Electric fencing.......safe?.......sometimes not?

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Toby_Zaphod

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Many of us use electric fencing but do we really give much thought to what we use & why we use it?

I have always been an advocate of rope, it is sturdy, it looks neat & tidy, easy to work with, carries a charge well & doesn’t flap about in windswept paddocks. All this is true but I have now done a complete ‘U’ Turn due to a horrific accident.

We turned out one of our horses in a paddock surrounded by electric rope fence, the power was off at the time. He pawed the ground & decided to role but he was too close to the fence. He rolled over, caught the rope fencing, spooked himself, & charged off across the paddock. He caught the rope around his hind leg & ripped out the fencing, plastic posts & a couple of wooden posts as he went. Fortunately he didn’t receive much of an injury, a couple of grazes was about all.

Biggest problem was my wife was in the paddock, the fencing rope got yanked around the back of her legs, dragging her to the ground. The injuries to her legs are horrendous. She has cuts, bruising & a large amount of skin removed behind her knees. She can hardly walk & is on pain killers & a nurse is dressing her wounds daily. :(

I made enquiries about the breaking strain of the rope….it’s 383kg…. bloody hell :( . I have now replaced the rope with tape, still with 6 conductor wires but this has a breaking strain of around 75kg.

I appreciate this is a long post but I thought it would warn people of the dangers that may not have been considered.
 
I hope your wife makes a speedy recovery
We have electric fences at our yard which are all tape. It seems to need a fair bit of maintainence, but rather that than injuries like your wife has
Kx
 
Toby_Zaphod said:
We turned out one of our horses in a paddock surrounded by electric rope fence, the power was off at the time. He pawed the ground & decided to role but he was too close to the fence. He rolled over, caught the rope fencing, spooked himself, & charged off across the paddock. He caught the rope around his hind leg & ripped out the fencing, plastic posts & a couple of wooden posts as he went. Fortunately he didn’t receive much of an injury, a couple of grazes was about all.
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A few of our horses have done this at the yard so if i see them wanting to roll near the fence i discourage them. I just wish the yard wasent rented and i had the money to do post and rail! :)
 
Rope is HORRIFIC. I use tape, would NEVER use rope now. I am not allowed to post my experiences with rope fencing earlier this year (it wasn't my horse, and i've had a message from TFC asking me not to post about it) but trust me, your horse got off VERY VERY VERY lightly.
this is general, not specific, so i hope i'll get away without a slapped wrist or a ban:
if anyone uses rope, please please put regular break-points in the fencing - cut the rope at regular intervals and do a loop to the plastic insulator, do a loop in the rope going the other way (to the same insulator, so 2 loops per insulator), so they touch (use thin wire to increase conductivity if necessary) but so that if a horse does get caught, that part will come free. please, NEVER fix insulators to the back of the post so that the horse, if caught, is pulling against the post the insulator can't break. you WANT things to break and come free so that the horse can get away if it gets caught up.
I hope I never ever have to see such a horrific injury again. fwiw not the first such injury I've heard about... my farrier lost a young horse to an identical injury from elec rope a couple of years ago.
btw, polypropelene rope will stretch to something like 80% extra before it breaks. a horse doesn't stand a chance once it is caught up in it, if it pulls or struggles. consider it unbreakable. :( :( :(
oh, and have fencing power ON, as much as possible. horses need to be very respectful of it. if it's never on, or only on a battery occasionally, they won't respect it. sorry if that sounds like a no-brainer but you'd be surprised. if the horses don't respect it, it is the worst kind of fencing of all imho. i'd rather have barbed wire.
i've had a mare get a leg over my wide elec tape fencing 3 times now and there wasn't a mark on her. i think it's a lot safer personally.
big sympathy to your wife, those sound like awful injuries.
 
Toby_Zaphod said:
Many of us use electric fencing but do we really give much thought to what we use & why we use it?

I have always been an advocate of rope, it is sturdy, it looks neat & tidy, easy to work with, carries a charge well & doesn’t flap about in windswept paddocks. All this is true but I have now done a complete ‘U’ Turn due to a horrific accident.

We turned out one of our horses in a paddock surrounded by electric rope fence, the power was off at the time. He pawed the ground & decided to role but he was too close to the fence. He rolled over, caught the rope fencing, spooked himself, & charged off across the paddock. He caught the rope around his hind leg & ripped out the fencing, plastic posts & a couple of wooden posts as he went. Fortunately he didn’t receive much of an injury, a couple of grazes was about all.

Biggest problem was my wife was in the paddock, the fencing rope got yanked around the back of her legs, dragging her to the ground. The injuries to her legs are horrendous. She has cuts, bruising & a large amount of skin removed behind her knees. She can hardly walk & is on pain killers & a nurse is dressing her wounds daily. :(

I made enquiries about the breaking strain of the rope….it’s 383kg…. bloody hell :( . I have now replaced the rope with tape, still with 6 conductor wires but this has a breaking strain of around 75kg.

I appreciate this is a long post but I thought it would warn people of the dangers that may not have been considered.
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Thanks for taking the time to post this, makes you think doesn't it! Wish the wife better xx
 
Why on earth would TFC prevent you posting about something that could save people the pain and heartache of damange to themselves and their horse..........

OP, sounds awful. Hope your wife makes a speedy recovery.
 
Hope your wife has a speedy recovery.

I too will never use rope, before my boy came to us he had a horrific injury on his leg from it almost going to the bone. They didn't think he would recover but he is 100% now.

The only problem is it has grown white hairs where it happened and there is still a scar there so if I ever wanted to do showing with him (he used to be quite successful in the show ring) I wouldn't be able to.
 
I much prefer tape for this very reason, our livery has both tape and rope as well as normal wire and sheep fencing, but we only have the tape or rope at the top, nothing below knee height however I do try to check my field on regular basis to tighten any slack to prevent it hanging.

One of the horses on our yard got caught up some of the rope electic fencing (wasn't on at the time) and caused a bad injury on the leg, probably similar to what Kerilli is refering to.

If I had a choice I'd just have post and rail with a top strand of electric tape on stakes on the inside to keep them off the fencing.
 
I know precisely how she feels - did exactly the same myself when 2 youngsters spooked and bolted taking me out by the back of the knees - we are now 18 months on and I still have red bruise like scarring though I didn't have it professionally dressed or anything :rolleyes:
 
I hope your wife makes a speedy recovery.

I had the same thing happen a few years ago with electric tape, I got caught up in it when my horse ran through the fencing and got dragged along the ground. It tore through my jeans and cut the back of my knees.

I use rope in my paddocks but make sure that the mains fencer is on so that they respect it, but I am yet to find a truly safe fence. I had a friend's horse roll next to electric fencing with plastic posts and one of the metal spikes on the post ended up going into the mare's chest. A friend of mine had a horse kick out at the really wide plastic tape and took all the skin off it's leg resulting in 50-odd stitches and someone else I know had a horse impale itself in their brand new post and rail fence.
 
I considered carefully before choosing tape. I've since been glad I did because my naughty Flynn has on occasion decided to run straight through it pinging plastic posts out of the ground left right and centre BUT the tape eventually breaks and flies away from the horse. Rope doesn't and burns as it is dragged past the horse and I have seen some horrific burns caused from its use.

I have an extremely exposed location and tape flaps around and can't be kept looking neat and tidy but at least there is less chance of injury.

I hope your wife's injuries soon heal.
 
Kerilli has hit the nail on the head - you must have break points. We use electric rope, but have the metal screw down joiners on each strand, so where my flirty mare has struck out and caught the rope luckily it simply comes apart at the joiner.
I think this is necessary with tape too - have you tried cutting tape with a knife? It's very strong stuff indeed and imo could cause nasty injuries also.
 
I decided not to use rope as I've seen some terrible injuries from them, since moving from post and rail I used electric tape around the not so good fencing the yard had and my mare did this on it.....

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The vet described it as like a paper cut, I'm assuming she was being flirty over the fence and rushed away from it.

Think horses will always find trouble and it's up to us to make things as 'safe' as they can be, post and rail is clearly the front runner but not always possible I have also never seen anything too bad from tape.
That straight wire is the worse....it cuts straight through them.
 
I use rope too BUT I have the metal screw down joiners at intervals. Whenever a horse has gone through the fence the rope gives way at these joiners and,so far, I have had no serious injuries. On the other hand I've seen horrible injuries from tape which is why I don't use it now. I have even cut myself on tape several times when putting up fences, it seems to slice through my skin like butter. I guess it comes down to individual experiences but whichever is used there has to be easy breaking points added to the fence to make them safe in my opinion.
 
jemima_too said:
I considered carefully before choosing tape. I've since been glad I did because my naughty Flynn has on occasion decided to run straight through it pinging plastic posts out of the ground left right and centre BUT the tape eventually breaks and flies away from the horse. Rope doesn't and burns as it is dragged past the horse and I have seen some horrific burns caused from its use.

I have an extremely exposed location and tape flaps around and can't be kept looking neat and tidy but at least there is less chance of injury.
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ditto to the exposed location, i used Fieldguard tape and it doesn't flap, the insulators hold it firmly, it doesn't move back and forth in them and fray either.

re: rope causing 'burn' injuries... trust me, those truly aren't the worst of it. it doesn't break, so if a horse struggles and keeps pulling, it saws, through tendon and into bone. you wouldn't believe what it can do until you see it. utterly horrific.
i'm sorry if this gets me a ban but tbh i wish i'd ignored the warning and posted about what happened months ago, it might have saved the OP's wife and horse from injury, and possibly others too. :( :( :(

this stuff is literally LETHAL and needs multiple break points in order to be safer.
 
Three years ago I had the same thing happen to me but it was tape, not rope!

I was whisked off my feet by a Heavy horse getting tangled up in the tape and bolting. I didn't have time to jump the tape and went straight onto my back and head. I had some burns, a lot of bruising and couldn't walk comfortably for weeks (or ride!). Fortunately I didn't get a concussion.

Breaking strenght of 75kg? We had to calm the horse down and unwind it from his legs. Luckily for him he has plenty of feather! It didn't break at all.....
 
kerilli said:
ditto to the exposed location, i used Fieldguard tape and it doesn't flap, the insulators hold it firmly, it doesn't move back and forth in them and fray either.

re: rope causing 'burn' injuries... trust me, those truly aren't the worst of it. it doesn't break, so if a horse struggles and keeps pulling, it saws, through tendon and into bone. you wouldn't believe what it can do until you see it. utterly horrific.
i'm sorry if this gets me a ban but tbh i wish i'd ignored the warning and posted about what happened months ago, it might have saved the OP's wife and horse from injury, and possibly others too. :( :( :(

this stuff is literally LETHAL and needs multiple break points in order to be safer.
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I dont understand why the hell TFC would give you a warning/ban for speaking out about the dangers of rope.. :confused:
My horses field is surrounded by electric rope and post and rain - after reading what you've written I'll be swapping it for tape ASAP.

...why would TFC stop you from acting as a warning to others? Seems silly :(
 
I also use the rope but it has break points all along it for safety. My yearling has gone through it before and it gave way exactly as it should. It's also always on and wired up to the mains so they very rarely go near it. My friends horse just ran through a post and rail fence the other day, ending up with a shard of wood poking out of her shoulder, and a neighbour who has badly maintained barbed wire now has a mare requiring twice weekly dressing changes after becoming tangled with both both back legs last week :( They are such a worry when you are doing your best, never mind if you leave hazards around!
 
Meant to say - my injury was with tape - which never snapped when a horse got in it - we use rope now and it has snapped both times - personally hate tape and would not use it again

Edit I'm guessing at the injuries that Kerilli is talking about but have seen the same thing happed with tape (on more that one occasion) also with the 'safe' plastic post and rail - worst injury I ever saw was on a metal field gate and P+R fencing.

There isn't any fencing that is completely safe sadly. Cetrainly wouldn't conside using any electric though without it charged well
 
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I hope your wife makes a speedy recovery. I use rope but it is attached to post and rail (stops them chewing), problem with tape, if it gets wrecked and tied back together it can weaken/stop the electric pulse, but agree its safer for the horse in such an instance. I hate the plastic poles with a passion and will not use them. Ive seen then snap quite easily leaving some sticking out of the ground for a horse to stand on. Unforunately the best way to use electric is in conjunction with post and rail...which defeats the object a bit.
 
People have mentioned putting frequent 'break points' in the fence using the metal screw down connectors. The fence had those but they did not give way!.....when I found out that the breaking strain of the rope was 385kg I was astounded..... couldn't believe it.

Someone mentioned having the electric on, we turn the electric on once we've turned them out so it was only moments from being turned on. I check the fence regularly & it always has between 4000 & 5000 v passing through it. Also it was mentioned that they should respect the fence, they do, but I suppose the horse didn't realise when he rolled he'd be too close & get caught in it. I've seen horses go running straight through fencing when it's on as well so there will always be times when accidents happen. I think we have to just try & minimise those occasions & always be aware of what can happen.

My wife is feeling a little better, the injuries are being treated like burns, they hurt like hell & at the moment she's 'on a trip' after taking the pain killers......"Peace & Love Man!"

Thanks for all the best wishes, I've passed them on to her.......her main issue is when she can ride again! I've told her she's got to learn to walk first! ;)
 
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Toby_Zaphod said:
Many of us use electric fencing but do we really give much thought to what we use & why we use it?

I have always been an advocate of rope, it is sturdy, it looks neat & tidy, easy to work with, carries a charge well & doesn’t flap about in windswept paddocks. All this is true but I have now done a complete ‘U’ Turn due to a horrific accident.

We turned out one of our horses in a paddock surrounded by electric rope fence, the power was off at the time. He pawed the ground & decided to role but he was too close to the fence. He rolled over, caught the rope fencing, spooked himself, & charged off across the paddock. He caught the rope around his hind leg & ripped out the fencing, plastic posts & a couple of wooden posts as he went. Fortunately he didn’t receive much of an injury, a couple of grazes was about all.

Biggest problem was my wife was in the paddock, the fencing rope got yanked around the back of her legs, dragging her to the ground. The injuries to her legs are horrendous. She has cuts, bruising & a large amount of skin removed behind her knees. She can hardly walk & is on pain killers & a nurse is dressing her wounds daily. :(

I made enquiries about the breaking strain of the rope….it’s 383kg…. bloody hell :( . I have now replaced the rope with tape, still with 6 conductor wires but this has a breaking strain of around 75kg.

I appreciate this is a long post but I thought it would warn people of the dangers that may not have been considered.
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I have thought about why I use it. To stop the horses going where I don't want them to. It's a difficult one isn't it? Because no fencing is safe and they can all cause injury in certain circumstances. I know of a horse that severed a tendon in electric tape. Another who stabbed herself on a metal spike when electric fencing was run through and got broken. We can't win! I think it was worth you posting this though, just to make people aware that at least it's probably worth making sure electric fencing is switched on and putting break points in.
 
Sadly any fencing not erected properly is dangerous. Have seen three horrific injuries from tape, one horse strangled itself where the tape was bagging due to wind lent through two pieces to graze brought its head back a different way and it twisted around. Anotehr with wire around a hind leg again dug in cutting everything right to the bone both horses PTS another wire injury was a horse totally degloving its leg, as the wire thined before breaking it acted as cheese wire.

Electric fencing is only as good as the electric current running through it and the respect horses have for it. Have also seen several nasty accidents with post and rails. Its the same with gates wooden or metal. Regular maintenance and correct use of materials is paramount, however horses are horses and even the safest field they can still manage to do themselves horrific injuries.

I hope your wife recovers quickly.
 
YasandCrystal said:
Certainly NOT for the squeamish, but a fine example of electric wire injury halfway down this veterinary pictures posting. I imagine this is exactly the horrific type of injury that can occur with ANY type of wire tape or rope!

***WARNING very graphic horrific pics**** halfway down page!

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=301510&page=6
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Yes, that's the sort of thing. utterly horrific. i hope they managed to save that one.
in TFC's defence, s/he was responding because the person who owned the horse didn't want me to warn anyone on here, and had pm'd TFC to ask me not to.
tbh if it had happened to my horse i would have wanted to tell the entire world, to try to prevent any horse ever having such a thing happen to it, or anyone else being so heartbroken. :( :( :( :( :(
 
May I just add that we only do up the metal screw down connectors finger tight. I never use a spanner or pliers deliberately so that the rope will pull through them.
I am now though going to buy more and ensure a join every 60 metres for added safety as I fear ours are too far apart in places.

thanks for bringing this to everyone's attention - one cannot be warned enough of potential accidents! OP I hope your wife is mending fast.
 
i use that one strand of that cheap narrow tape, and have had it broken on several occassions, i replace it regularly as it fails, i have 6 meter hedges and just one strand of tape pulled just tight enough, i would not use post and rail, too solid if they hit it at speed.

be careful with electric gates to put them well back on a hook on the fence, as if they tread on a live gate one can have dangerous explosions! not good for anyone leading the horse

with this dry weather remember to put water on the earth rod to ensure max power.
 
kerilli said:
in TFC's defence, s/he was responding because the person who owned the horse didn't want me to warn anyone on here, and had pm'd TFC to ask me not to.
tbh if it had happened to my horse i would have wanted to tell the entire world, to try to prevent any horse ever having such a thing happen to it, or anyone else being so heartbroken. :( :( :( :( :(
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perhaps the owner didn't want her tragedy discussed on a public forum, because *some* people may point blame at her for having 'the wrong' fencing. fencing that she believed the safest for her horses. and during her grieving she cannot deal with any finger pointing/blame. that is her perogative.

you mention your farrier has had the same accident, so perhaps share his story rather than the story that you have been asked not to share.

OP- what an awful accident, i do hope your wife is okay and makes a full and speeeeedy recovery. Thank you for the warning xxx
 
I suppose any fencing tape/rope can tangle up but I do use tape as I think its easier to be seen due to it being wide and I dont mind it flapping a bit either. I usually use the white wide tape(not green stuff)??.

Wild animals can get caught too as I know a deer died in my tape. Not very nice.
 
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