Houdini pony and electric fences

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Babypony

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My Welsh has grown a lovely thick coat, which has left him impervious to electric fences. He is getting through the “gate” every day now into the next field. I’ve thoroughly tested it everywhere and it’s 6000 volts. I’ve added extra strands, and I think his coat is insulating him from being shocked so I don’t know what to do.

My thoughts are electrified poultry netting, or a bigger energiser to deliver more volts, but if his coat is protecting him I don’t know if either of those will make any difference. I don’t want to clip him as I don’t want him to get cold. It’s incredibly frustrating to spend ages every day fixing/amending the fence and then checking the cameras and finding him out in a few hours.

Any thoughts before I put him up for sale? (Only half joking…)
 
I have electric netting for my pigs and It's effective because they can't go under it.

I used to make a unicorn horn for my mini with his forelock and a strand of tape with the end sitting right next to his skin. That did stop him ducking under it. How many strands do you have? I think the key is finding out how he's managing it, then you can work out a solution.
 
Put another line of electric fencing surrounding the gate a few feet away from it. You will then have to take him through two electric gates when getting him in and out
 
I have four horizontal strands with an additional “wave” of tape running up and down across the length of the “gate” and honestly I cannot work out how he is getting out other than bulldozing his way through. It’s only happened since he grew his coat. Happy to try the netting but I don’t know if that would shock him either if the tape isn’t.
 
It’s ok I feel I don’t know him either as he’s always been such a good boy 😄

4 strands one close to the ground, plus a “wave” of tape running up and down the length of the fence. All tested to 6000 volts.
 
Babypony said:
Yeah he does, there’s always a broken post or bit of tape.
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He's likely running straight through it then. A double fence is a good idea as he'll have to run through it, then get another shock when he tries to go
through the next fence. He's decided the couple of seconds of potential pain is worth the result.
 
meleeka said:
He's likely running straight through it then. A double fence is a good idea as he'll have to run through it, then get another shock when he tries to go
through the next fence. He's decided the couple of seconds of potential pain is worth the result.
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Cheers I’ll make one tonight. Also ordered clippers and a new battery on the off chance the energiser is losing power at night. Will report back.
 
We had a Shetland who did this. We plaited some metal plug bath chain into his mane. Not sure if it’d work if he’s tackling the fence at speed though
 
He’s a brave pony! 6000V usually makes my houdini think twice, but then again, his winter coat at chest and neck isn’t very thick and fluffy.

Are you using tape? If so, try a switch to rope, as that has the metal wires poking out of the rope, so just a mild touch zaps them, whereas tape has weaved wires and they have to press their body quite firmly against the tap to get a zap. They can zap their noses on tape easily because it’s skin, but a thick fluffy winter coat would require a firmer lean onto the tape.
So he’s likely bolting through it with getting just a mild zap. Mine would actually go underneath 4 strands, because the plastic fence stakes would lift in the soft ground. Mine’s 15.3hh and would still go underneath the lowest strand at 1 foot high, and lift the whole lot. I’d find stakes over and leant over.

Low resistance ohm rope would be the best to go for, and make sure the strands are really tight.
 
PurBee said:
He’s a brave pony! 6000V usually makes my houdini think twice, but then again, his winter coat at chest and neck isn’t very thick and fluffy.

Are you using tape? If so, try a switch to rope, as that has the metal wires poking out of the rope, so just a mild touch zaps them, whereas tape has weaved wires and they have to press their body quite firmly against the tap to get a zap. They can zap their noses on tape easily because it’s skin, but a thick fluffy winter coat would require a firmer lean onto the tape.
So he’s likely bolting through it with getting just a mild zap. Mine would actually go underneath 4 strands, because the plastic fence stakes would lift in the soft ground. Mine’s 15.3hh and would still go underneath the lowest strand at 1 foot high, and lift the whole lot. I’d find stakes over and leant over.

Low resistance ohm rope would be the best to go for, and make sure the strands are really tight.
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Yeah I’m using tape. My worry with rope is I’ve heard it can cause quite bad injuries if they run through it. I read the word degloving too many times in forum posts to be comfortable taking the risk. Thanks for the advice though.

Yes he is tough! When I read other posts about ponies escaping the advice was to crank up the voltage to 5000 😄 Hopefully it is the battery playing silly buggers. She does always get out overnight, which may or may not indicate the fence likes to nap when it’s dark.
 
I sympathise as I have one horse who is a Houdini and one who is an Angel for electric fencing. One time the Houdini horse destroyed the fencing so badly that all was left were some posts in the ground at various weird angles, yet the Angel horse stayed perfectly within the designated grazing area of what was once their paddock......

I have resorted to clipping the underside of his neck off and a partial bit of his belly - leaves him with enough coat to keep warm but also enough to give a shock when needed. I use 2 strands of electric fencing tape and always make sure that my fence is giving a really loud audible click to it, the moment it stops doing that I switch out the battery for a fresh one as once it starts to not sound as loud, my Houdini will take the chance.

I'd also go with the double gate way idea - pain in the ass for bringing in/turning out but will be a good visual deterrent too.

Personally if you are looking to use rope, I would use it for the second gateway but I would only consider rope as a last resort, as much like you, I've heard (and sadly I've dealt with too!) dealt with some degloving incidents where the rope hasn't snapped despite reaching its limit for snapping.

Also with your tape repairs - make sure you are using the proper connectors that you can get rather than tying a knot to connect the snapped strands, as just knotting the snapped strands reduces the zap the fence gives when touched.

Hope he goes back to being a good boy soon for you! x
 
Babypony said:
Yeah I’m using tape. My worry with rope is I’ve heard it can cause quite bad injuries if they run through it. I read the word degloving too many times in forum posts to be comfortable taking the risk. Thanks for the advice though.

Yes he is tough! When I read other posts about ponies escaping the advice was to crank up the voltage to 5000 😄 Hopefully it is the battery playing silly buggers. She does always get out overnight, which may or may not indicate the fence likes to nap when it’s dark.
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Yes, if you have a ‘run through it and it snaps’ type, it’s best to stick to tape. Mine have learnt rope doesn’t break so instead either weave through it if *only* 2 strands, or lift the entire fence by going underneath.

There is low resistance ohm tape you can get. There’s also the more expensive thick powerful 10cm tape you can get - which might be worth the investment for just the gate.
 
AppyLover1996 said:
I sympathise as I have one horse who is a Houdini and one who is an Angel for electric fencing. One time the Houdini horse destroyed the fencing so badly that all was left were some posts in the ground at various weird angles, yet the Angel horse stayed perfectly within the designated grazing area of what was once their paddock......

I have resorted to clipping the underside of his neck off and a partial bit of his belly - leaves him with enough coat to keep warm but also enough to give a shock when needed. I use 2 strands of electric fencing tape and always make sure that my fence is giving a really loud audible click to it, the moment it stops doing that I switch out the battery for a fresh one as once it starts to not sound as loud, my Houdini will take the chance.

I'd also go with the double gate way idea - pain in the ass for bringing in/turning out but will be a good visual deterrent too.

Personally if you are looking to use rope, I would use it for the second gateway but I would only consider rope as a last resort, as much like you, I've heard (and sadly I've dealt with too!) dealt with some degloving incidents where the rope hasn't snapped despite reaching its limit for snapping.

Also with your tape repairs - make sure you are using the proper connectors that you can get rather than tying a knot to connect the snapped strands, as just knotting the snapped strands reduces the zap the fence gives when touched.

Hope he goes back to being a good boy soon for you! x
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Thanks so much. I also have a an angel right next to the demon who would not dream of escaping. Perhaps we are the same person 😄 clippers are coming tomorrow and I am going to bite the bullet and do as you suggested, clip a bit of the neck, chest and belly. I’ve brought the energiser home tonight and am charging the battery just in case it’s not getting enough sun. I’ve left the gate down for tonight because he’s going to get out anyway, and it saves him breaking anymore fencing.

I’ve been using the metal connectors with the tape and meticulously testing every section. I’m wondering if he is part dinosaur and maybe I need a full on Jurassic park fence. Will report back tomorrow when double fence is installed, pony is clipped, and battery has been recharged.

Also wanted to give a shout out to whoever runs UK country store. I called them for advice and they spent ages on the phone with me working out how to keep him in his field. I called them months ago when I was new to electric fencing and they talked me through everything. Today they even told me to shop around as I might find a new battery cheaper somewhere else (ordered with them as they’d been so helpful) and they popped the battery on charge for me before sending it. Really decent company.
 
PurBee said:
Yes, if you have a ‘run through it and it snaps’ type, it’s best to stick to tape. Mine have learnt rope doesn’t break so instead either weave through it if *only* 2 strands, or lift the entire fence by going underneath.

There is low resistance ohm tape you can get. There’s also the more expensive thick powerful 10cm tape you can get - which might be worth the investment for just the gate.
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I’ll have a look for the tape you recommended, definitely worth it. Cheers.
 
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