Urgent help with fencing needed (escaping pony)

Get some 5.5ft wooden stakes (Ive just got 50 of them for 50p each), put them every say 2.4m apart - then get a few pieces of 4.8m timber and nail onto posts (you will need three posts per one timber) then peraps buy chicken wire for the bottom section which should keep the monkey is? :D
 
Im at an old farm so the fencing tends to occasionally need re-newing and I allways give the yard owner a hand, posts tend to be about 1.8 to 2m apart, if we dont use machinery we use a heavy metal bar about an inch wide and hit it in a few inches at a time with a sledge hammer to loosen the ground then hit the posts in with what we call a 'thumper' its basicaly an old slim gas bottle that has been de pressurised and had the head cut off and handles welded on, normaly use pig wire ( think its called that? Small squares few Inches apart) for the main part of the fence
 
putasocinit said:
I would refuse to put my horse in a field with only single strand fencing, this is so dangerous, you could use sheep fencing and a strand of electrified tape on tope.
Click to expand...

Sheep fencing is far more dangerous imo (I also don't like tape as have seen the sliced injuries they've caused when break late - prefer thin rope as gives with any real force)

Single strand wire (electric) they'll break through and end up in perimeter fencing. I don't like it, but they'll be contained.

Sheep fencing and they'll tangle and dependant on electric or metal may tear themselves up badly before breaking free or being found.

Single strand high tensile and you'll have some nasty injuries if they go through.

In paddocks (and not large fields or small separations) I would only ever use post and rail with electric.
 
Last edited:
Ive not done it yet (they've covered in snow at the moment ha) but a joiner from work is coming to put the lot up for me in the next month or two ... I do believe you can buy/hire a tool called a stake post driver - a large metal hood that fits over the head of the post then has two handles either side to hold onto whilst you knock it into the ground :confused:
 
A big butch joiner will be using it hahaha ... not little old me - probably wouldnt be able to lift the driver up - Im pathetically weak ;)
 
Much much quicker if you have a quantity to do is find a local agricultural contractor. Get him to bring his tractor and push the posts down into the ground with the bucket. That's assuming a tractor won't make a huge mess of wet muddy ground!
 
Victoria25 said:
A big butch joiner will be using it hahaha ... not little old me - probably wouldnt be able to lift the driver up - Im pathetically weak ;)
Click to expand...

I've passed this job onto OH now... I broke my hand last year and have a metal plate in there now. When I use this the plate vibrates and feels like I'm probably doing damage! Anything more than a couple and the tractor comes out though!
 
My field is fenced with a combination of electric tape, rope and wire to permanent posts. It is also run off the mains. I have three strands - top is 20mm super strength white tape, middle is thick rope and bottom is wire. I have then run a wire zigzag between top and bottom. It is well tensioned and I use the clamp type fittings every 2/3 posts so if it does ever break then the whole fence doesn't go. It works well for me. I've also heard good reports on the Horsemesh mentioned above.

Not sure if you have answered the question about the type of posts in use but wooden ones really solidly put in is the only way to go. More work and usually more expensive than plastic but at least they will take some hammer!
 
When I moved to my current farm, the fences were in a bad state. I had trouble getting a fencing contractor so I had a serious look at permanent electric fencing. It is the best thing I ever did! I do have traditional stock proof ring fence but nearly all internal fences are now permanent electric.

Once you've got the energiser, erecting the fence is cheap, quick, and relatively easy. I have erected several miles of fencing here on my own. I got a far more powerful energiser than I needed and used 2.5mm high tensile galvanised wire. My land is flat so I only needed a post every 30 metres with a dropper every ten metres.

2.5mm wire is almost invisible to horses but I solved that problem by buying cheap white tape off Ebay and cable tying it to the top steel wire. I have four or five wire fences and I can put the power through the top wire only, or electrify all the wires (except the bottom one) for sheep.

Frankly, I get cold shivers every time I hear someone mention mesh fences (let alone sheep netting!) with horses, the same goes for barbed wire! That is seriously scary! I've had no serious problems at all with my electric fences, the shock off the mains energiser means they don't go back for a second try! It is also easy to run a temporary tape fence anywhere on the farm because I only need tie it to the nearest permanent electrified wire.

Permanent electric fencing is well worth thinking about. The Electrowood or Insultimber posts (very hard exotic wood posts that don't conduct electricity so no insulators required) are expensive (£8 each?), but I've some over 25 years old and still sound. But if the power is off, and a horse reaches though, they can break the posts. It is just as easy to put in a standard fence post and use screw on insulators.
 
Hi,

I'm a bit of a pro with this subject as my youngster was a nightmare for escaping and having him near a main A road I had to do something permanent, cheap and quick!

I found a local farmer who did stock fencing for a decent price and set about securing the exterior of my fields with that. I did a small field first so that I could at least be sure I had one secure area to put him. To deter him from trying to get to the fence I then put up a temporary electric fence on the inside with a sheep energiser on it and a big battery on a short bit of tape/wire. The sheep energisers give around 10,000 volts of shock on short bits of wire, mine was about 250 metres long.

Before turning him out I put the said big energiser and battery on a 30 metre stretch of fence near my stables and invited him over to say hello to me. Needless to say he got a very big shock and the disbelief in his face was very visible! I have known friends wet their ponies first before shocking them but I didn't need to do that. Don't put a head collar on him and lead him to the shock as this will create mistrust between you, just invite him over with a treat and wait for him to lean on the fence.

I turned him out and I haven't had trouble since unless the battery dies and he realises then he will take the opportunity and go through. I now don't have to have an electric fence infront of the stock fence as he has learnt not to go near them.

I now have stock fence all the way around the edge of the fields with barbed wire around the top and I have internal fences which I electrify with batteries and energisers. The trick is to give them a really big shock the first time.

As for the concerns raised by other over stock and barbed wire fencing then my answer would be that horses can get into mischief in all types of situations. I have heard of horses getting tangled in fence tape/wire and getting serious deep injuries just the same as some horses have got tangled in hay nets, cast in stables, heads stuck in bizarre places and impaled on broken post and rail fencing. If you have never had this worry about your horse escaping it is easy to preach, however having been the one laid awake at 3 am worrying if my horse is where he should be then I would say go with the cheapest option to make it safe quickly. The alternative is your horse gets loose and either causes an accident, gets killed or lost or stolen.

Good luck, if you want anymore advice then PM me.:-)
 
lottie940 said:
Hi,

I'm a bit of a pro with this subject as my youngster was a nightmare for escaping and having him near a main A road I had to do something permanent, cheap and quick!

I found a local farmer who did stock fencing for a decent price and set about securing the exterior of my fields with that. I did a small field first so that I could at least be sure I had one secure area to put him. To deter him from trying to get to the fence I then put up a temporary electric fence on the inside with a sheep energiser on it and a big battery on a short bit of tape/wire. The sheep energisers give around 10,000 volts of shock on short bits of wire, mine was about 250 metres long.

Before turning him out I put the said big energiser and battery on a 30 metre stretch of fence near my stables and invited him over to say hello to me. Needless to say he got a very big shock and the disbelief in his face was very visible! I have known friends wet their ponies first before shocking them but I didn't need to do that. Don't put a head collar on him and lead him to the shock as this will create mistrust between you, just invite him over with a treat and wait for him to lean on the fence.

I turned him out and I haven't had trouble since unless the battery dies and he realises then he will take the opportunity and go through. I now don't have to have an electric fence infront of the stock fence as he has learnt not to go near them.

I now have stock fence all the way around the edge of the fields with barbed wire around the top and I have internal fences which I electrify with batteries and energisers. The trick is to give them a really big shock the first time.

As for the concerns raised by other over stock and barbed wire fencing then my answer would be that horses can get into mischief in all types of situations. I have heard of horses getting tangled in fence tape/wire and getting serious deep injuries just the same as some horses have got tangled in hay nets, cast in stables, heads stuck in bizarre places and impaled on broken post and rail fencing. If you have never had this worry about your horse escaping it is easy to preach, however having been the one laid awake at 3 am worrying if my horse is where he should be then I would say go with the cheapest option to make it safe quickly. The alternative is your horse gets loose and either causes an accident, gets killed or lost or stolen.

Good luck, if you want anymore advice then PM me.:-)
Click to expand...

Not preaching, Lottie. just seriously scared of having one of mine get caught up in barbed wire. The wire doesn't break, it just tears out the staples and gets spread around the field in loose coils waiting for the horse to get wrapped up in it. If you'd ever taken down a barbed wire fence, you'd know how it re-coils in big threatening nooses.

I saw a lovely TB type this had happened to and it was scarred all over. It was a beautiful horse totally ruined. The owner saw me looking at it and asked me if I was interested in buying. I don't think so. I think anyone with any sort of experience of horses will warn against using barbed wire. A far better alternative is a single strand of electric on off-sets on an existing fence. That is what I have done with my last remaining fence that has a single strand of barb on the top. At least it keeps them off it until I have time to remove it.
 
My horses have mostly been kept in fields with stock fencing and barbed wire - always very well maintained. I have never ever seen any injuries caused by this sort of fencing. The worst injury I have ever seen to a horse was one kept in a field with post and rail (most peoples preferred material for fencing, mine included).

Accidents can happen with any type of fencing.
 
Dry Rot said:
When I moved to my current farm, the fences were in a bad state. I had trouble getting a fencing contractor so I had a serious look at permanent electric fencing. It is the best thing I ever did! I do have traditional stock proof ring fence but nearly all internal fences are now permanent electric.

Once you've got the energiser, erecting the fence is cheap, quick, and relatively easy. I have erected several miles of fencing here on my own. I got a far more powerful energiser than I needed and used 2.5mm high tensile galvanised wire. My land is flat so I only needed a post every 30 metres with a dropper every ten metres.

2.5mm wire is almost invisible to horses but I solved that problem by buying cheap white tape off Ebay and cable tying it to the top steel wire. I have four or five wire fences and I can put the power through the top wire only, or electrify all the wires (except the bottom one) for sheep.

Frankly, I get cold shivers every time I hear someone mention mesh fences (let alone sheep netting!) with horses, the same goes for barbed wire! That is seriously scary! I've had no serious problems at all with my electric fences, the shock off the mains energiser means they don't go back for a second try! It is also easy to run a temporary tape fence anywhere on the farm because I only need tie it to the nearest permanent electrified wire.

Permanent electric fencing is well worth thinking about. The Electrowood or Insultimber posts (very hard exotic wood posts that don't conduct electricity so no insulators required) are expensive (£8 each?), but I've some over 25 years old and still sound. But if the power is off, and a horse reaches though, they can break the posts. It is just as easy to put in a standard fence post and use screw on insulators.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what the issue is with mesh if it is eg tornado elite high tension small square horsemesh?The squares are 2 inch square on mine, even the pony cannote fit a hoof through, not remotely.No pointy bits, no power requirement and suitable for places like mine where the horses are rotated with sheep to minimise worm burden and rank areas for both. More to the point, electric fence limbo haffie respects it.

I wouldn't have electric for a perimeter fence, permanent or otherwise for an escapologist haffie: fine for internal subdivision tho as long as you don't mind if they get through it. A broken electric post could kill a horse as much as permanent fencing.
 
I have no problem with barbed wire and use it in a large area if well maintained. Not maintained its lethal stuff.

I have no problem if small mesh and can't get a hoof through, but sheep netting/mesh is quite large and I have seen nasty accidents so wouldn't touch it unless was the small mesh.

I wouldn't do either in a small/standard paddock. Only perimeter.
 
Leviathan said:
I suggest Heras fencing, dig a hole for the feet or leave them as they are if its temporary and put fencing in then fill hole its 6ft 6 high and only a few inches from the ground you can hire or buy also on ebay

this is what i also resorted to as a last ditch attempt to stop a shire and a shetland x, it dosnt look very nice tbh but it was the only thing that worked when electric and post and rail failed! (yes they really did go through solid post and rail!) luckily im surrounded by fields though. tyre walls also done correctly ive seen work well you can get them free from a few places but they would be ridiculously labour intensive and some places arnt keen my landowner wouldnt let me use them
is he just getting bored though? maybe he needs more work! :p
Click to expand...
 
amandap said:
A friend has some of this she bought to fence off the hay barn. It topples over easily and is not at all robust. Concreting it in might make it more stable but if they rub on it it soon starts to give way. The barn is now gated and no more break ins or worries about the fence becoming a danger.
Click to expand...

we have dug the feed into the ground

But our round pen is made of it as well as the perimeter the feet are not dug in there. You have to put two clips on each side, I disagree with the fact it topples easily . There is a certain way you have to erect it , if you use the wrong holes and don't clip it it will be weaker. We use the round pen for schooling and restricted grazing works brilliantly
 
Last edited:
OP I think if I remember correctly you are in the east midlands, if you are anywhere near Northampton/Rugby I can recommend a good and reasonably priced fencing contractor

Don't forget that this is a livery yard so the YO may be unhappy to use particular types of fencing

OP have you calculated the amount if fencing needed? Some suggestions could be tweaked if people know if you are talking about 100m or 1000m

Don't forget you'll need a gate too

One suggestion you can try in the meantime that's cheap and easy is to add a couple of earth strands to the fence, these are strands of electric fencing between the live strands (chest height is ideal) they can't touch the live lines at all so watch corner posts, once in place run a clip from fence to EARTH stake.

The idea is that the pony touches an earth and live wire together and the effect of the shock is increased.

Other things to consider is that you could put more posts in and move existing ones slightly to make the fence tighter and more rigid. Also your earth stake could be a bit dry with all this snow so you may find when it thaws and the ground is wetter it may improve the situation. check the battery power and shake any ice and snow from the fence as that will decrease it's effect. Lastly my fence has sagged from the snow so check yours for anywhere it could be shorting out
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top