I Have Really Had Enough Of Him Now!

TheresaW

TheresaW

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I am at work this morning, and I have had another call to tell me Mac has escaped from the field. I am just so fed up with him, that I really couldn't care less right now. He doesn't want to come in, he is just doing it because he can. I just don't know what to do with him anymore. He respects nothing.

Don't even know why I am posting this either, just maybe someone knows exactly how I feel.
 
Yes I know how you feel, when my sec D was a youngster he was always escaping or getting stuck somewhere (through a kissing gate - how ??? calls from people holding him off the putting green on the golf course with a pitchfork, calls to the fire brigade when he got wedged between a wire fence and a dry stone wall - nightmare !). And yes, sometimes I hated him !! He did grow out of it though and now I manage to contain him with 'normal' fencing. How old is Mac ?
 
I imagine you've tried mains electric fencing? next step could be to get fencing (electric) of the same power used for cattle and pigs.. I know someone who uses it to great effect.
 
electric fencing really is the answer. it gives them proper respect for fencing... unfortunately, once they've learnt that they can push down/clamber over/break normal fencing, the psychological barrier has gone. believe me, elec fencing puts it right back where it should be... they have enormous respect for it from the very first zap.
there's loads of cheap stuff about, but the best i've found is Fieldguard. it really is worth the extra money because it is so well-designed, strong, and effective. their brown fibreglass uprights are very easy to put in absolutely anywhere, won't blow over at all, can't be chewed, don't go brittle in the cold like plastic ones, and hold the tape perfectly. very very highly recommended.
i'd put a solid grille over his stable door if the little git tries jumping out. poor you, what a nightmare!
 
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That is what we are thinking we will have to do. Out of interest, should the YO pay for this, or is it down to us?

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Do any other horses escape? Is the fencing adequate for "normal" horses but just not sufficient for keeping your houdini in?

I'm not sure who should pay really. I mean, my head says straight away that it should be you who pays. However, it's not as simple to install mains fencing as it is to go and get an battery energiser. You'd need YO's permission to run a supply from their electric at cost to them.

If you came to my house and instructed me to install mains fencing just to keep one "problem" horse in, I'm thinking you might find yourself being served notice. It costs alot of money really and DIY livery doesn't really cover the costs of something so expensive just for one horse's needs.

So, my logical head says it might be wise for you to approach your yard owner and offer to contribute to fencing needs for your horse. Of course, the alternative is to find a yard that has that type of fencing anyway.
 
Tinker of a horse.....sounds like he's part shetland!

If the fencing isn't up to standard....how much needs replacing? I'm assuming he bulldozes through it, or does he cleanly jump it? If it's only certain sections, then maybe you could approach YO with a view to sharing the costs of buying some rails to replace the damaged section, or even offer to buy some rails if she will have them put up. They're only a couple of pounds each from agricultural suppliers.

I had a horse that would jump the tall polyposts. Sailed cleanly over them. Most annoying was the fact that he'd been retired due to permanent lameness and yet would merrily (and suspiciously soundly) jump in and out of paddocks at will. He would even jump the field perimeters and once had a crack at a five bar gate (with success!)

I stopped him by having two rows of fencing. Far enough apart so that he didn't view it as spread fence, but close enough so that he didn't tackle it like a bounce fence. Worked a treat. Wouldn't be too expensive to erect a battery operated electric fence inside the existing one, if the field isn't overly big.
 
I know how you feel. This is what Adrian's done over the last few weeks:

-undone the latch on his gate, got onto the yard & eaten 2/3 sack of rabbit food...I put a headcollar clip on the latch to stop him, so he then...
-lifted the gate off its hinges with his neck & finished off the rabbit food. I then tied the hinge end of the gate to eliminate vertical movement and he then...
-got into next door's garden & caused havoc & severely pi**ed them off. No idea how as our fencing's 1 m 20 very solid new post & rail. There's one gap with a rope tied across in 3 zigzags but that didn't seem disturbed, altho he must have wriggled thru it. We fenced the gap off properly & he then...
-uprooted a gatepost...the only one that wasn't replaced when we spent £3k on the fencing, & went on the rampage in next door the other side's garden.

He's now in the bottom paddock until we can get a new gatepost put in. He can undo the gate so it's got a rope tied round it & he has now learned to undo knots.

We've tried electric fencing with a big charger thing & altho Cat (previous horse) was terrified of it, he doesn't give a cr*p & I've watched him from the window walking thru it.

So you have my sympathy!!!
 
The field is surrounded by thick bushes and the fencing is within the bush. Now winter is coming, the bushes are dying off and the fencing is exposed. I think some of the fencing has probably started to rot and he is just barging into the bushes and scrambling about until he finds ways through. He often has little scratches and nicks that look they are caused by brambles.
 
I am so glad I am not the only one! I will have to bring him for the time being I think, but then he will suffer as he arthritic (which is why he lives out) and then he stiffens up.
 
Id put up big tall electric fencing - you know those bigger post you can get? With a decent power supply!

How's he getting out - does he jump it? Walk through it?

One of mine is crap with normal electric fencing - he just walks up to it and jumps straight over it
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We have electric wire now and nobody touches it.
 
Yes I know exactly how you feel. In all the years of having horses, thankfully I only ever had one horse who was an escape artist. At our place in England, we had all post and rail fencing and this pony had a really cool habit of putting his head under the bottom rail and forcing the posts out of the ground - they were every 6 ft, but he still managed to push them up. Then he would crawl underneath them and run off down the lane. He did it twice and then on the third occasion he lifted the fence so high that the rails snapped off (6X2's!) and he proceeded to take my homebred with him down the lane.

He was advertised for sale that day and was sold by the end of the week. I was glad to see the back of him to be quite honest and the same fate would be forthcoming to any other artists like this I'm afraid; I really can't be doing with that sort of thing.
 
I used to have a horse who kept escaping, if he wanted to be somewhere else off he would go.

Nothing would keep him in not even electric fencing, he had no respect for it and would just run through it. Luckily nothing serious happened to him when he went AWOL but as you can imagine he wasn't the most popular horse on the yard so I sympathise with you.
 
My horse is the same, once he thinks there's not enough grass he escapes, doesn't help that our yard's electric fence is rubbish and he tests it.
 
My Shetland's an awful escape artist, but Rosie's no angel either. Two years ago I caught her putting a perfect bounce stride between the bramble-covered barbed wire fence of her field, into the electric-fenced square that Inka was in!


She also jumps any electric fence whatever height/width it is. Last year she attempted the 5ft 6" divider fence and just caught the top of it, snapping 3 posts in the process. Thanks Rosie!

I've got 3 posts to repair in the summer paddock where someone - I suspect the new filly : ( ran through it.....unless it was the deer?
 
Having an escapee of my own, I sympathise.

Before we moved here Sirena learnt that if she pushed and pushed against the (very expensive post and rail) fencing - it would break and she could get into next doors "nature reserve" for a quick brunch - cost me countless bottles of wine and was only sorted when heavy duty electric fencing was installed allround (again very expensive.
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)

She then learnt how to undo not only the top bolt but also the kick bolt on her stable door - she once disappeared for 11 hours and earned a mention in Horse and Hound (probably the only way we would ever be in editorial
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). We had to put four bolts on her stable door - that sorted out that little problem.

Since moving here she has been quite good, however recently she has discovered how to open the door from her field into the indoor school by leaning on it until the bolt gave, a slip rail was duly employed in front of the door and she duly slipped it through the rail, we drilled a hole for a peg, tied the slip rail up with bailing twine and also tied the bolt round the door post, she smashed the slip rail and ate through the bailing twine, got into the school, opened the door onto the yard - which opens INWARDS so she has to actually PULL it (it had also been tied with bailing twine round the bolt - on the outside - she undid it!), not content with being on her own she brough Colin and LLuna with her and between them they ate 1/3 bag balancer, 1/2 bag fibre nuts, opened every large bale of haylage on the yard, pulled all the rugs of the doors and pooed and peed on them, pulled all the bins over and attempted a break in into the feed room
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I have this mad idea now that I will electrify the school doors - only with really really powerful bovine stuff but knowing my luck all I would do is get an enormous electric shock which would make my hair even curlier than it already is.

Sorry - this has not helped has it?
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