Hedging/fencing advice

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bounce

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Can anyone recommend a good quick growing hedging plant that is safe for horses but grows quickly and provides a thick hedge?

My land is on part of an old railway and the edge of it is a railway embankment which goes down to some barbed wire fencing at the bottom. There is very thick brambles along the embankment which stop the horses going down the steep slope to the fencing but my youngster has decided that it is possible to climb through the brambles and go down the slope to visit the neighbours ponies the other side of the fencing. I've temporarily put additional electric fencing up to stop her but would like to get a hedge growing on the bank instead as lots of bit of electric fencing just looks unsightly in my eyes.

Any thoughts on good fast growing hedging?
 
I'm afraid if your horse is going through brambles hedging plants aren't likely to stop her unless you cut and lay it. You'll need to fence whilst you wait for sufficient growth in any case.
 
Hmm good point. She has no respect for anything at the moment. My strip grazing fencing is currently 5ft high, double fenced with two energizers on it to stop her from walking straight through it. That seems to have stopped her for now at least.
 
She is finally respecting the electric fence now but its any thin areas of hedge that she is now taking on now. Luckily the hedge to the road is very thick but its the areas of field that have thin hedge and brambles to keep them off the embankment or out of the copse that she is currently exploring. I guess I'll just to put tape up all around the boundary for now.
 
Whatever you plant is going to take several years to grow and thicken sufficiently to provide a completely horse-proof barrier. You would need to protect it from being eaten too.
 
Yep, whatever you plant will take a while to establish but it will look good.

Depending on how long your hedge is use a mix of species such as quickthorn (50%) and a mix of, say, dogrose, dogwood, field maple, hazel, hornbeam or rose sweet briar.
 
Our new hawthorn hedge, planted three years ago, is over 6 feet tall in places but is still too thin to be stock proof. It looks great in summer but is straggly in winter. It's better to plant a double hedge (double row of hedge plants) for maximum ultimate thickness. Ours is protected by a new post and rail fence, but the hedge will be going strong long after the fence has rotted away!
 
My 8mth youngster decided to jump our 4ft x 7ft hedge so very worried about him getting free so would like to add extra shrubs to our hedge if I was allowed (on livery)
 
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