Using Herras Fencing for a small pen for rehabbing horse

Birker2020

Birker2020

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Asking on behalf of a friend whose horse has just had its DDFT medicated yesterday. She wants to keep it calm and in a very small area for approx. 2 months until it is better. She has enquired about lunging pens as have I who has done a lot of googling on the matter but the cost implication for her made me consider herras fencing as an option.I've found panels on line which retail brand new at £30 per section and we have worked between us that we can create a 25 metre square area for her with 8 panels, or maybe less than this as she has a gate that she can use which opens into her paddock where she plans to put the fencing to eliminate the need for a special herras fencing gate. The feet which come with the fencing mean the fencing will be 4 " off the ground, enough for her mare to put her tiny hooves through if she rolls, so she is wondering what she can use to block the gap - I suggested some planking of some sort or some plastic jump poles. Has anyone used herras fencing for a 'lunge pen' or for grass/movement restriction for horses/ponies and if so did you encounter any problems? Thanks.
 
I haven't and personally wouldn't consider the idea. I don't think its strong enough should they rub against it. Also quite weak metal so if pawed feet could get stuck through the thin metal cage bit. Why not electric fence a section of the paddock off? We once penned off some hounds with Herras fencing (within a grain shed) and they wrecked it. Didn't take them long and they're a lot lighter than a horse/pony. Flimsy stuff IMO.
 
I use it to pen a horse that gets Bad mud fever onto hard standing in the wetter months. Not had a problem with it, horse never tried to scratch on it and he rolls in the middle so I don't worry about the gaps. Fencing of any description has risks. Depends on the horse I guess.
 
ester said:
Is there a reason your friend doesn't think suitable electric fencing will do the job?
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Sorry, yes the horse cannot tolerate being behind electric fencing. Its in a post and rail paddock but prior to that just barged through the electric fencing on previous occasions even when the battery was on and fully charged. Her paddock is in a separate area to mine and isn't hooked up to mains like mine and there is no where else for her mare to go.
 
Can she do electric fencing around the fencing? Depends on the horse-s he needs to consider teh impl;ications of injury if the horse barges through it. Can she knock up a few posts and a single rail as most horses will respect that and top up with electric fencing ?
 
kathantoinette said:
I don't think its strong enough should they rub against it. Also quite weak metal so if pawed feet could get stuck through the thin metal cage bit. .
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Hi thanks for your reply. It is strong because once enclosed each fence panel has two clips on it (if you choose to use two) one at the top and one at the bottom and the fence is rigid once in its feet, the strength comes from the 'building block' once all put together, so gives it a good amount of rigidity. I have seen grown men climbing over heras fencing on a Youtube clip and it hasn't moved. The fencing she is looking at has gaps of about an inch in between the 'grid' so there is no way she could get her foot through, unless I suppose she gave it a mighty kick with some high jinks of course. I agree electric fencing would be better but is not a solution in this particular horses case.
 
I've seen it used upside down without the feet and therefore with no gap at the bottom, I think if I were to use it I would be inclined to do that and knock in some stakes at the corners for stablilty
 
hopscotch bandit said:
Hi thanks for your reply. It is strong because once enclosed each fence panel has two clips on it (if you choose to use two) one at the top and one at the bottom and the fence is rigid once in its feet, the strength comes from the 'building block' once all put together, so gives it a good amount of rigidity. I have seen grown men climbing over heras fencing on a Youtube clip and it hasn't moved. The fencing she is looking at has gaps of about an inch in between the 'grid' so there is no way she could get her foot through, unless I suppose she gave it a mighty kick with some high jinks of course. I agree electric fencing would be better but is not a solution in this particular horses case.
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I think the point K was making was that the actual mesh itself is not strong and could easily get damaged/dangerous with some hoof pressure.
 
Leo Walker said:
It might be strong but there is no way its stable or secure enough to put an unaccompanied horse!
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I think its stable enough but like you say if the horse puts it hoof through it forcefully there will be a problem. Heras fencing is used on building sites all the time to keep out people so its stable enough in that respect as a friend pointed out.The owner is away on business this week and her horse is stabled on a rehab yard whilst she's away. They have a proper metal lunge type pen she is going out in for a couple of hours but when she comes back home (the owner) she needs to find a quick solution which isn't going to break the bank hence the post.
 
I know quite a lot of yards that successfully use it - i would happily use it for all mine but none of them are hooligans so i'd say it would depend on the kind of horses you were to fence in with it
 
ester said:
Ah well I think I'd just be thankful it was a friends problem not mine! /QUOTE]

Me too. But then she is very lucky to have a friend like this who not only posts on here on her behalf but spend hours googling the problem while shes at work. I need a friend like that, I think they are generally called PAs?
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Leo Walker said:
ester said:
Ah well I think I'd just be thankful it was a friends problem not mine! /QUOTE]

Me too. But then she is very lucky to have a friend like this who not only posts on here on her behalf but spend hours googling the problem while shes at work. I need a friend like that, I think they are generally called PAs?
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This is a genuine post for a friend who is on my yard and doesn't come on this forum. I have time to spare at lunch time and when on my break so I use the time to google something if someone needs my help, I've not spent hours so slight excaggeration, spent time at work when I can and at night at home. That's what friends do, at least genuine friends, try to help each other out, she helps me with my horse when I can't go to the yard before work, and I help her when she needs it.We have discussed over coffee at the yard and she said heras fencing would be a good idea hence why I'm looking into it for her. She looked at hiring a round pen but couldn't find anything and she looked at buying but it was too expensive. She is worried about the whole thing which is why I am trying my hardest to come up with a solution for her. If someone wants to ridicule that then I suggest the problem is with them and not me. ;)
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I've done it without any problems, and with a highly strung TB type. We were able to move it daily to give him fresh grass, the pen never moved, nothing happened of any note at all. I used elasticated bungees to tie the panels together. Initially he had 2x2 ie 8 in total, then latterly I moved them against hedges etc. to give him a bit more room to move around. Much safer than electric fencing, I've had rehab/off box rest horses just go straight through that. The best thing about it is that you can move it so they don't run out of grass so stay occupied.
 
AnShanDan said:
I've done it without any problems, and with a highly strung TB type. We were able to move it daily to give him fresh grass, the pen never moved, nothing happened of any note at all. I used elasticated bungees to tie the panels together. Initially he had 2x2 ie 8 in total, then latterly I moved them against hedges etc. to give him a bit more room to move around. Much safer than electric fencing, I've had rehab/off box rest horses just go straight through that. The best thing about it is that you can move it so they don't run out of grass so stay occupied.
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Thank you that is most helpful. I think they will be easy to move with a few of us helping, luckily there are always a lot of helpful people at the yard we are on. We never thought about using elastic bungees, that might be easier but not sure they would be as hardy as the clips. I'm lucky that my horse respects electric but some horses don't especially if they have rugs with necks on because they don't feel the shock, or the promise of fresh grass is more tempting than a quick shock :)
 
hopscotch bandit said:
Leo Walker said:
This is a genuine post for a friend .... then I suggest the problem is with them and not me. ;)
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One of the main signs of a lie is going into excessive detail that just doesnt ring true. Doesnt really matter to me, its pretty obvious to most people who you are, why you keep up the pretence is beyond me!

Tiddlypom said:
What would happen if the horse itched its bum on the heras panels?
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They would fall down
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;)
Leo Walker said:
hopscotch bandit said:
One of the main signs of a lie is going into excessive detail that just doesnt ring true. Doesnt really matter to me, its pretty obvious to most people who you are, why you keep up the pretence is beyond<script id="gpt-impl-0.9007017807874558" src="https://securepubads.g.doubleclick.net/gpt/pubads_impl_165.js"></script> me!


They would fall down
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I am not keeping up any pretence Leo. This horse is not mine, its my friends horse, I'm asking the question for my friend who doesn't come on this website. I'm getting a little tired of your jibes to be honest.My own horse is very well, hacking out and doing the odd dressage competition, in fact I was on a lovely long ride with a friend of mine on Saturday and I am looking at doing another long one this weekend. Not able to do that with an DDFT injured horse that requires paddock rest for 6 weeks behind a heras fence in case you didn't know. Although you obviously know everything of course!

If its 'obvious to most people who I am' then those people are extremely foolish imho :D

The fencing can't fall down. It is supported by clips both top and bottom, and is driven into very heavy feet. THe very structure of it when it is fixed together prevents it from falling down because it is supported in such a way by the panel next to it and the panel next to that, so when all fitted together it has greater strength. Hard to explain but its how most things work.
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I have used Herras fencing for two different horses - one horse who was just coming off box rest with a serious tendon injury so I couldnt have him tanking round the field, I made it "stable" size to begin with and slowly added sections of the fence to make it bigger every week. It was handy as I could move it about onto new grass if necessary and I knew he couldnt jump it. Other horse was one who Id bought that had been stabled permanently his whole life but I now wanted him to get used to living out (without madly galloping about and jumping whatever height fence was in his way!) so he'd go into his pen daily for short periods, slowly extending the time he was out in it - he was 17.1hh and Herras was the only height of fence he didnt attempt to jump! I guess if I had a small pony in it then Id worry about the gap at the bottom, but I imagine it wouldnt take much effort to fill in with something (like you say wide wooden boards?). The fencing itself I found very sturdy since it connects back round onto itself in a circle (I wouldnt use it in a straight line to fill a gap or something though as yes obviously the wind could blow it down then). Id definately use it again if I needed to. People asking what would happen if a horse itched on it, well nothing because it is very sturdy - its attached to the other sections by 2 clip things and obviously the feet sit in big heavy concrete blocks, I dont think it would go anywhere!
 
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MagicMelon said:
I have used Herras fencing for two different horses - one horse who was just coming off box rest with a serious tendon injury so I couldnt have him tanking round the field, I made it "stable" size to begin with and slowly added sections of the fence to make it bigger every week. It was handy as I could move it about onto new grass if necessary and I knew he couldnt jump it. Other horse was one who Id bought that had been stabled permanently his whole life but I now wanted him to get used to living out (without madly galloping about and jumping whatever height fence was in his way!) so he'd go into his pen daily for short periods, slowly extending the time he was out in it - he was 17.1hh and Herras was the only height of fence he didnt attempt to jump! I guess if I had a small pony in it then Id worry about the gap at the bottom, but I imagine it wouldnt take much effort to fill in with something (like you say wide wooden boards?). The fencing itself I found very sturdy since it connects back round onto itself in a circle (I wouldnt use it in a straight line to fill a gap or something though as yes obviously the wind could blow it down then). Id definately use it again if I needed to. People asking what would happen if a horse itched on it, well nothing because it is very sturdy - its attached to the other sections by 2 clip things and obviously the feet sit in big heavy concrete blocks, I dont think it would go anywhere!
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Thanks MM just as I thought. I will pass on your findings to my friend who is due to fly back this weekend and collect her horse.
 
Thanks for the interesting and useful contributions, I will print off this so my friend can read it on her return and I will update you and let you know how she finds it (the heras fencing, not the post that is!) :D
 
Tiddlypom said:
What would happen if the horse itched its bum on the heras panels?
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They can bend or break if a horse rubs hard enough. We had a livery in the round pen made up or heras fencing, she did break two and got out, but the best idea is to dig the feet into the ground ie bury them then they do stand up to it. Our trouble is they were second hand panels but new ones would stand up to rubs.




Op they are a good idea but put the feet into the hole as it will support the panels in high winds, also buy new as they are stronger in the joints unless you can find good 2nd hand ones, we also put spare feet onto the feet panels as we have not dug the feet into the ground yet. This mare was in the round pen due to a tear in the tendon and vet wanted her in there for controlled exercise. She is also the most itchiest mare I have ever known. You can see we put one foot on another to secure it, but eventually we are re doing the round pen in post and rail
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Thank you ILCP, that is most helpful. The gap is quite big at the bottom of yours, I think that would be safer than the four inches my friend was told when she rang, once inserted into the feet as her mare is only around 16hh and has small feet. She's buying new panels, they are being delivered next week in time for her horse to be able to go out as the 2nd hand ones have slight damage.I see you have a mixture of clips and ties on your panels. Think she's gone for the clips as she feels they will be more stable. The stability is in the thing once its all together, I can't see how any horse could knock it over but I agree they could rub on it if they chose.
 
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