fencing suggestions please - for irritating mare

Bosworth

Bosworth

Well-Known Member
Joined
10 February 2006
Messages
5,268
Location
devon
www.ballhillequestrian.co.uk
I have a livery yard, I have brand new post and rail fencing, Post and 2 rails, with a tension wire along the top to prevent chewing. I have all the horses in small herds of about 4 single sex all selected so they get on. We have no fighting, all are lovely and calm. However I have one mare in my field of 4 mares who is 14'3 TB x cob middle weight whose owner SJ. The mare gets ridden 6 days a week and she is a lovely mare - however she has no respect whatsoever for fencing. In one corner of the mares field I have a very small area sectioned off with post and rail with a tree sapling in it I am growing to provide shade. This wretched mare lies down and shimmies under the post and rail and ends up in with the tree about 3/4 times a week and I have to take down the fence to get her out. If she can't get under she just smashes her way through it I have tried electric fencing - on mains - and no effect she just smashes through that. It's not for grass as there is plenty in the field, she doesn't eat the tree, there are no other horses for her to get to that way and the tree certainly does not provide anything as it is a small stick. I have no idea now how to stop her doing it or why the hell she is doing it - but I am getting fed up with taking fencing down and replacing it. Anyone any suggestions of how to stop the wretched mare destroying my fences?
 
lightweight screening around the inside of the fence from the floor and extending up above her eye level. Maybe if she can't see in she won't try it. Does she feel more secure in there?
 
Ahhh, I'm feeling your frustration
mad.gif


My mare was out with a gelding who did similar with a fenced off section in our field, except it had hardcore and cr*p in it, not a nice sapling.
I re-fenced it so there were 3 strands of wire, all electrified by the mains. He still ploughed through it.

My next step was to tie plastic bags to the fence, they wouldn't have frightened him but may have discouraged him.

It didn't come to that, I moved
grin.gif
 
What about swapping groups round so that a different group have the mini-paddock and she and her group are in a field with no sapling (at least until it has grown a bit bigger)?
I know how irritating it can be. We used to have a Section A mare who would shimmy under any fencing we put up - just 'cos she could! She even once managed to get 'through' a dry-stone wall and a closed gate to follow some-one with a bucket of feed.
confused.gif
 
well i have put a 3rd rail on it and she smashed through that - the area she is getting into is about 12X12 so tiny. She smashes her way out so I don;t think she feels secure - I think she just sees it as a challenge. The sapling today is no more - she has now trampled that into the ground. The rest of the field is post and rail and she hasn't gone under that so it is this one specific area she wants to get to and destroy. I have just worked out that it always happens on the nights she is not ridden so - I have just told the owner it has to be either ridden every day - or stabled on the nights it is not ridden as it always happens at night. And she is a cow to catch so that makes it even more fun!

Dubsie - today when I saw her in there I was so tempted to board her in and leave her there!! but she would only destroy everything to get out.
 
Can you swap the herds around so she is not in that paddock anymore?
When you used electric, did you use plain wire on the mains or normal tape? If not try plain wire...it gives off quite a zap..
 
[ QUOTE ]
Can you swap the herds around so she is not in that paddock anymore?
When you used electric, did you use plain wire on the mains or normal tape? If not try plain wire...it gives off quite a zap..

[/ QUOTE ]

Ditto above, our 18hh Percherons (built like tanks) will walk through an electric tape on the mains, we have replaced it with wire cable - it gives off such a zzzap! they never go near it a 2nd time
grin.gif
 
My 16hh Tb mare is exactly the same. We started calling her houdini. Tried everything to stop her doing it but nothing worked. She kept hurting herself tho and got a few nasty cuts so we took the fence down in the end and let her have the whole field. (Was to stop her getting too near the end with some dodgy fencing) You'd think her hurting herself would have made her think twice, but no! I'd agree with the others and say try swapping the fields around so that she isn't in the field with the sapling!
confused.gif
 
All my post and rail also has equi-fencing on it. (Equifencing is tight knit sheep fencing).

We put the posts in first, then the Equi-fencing and then the three heavy duty rails. This also stops horses kicking through the fence line.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top