foals and electric fencing...

[mturnbull]

This is a worried mummy (or should say mum-to-be!) post! My little foalie I bought what seems like months ago is in the middle of the weaning process and should be with us in just over 2 weeks, i think its safe to say i am super super excited!

Despite having just about everything organised i feel sick to the top of my stomach already about the thought of her 'first turnout'. Shes currently at a small home yard with post and rail fencing and although see's lost of things like tractors, horses one either sides, cars, dogs and caravans etc it will be considerably quieter to where she is coming to with me. She will be kept in for 24 hrs when she arrives and then whens shes turned out our current plan is to put her and 2 other mares into a strip for about a week which is within the larger mares field which currently has another 5 mares in it and she will then be introduced to after. The mares are all various ages from 2 yrs to 26 yrs! My worry isnt her meeting the other mares as I know horses can be horses but they are all nice horses and if there was a problem I am friendly with all owners and could remove and re introduce.

My worry and point of this post is the electric fencing! She hasn't seen it before and I have seen too many injuries (and deaths unfortunatly) related to electric fencing and horses being turned out for the first time. I am so worried about it all, is there anything I can do to minimilise the risk? introduce her to the fencing? any advice or words of wisdom would be much appreciated!

Thanks for reading and have a cupcake from me

 

[kerilli]

difficult one. tbh IF the other mares are all nice (no evil trouts in there) i would put her straight in the big field with them. is there going to be another foal or youngster for her to play with, or a supernanny type? if so i'd put it in stable next door so she gets to know it in first 24 hours, then put them both out in big field.
i, too, have seen the horrific things that electric fencing (unbreakable rope in that case) can do, and think that in a big field she's much less likely to touch it soon...

 

[lindsayH]

I had no choice but to use electric fencing for my mare and foal as a temporary measure, and like you it made me very nervous. To minimise risks I had 5 very visible thick strands, highly electrified, 5 feet tall and kept very taught using proper connectors - not tied anywhere. I also kept a knife within easy reach (outside the field!) in case of emergencies. My foal still managed to have a run in with it when she rolled too close to it, but because it was properly tensioned she managed to extract herself.

At the end of the day, electric fencing is not 'real' fencing, it's more psychological fencing. Having it VERY electric (ie. mains connected) minimises the risk I think.

 

[mturnbull]

My worry about putting her straight into the field is there are horses on either side and I would hate WW3 to break out with galloping horses on both sides!

Yeah the 2 horses shes going into the strip with is the 26yr old who although can be grumpy is good at looking after the little ones and the other is my good friends 4yr old who she will be with for the first few days, the others in the field will be interested but shouldnt be too nasty especially as she really is still a baby!

Yeah thats a good point that theres a lot more space but I too have seen things I wish never to see again, theres nothign saying shes just goign to stroll in and theres not going to be much more than a swish of the tail but im still worried!

 

[mturnbull]

I had no choice but to use electric fencing for my mare and foal as a temporary measure, and like you it made me very nervous. To minimise risks I had 5 very visible thick strands, highly electrified, 5 feet tall and kept very taught using proper connectors - not tied anywhere. I also kept a knife within easy reach (outside the field!) in case of emergencies. My foal still managed to have a run in with it when she rolled too close to it, but because it was properly tensioned she managed to extract herself.

At the end of the day, electric fencing is not 'real' fencing, it's more psychological fencing. Having it VERY electric (ie. mains connected) minimises the risk I think.

Did you find once your foal recieved a shock she steered clear from it? Im not sure I can persaude the YO to do that with his fencing but it is double stranded and visible with large posts inbetween!