Shetland Ponies and electric fencing.....

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Morag4

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If there are any lovely people out there who have experience with Shetland Ponies and electric fencing could you impart it?
Are they respectful of it? hit and miss or complete beggars?

I assume they are like any other horse and pony, some are respectful and some not so much and till they arrive you don't know, but just wondering......

Round and round in circles I go ;)
 
Depends on the pony, and the fencing.

I have mains electric and any fence I put up is always on, always earthed and always tight.

That means my mini Shetland will not even walk under a single strand on the top of the fence, and he could, without even lowering his head!
 
1st, it has to be working for the entire length
2. Three stands are usually enough (for escapologists see point 4)
3. They need to be no more then 6 inches apart.
4. You can add another strand at the top AND a 5th one zig zagging up and down along the fence (like a W fashion)
5. A few will still ignore it, due to being a pesky double coated horror.

Good luck, my current tiny will stay behind 4 strands if on if its sub dividing a paddock, or 2 strands if its by a solid perimeter fence, providing it is live :)
She wears a grazing muzzle for around 10 months of the year for around 12 hours a day :)
 
Thank you FfionWinnie and The Fuzzy Furry very helpful info and pretty much confirmed my suspisions!
Considering getting a a wee one or two as a companion/s for my big lad and by the looks if it will need to invest in a lot more leccy rope! :)
 
Shetlands are no different to any other pony.
I keep mine in on one strand....well tensioned at chest height. Well tensioned is the key. (And on of course). They will both cotton on quickly if the battery goes flat so I use a solar panel to keep it from going completely but as long as its tensioned well using lots of posts at small intervals then they stay put.
 
Mine perfected a technique of pretending to kick the others, so they push through the fence in a panic to avoid her her tiny killer hooves. Then she trots happily through while they all look terrified and traumatised
 
Shetlands tend to be shorter and hairier than your average horse. So the electric fence that keeps normal horses in, can still let a Shetland limbo under, and even if it touches as it goes under, the thick mane can help insulate from the shock. So extra strands needed and ideally mains powered not battery. (Haven't had a Shetland but did have a little Welsh A that had similar tactics).
 
I have watched our houdini section a mare go under a double strand of both wire and tape hooked up to mains power that was only 6 inches off the ground! She stood and rocked back and forth in time to the clicking then literally dived forward so that she slid through the muddy gateway on her belly, hooves splayed out like a footballer celebrating a goal. Stood up on the other side, had good shake and trotted off after her friend who was off out on a hack. She only does it with the gate now though and only if left on her own - triple strands really tight between fields stopped her visiting the neighbours.
 
A shitland with respect for any kind of fencing is surely as rare as unicorn poop!... I'm sure there are some that arnt little Houdini's but I've yet to meet one :D Maybe a a good mains hook up with a several strands?
 
I proceed on the basis that a Shetland can get through a cat flap. If three strands on a single fence doesn't contain the little precious I would be looking at adding a second fence running parallel about 75 cm from the first also with three stand but at different levels to those on the first. I would also be putting the post no more than 2 metres apart and again staggering the posts on the second fence so they look one metre apart face on.

I've managed to contain a career escapologist who could jump 4' and barge of England with double close post fencing.
 
my mini is scared stiff of the tape! he won't even jump it, if its laying on the floor! I never had to use electric until my friends pony moved in, he's 14hh and will trash anything that isn't electric or barbed wire!
 
Some years ago (*warning* this make some of you cringe) someone I knew had a shetland which was a serial escaper.

Out of desperation the owner attached a TV arial to the pony's headcollar, you know the old fashioned twin sticky uppy type of arial?

The next time the pony did the limbo act under the electric fence he got a socking great zap to his head.

Never attempted to escape again.
 
Very much like pansy mouse! When our little Shetland mare, (RIP), was on restricted grazing with our other pony, she would happily take the shock to get to the other side, she just kept going, taking the fencing with her, jumping and twitching as she went! She was a character!
 
Not a Shetland, but if mine wants to go through an electric fence she just closes her eyes and barges through. I guess she only gets one, maybe two, zaps before she destroys the fence and there is no more current.
 
We needed three strands, one very low, attached to the mains, for "butter wouldn't melt" mini.
 
My shetland generally stays in if fence is on. However last summer I kept finding him in my mares side with the lovely long grass and the fence unhooked. I watched him one day and he was unhooking the isolator handle using his mouth 😳 I was secretly very impressed. It's now attached with a carabiner!
 
Hayjay said:
My shetland generally stays in if fence is on. However last summer I kept finding him in my mares side with the lovely long grass and the fence unhooked. I watched him one day and he was unhooking the isolator handle using his mouth �� I was secretly very impressed. It's now attached with a carabiner!
Click to expand...

I know what you mean about being secretly impressed. A mini shetland on our previous yard was known to lie down beside the fence then do a full body roll underneath it with his legs tucked right in. He looked like a pony with a particular set of skills!
 
lrw0250 said:
I know what you mean about being secretly impressed. A mini shetland on our previous yard was known to lie down beside the fence then do a full body roll underneath it with his legs tucked right in. He looked like a pony with a particular set of skills!
Click to expand...

Would love to see that - clever pony. My shetland does seem very bright - I think it's because he's driven by his tummy!
 
My shetland won't go near the fence when it's on, battery energizer 3 strands on one line 4 on the other but that's more for better tension in a windy spot. BUT the moment the fence is off he knows and plays with it in his mouth,chews the rope the weirdo. He hasn't yet actually gone through it choosing to stay with my mare who doesn't like the fence at all. I've had no problems with him though as long as it's on but wouldn't trust him for too long a period with it off. I always have a 2nd battery charged so I can swap the day I no its run out.
 
pansymouse said:
I proceed on the basis that a Shetland can get through a cat flap. If three strands on a single fence doesn't contain the little precious I would be looking at adding a second fence running parallel about 75 cm from the first also with three stand but at different levels to those on the first. I would also be putting the post no more than 2 metres apart and again staggering the posts on the second fence so they look one metre apart face on.

I've managed to contain a career escapologist who could jump 4' and barge of England with double close post fencing.
Click to expand...

This
 
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