my yearling keeps running through the electric fencing!

[amy86]

iv had my filly for 3 months now, she is kept in a barbed wire field but with electric fence all the way round just a few feet away. at first she wouldnt go near the electric fence but recently she has lost all respect for it. she runs through it just for the sake of it, not because she is scared or on her own (she is kept with other horses) just because she can. she is fed daily and there is still plenty of grass so she cant be hungry. there is nothing on the other side of the fence so its not even as if shes trying to get to other horses she is just playing up. i need to try and keep the fence up and keep her away from the barbed wire because i dont want her running through that but its proving impossible at the moment. has anyone got any suggestions??? thanks

 

[Dolcé]

The fence isn't powerful enough! What is the fence set up, is it on plastic posts and how many strands of wire do you have?

 

[Mare Stare]

Make sure there is nothing touching the wire that could be taking the brunt of the electric shocks.

Some horses are very good at just running through them though. My filly spent an afternoon testing the strength of mine with her feet before ploughing through the middle of it. I've given up with it now. She's jumped over it before now too. I don't think electric fences work on horses that are determined not to stay in.

 

[TelH]

My yearling does the same when the batteries on my fence are low. As soon as I put new batteries in he keeps away again

 

[Foxhunter49]

Your fencer is not powerful enough.

Make sure that you have a good deep earth rammed into the ground. If you are using plastic posts make sure the fence is not shorting out anywhere.

Mains fencers are way the best as they putout a powerful 'poke'

many the time I have had people's horses here and am told that they will walk straight through an electric fence - sure thing the horses will try but given a mains fencer belt then they are not keen to try it again.

 

[amy86]

thanks for the replies, the battery is fully charged, not touching anything so nothing is earthing it, all the correct posts, connectors and handles are in place and its a powerfull generater and none of the other horses will go anywhere near it but she just seems to get a buzz off running through it and she tends to do it more when somebody is there (shes like a naughty child wanting attention). its getting to the point now when i dont know what to do beacuse its having to be put up 2-3times a day and with the dark nights coming i wont be able 2 keep putting it up of an evening

 

[be positive]

You say shes out with others but are they older than her, do they play and interact, she sounds bored as if she needs company of her own age.

 

[Dolcé]

thanks for the replies, the battery is fully charged, not touching anything so nothing is earthing it, all the correct posts, connectors and handles are in place and its a powerfull generater and none of the other horses will go anywhere near it but she just seems to get a buzz off running through it and she tends to do it more when somebody is there (shes like a naughty child wanting attention). its getting to the point now when i dont know what to do beacuse its having to be put up 2-3times a day and with the dark nights coming i wont be able 2 keep putting it up of an evening

We have had 2 (one a colt) that were impossible to keep in behind anything, electric, barbed wire, post and rail etc. With electric they both learned to get through in the same way, head down, through the fence at an angle under the bottom line of tape at a dead run - they are through before the pulse! If I put plastic posts in closer together it would stop them for a day or so but they would then do the same thing and just pop the post out as they ran. The fence kept our others in with no problems, they wouldn't even cross the tape if it was on the ground. I beat them by installing electric rope on wooden posts and a mains energiser that runs at 10000 volts, the posts are 8ft apart and there are 4 strands of rope that start at 12 inches from the ground to 4ft for the highest one. This has been in well over a year and we haven't had one escape, it is now the stallion paddock containing 3 stallions and 1 gelding. We bring the mares through the walkway at the top of the field it is in and they graze in there whilst waiting for their turn with the farrier so if the boys could get through it they would. The mares also graze the field alongside the stallions, although with a 6ft gap all round and hedges in some places but not all. Basically you need to ensure she gets a shock from the fence that really makes her wary of it and your fencer is obviously not doing that.

 

[amy86]

she is in with other youngsters and she does interact with them, plus she gets plenty of attention daily (i think iv just picked a naughty 1 lol). another 20 posts have been added again 2day and she ran straight through it! its not possible to connect the electric 2 the mains as i just rent a field with no electric. i suppose i will just have to keep adding more posts and hope she has enough shocks to stay way from it eventually

 

[Louby]

Probably not very practical but on a yard I used to be on a youngster kept going through the fence and it was mains operated. We cured it by running another row of electic fencing pararel to the other. He went through the first lot a couple of times and we would find him walking between the 2 fences but then he just stopped doing it altogether.

 

[be positive]

What breed is she?
Could you put the electric fence really close to the b.wire so that there is only a small gap,so that she is almost touching the b. wire as she goes through the tape, or as just suggested a second row of electric tape.

 

[Tnavas]

Is she wearing a rug? If so add a length of chain from the front strap, then if she touches it the chain will carry the current across her cover.

A second fence is also a good idea. Make sure that the connection to the fence is really good and is definately making a good contact.

How much barbed wire is there - I've got around short lengths of barbed wire by splitting a wide hosepipe down its length and slotting it over the wire so that it covers the barbs. Fiddly job but works.

I swear that the horses keep a check on the fence as to wether its on as the horses that share where I am wioll go through their break fence if the fence is left off, so they must either be able to sense it is off or they test it regularly.

 

[Nettle123]

Have you used a line tester and checked the current ?. Our yearling knows exactly when the power is low and will walk through the fence but when the battery is full charged and "clicking" she is very wary.

Also is your ground very dry ?, here in Worcs we have had hardly any rain all summer. The earth post will not work so well in dry ground so I do keep that patch a little bit damp.

Evelyn, what a great idea about old hosepipe over unavoidable barbed wire !. Will definately use that one.