MASSIVE WARNING - Electric Spring Gates

VictoriaEDT

VictoriaEDT

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Joined
16 June 2005
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3,310
Location
Somerset
www.equinedental.co.uk
Hi guys

This is a bit of a warning for you all and hope it stops an accident in the future.

Yesterday my boys romeo and charlie (pics on pic gallery page 7) escaped from the field. Romeo (the more athletic of the two!) jumped the electric spring gate and charlie (the irish cob) did the cob thing and barged through it in canter. The handle stayed on the post clip and the wire spring coil snapped off and because it was quite taught it sprang off and sliced charlies throat twice.

Thank god he has a very big neck and tough skin so he is ok but the vet said if it had been a horse like romeo (IDxTB) it could have sliced through his jugular vein and bye bye ponio
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The gates im talking about are for equestrian use and consist of a normal electric fence handle (with a small spring in) and coiled extendable wire that stretches accross the gatway.

Thankfully all is relatively well apart from a rather nasty wound. So first thing I am changing my gates with rope.
 
Oddly enough we had them a month or so ago and one of our more "cobby" liveries tried to do the same thing. He stretched it and gave up, but we have now gone back to plain electric fencing at the gateways.

Glad your horse is ok. I dont like them either personally.
 
To be honest I don't think you can beat a good old fashioned gate if you are setting up a new yard.

My mare is bargy and doesn't respect things she can push her way through
 
Yes _claire_ thats exactly what I meant and the other ones you have are much better. Im having my yard at home built as we speak and am having electric fencing all round and except for the main gates we are having electric gates - as the fencing is costing £1000s as it is!
 
I'd used those springy things for a couple of years for internal paddocks until my found my mare wrapped up in one that she'd tried to jump or barged through. Was tightly wrapped round both hind legs - no damage thanks to her being quite hairy, and also in ringlets in her tail.

She had obviously thrashed around as looked in shock. Had to cut half her tail out to extricate her from it.

Binned the things straight away.
 
We have never used those as a gate, just for joining electric fencing ACROSS a proper gate. I like them because they are tidy when not in use. Used properly, they are ok, just don't ever rely on electic fencing on its own to provide a barrier across a gateway.
 
I use electric rope round the fencing I have to keep the horses off it. I have just started to use the spring type gates as you do - over the front of a gate. Chancer just discovered he can lift the gate off the hinges and escape - today found out that the gate now bites.

We have a problem with tape in that it is fairly windy where we are and it gets damaged - hence rope and the spring over the gate.

Hopefully as mine are thick necked cob/heavy horse they will be ok - and our gate is too high for them to attempt to jump.
 
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