire in my fingers or hassle. Because I have reels. It literally makes me feel ill when I see spaghetti loose electric tape in balls - stresses me out completely.
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I use an old hosepipe reel, best thing I ever did, as you say, saves huge amount of time (and stress!)
 
You can make rope safer by cutting it and re-joining using a rope connector, gives it a breaking point if enough strain is put on it. Put a few in along the length and use good quality connectors, and it shouldn't affect the power going through the rope much :)
 
Another think to remember is that energisers are extremely popular items to steal so think about ways to secure it if the field is visible from the road ☹️
 
As with others here I put my fence posts at 5 yard a part. I normally use 4ft posts which I think are adequate for most horses. I normally buy green posts, they aren't as visible but horses have no problem seeing them. I also used green tape with 6 stainless steel conductor filaments through it, I also try & use tape connectors to join the tape. This is the best way of ensuring that the current goes right along ther paddock you are fencing off. Some people knot the tape however there is no guarantee that all the wires will make a good connection. The more you knot the tape the less chance that the current gets right through the joints. Regarding electric rope, this looks lovely, it doesn't blow around in the wind but please do not use it unless you are just running it along the top of wooden fencing to prevent chewing. Tape has a quite a low breaking strain, rope has far too high breaking strain, We used rope a long time ago, a horse got hooked on it, ran off taking rope & posts with him. My wife was in the paddock & got caught up in the incident & ended up with rope burns on the backs of her legs. She was in agony, dressing were changed daily & she has been scared for life.You have to be very caeful where you use electric tape.
 
HopefulHorse1971 said:
Hi I posted recently about purchasing my first horse. Subject to vetting she should be arriving next weekend. I am having her on DIY livery. She will be sharing a field with one other horse, don't know who yet as someone has reserved the space but hasn't found a horse to purchase. The other person and I will be responsible for putting up electric fencing to subdivide the field into summer/ winter grazing and if necessary to separate them depending how they ger on . Given 8 don't know when they will arrive I'm just planning to fence off part of it to start with . I wasn't sure how much fencing to purchase.
Click to expand...
Suggest buying the taller plastic poles, 20 mm tape and energiser strong enough for length of tape. Tape top and middle not bottom in case they paw at either other. Large deep bucket to put over energiser & battery. I use leisure batteries from Halfords. Mole on line do a good energiser.
 
Please do not use any form of the electric rope. My friend's horse had to be PTS after an horrific incident when he got tangled up in electric rope and rather than break it just got tighter and tighter as he struggled to free himself. Awful cuts twisted around two legs right down to the bone, he never recovered sadly.
 
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