wire fencing, discuss :)

Roasted Chestnuts

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Right here's a question for you :)

What can you use to keep a horse in its field that

Ignores electric fencing and stomps all over it,

Leans against plain wire fencing until its flat on the ground then stomps all over it,

Leans on wooden fencing until its all broken then stomps all over it

Horse has hay in field, water in field and company. The leccy is a good brand energiser with the batteries you replace ans has kncoked the owner of said horse on her butt seeing stars when she's accidentally touched it. Where does she go from here???

Answers on a postcard
 
Either,

mains powered electric, no rugs and wet horses chest

or

plant a hedge, wait ten years for it to grow

or

dry stone walls

or (and this will be unpopular)

tether it!
 
I agree with the mains electric, scrupulous checking that theres no shorts, very deep burial of earth stake, no rug wet horse option. And Im afraid the horse will need to be 'shown' the zap - just once - so they dont first experience it mid way through fence.

Mains electric waay more powerful than any battery.
 
This sounds like mine, I've stood and watched him do it, he just pushes and pushes with his chest til it gives way. He can only get in the next field so it's not too bad.

My main plan of attack is just to sigh and repair my fence every day.
 
Oh and barbed wire is no use either, awful stuff. There was some barbed wire when we moved into the field (rented from farmer) I've ended up cutting it all away and getting rid.

He still broke it all and got tangled in it, it's only that he's so hairy he didn't hurt himself!

Just an awful injury waiting to happen so that's not your answer either.
 
Tether or hobble it. I did try tethering once unsuccessfully. I had a bespoke leather collar made and a good length of chain attached to a ground post with revolving top attachment and lots of those revolving joiners. I let go of the pony and he bolted to the end of the chain:( I didn't tether him again.
 
I know where you are coming from and feel for you !

I had a show cob years ago that simply broke his way through anything and everything, stable doors included. He went into hunt service and they had a steel stable door made for him with re-enforced door jam and bolts, lined the door with matting so stop him breaking the bones in his hind feet when he was pounding the door with massive kicks. If he couldn't break down what ever was in front of him with his chest he would turn his hind end and kick it down. He was turned out in the walled yard with a mains electric double strand of electric fence in front of the gate and could be seen from the house, he could not be left unwatched.

He was a good hunt service mount but I don't think he was missed when he went !

It sounds like your horse is almost as bad. Frankly it's an impossible situation, other than high walls will stop a horse fence busting if he is set on breaking out.

If he is using his chest to break the fencing down it may be worth putting 2 strands of mains electric fencing on top of the post and rail fence to stop him getting his head and neck over the top of the rails which in turn would stop him being able to get his chest onto the post/rails to start the destruction.

Tether is an option but not something I have any experience of doing.

Having had the cob mentioned above I would not keep another horse that breaks out, it would be going through the sales. The cost of the damage, the worry of what it was doing to itself, its field mates and the property it was escaping onto is just too much to cope with. Probably not what you wanted to hear, but unless he is a mega champion you are better off without him.
 
I would be interested to know what set up was used for the electric energiser if it was that powerful a shock! I think a lot of the time people only use 2 strands and have the posts too far apart. We had a Houdini colt that we just couldn't keep in, our fencing, admittedly mains but I do think a powerful battery one would have worked the same, has beaten him and he has never escaped through it. He is now a stallion and has mares running alongside him and the other 2 stallions he shares with. We put in wooden 'pencil' posts, 10ft apart, with rope every 12" up to 4ft high. You have to make sure that the lowest strand is low enough that they can't get a run under it to lift it, and the highest enough that they don't jump it, our boys are section A's so the 4ft is plenty high enough. We check the power on the fence daily and it runs at 10000v but we also have 5 x 3ft earth stakes on the pony fence and an extra 2ft earth stake on the hen pen. The main problem with any electric fence not running high enough is the lack of earth stakes, because the little ones that come attached to energisers are just not big enough. The minimum number of earth stakes (3ft ones) any fence should have is 3.

Plastic posts are useless with anything that has a tendency to escape, they soon learn to run in at an angle with their head down and lift the posts as they run under the bottom strand, putting posts every 3 ft or so can help to stop this.
 
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Either stronger electric at chest height or what will be an unpopular choice- barbed wire at chest height. Assuming the horse isn't stupid putting tightly fitted barbed wire on the inside top rail isn't likely to do any harm if he escapes post & rail by walking through it.
 
5 bar metal gates/ cattle railing on gateposts sunk properly/concreted in

Also depending on what type of electric tape/rope you're using suggest chest height line of straight cattle wire, far more conductivity than the nicey nicey stuff us horsey folk use - burn a hole in my waterproof trousers jods and singed my leg when i caught it by accident, though that is mains.
 
Ill get the name of the energiser for you :)

Its wooden post and connectors not plastic things, I agree they are useless :rolleyes:.

Might need another earth stake then as using 1 x 2ft one sunk to 1.5 ft so adding another might work :)
 
Might say to chuck in some more posts as maybe they are too far apart. Its leccy tape, I prefer the rope rather than tape so might suggest that as a change,friend is going to have to completely refence the other two paddocks as most of the fencing is on the ground with the horse :(

Feel sorry for my friend as horse is a nice wee thing but boy has it got opinions on staying put :o
 
Hi we have a pony at are yard who has no respect for electric fencing so this my sound very odd but we make sure the fence is working and put a head coller on with lots af short bits of electric fence tied on like a christmas tree so when he trys to go through the fence he gets a right zap in the noggin :eek: may sound extreme but you cant have a pony that go's walk about when he feels like it .
 
i was going to suggest tying pieces of electric fencing to his headcollar aswell and to his rug....i had one that used to get out of the electric fence,...when i did this he soon stopped trying..once he got severel good jolts. it is extreme but he might end up far worse if he is loose around roads or something.......
 
Energiser is a rutland wet battery energiser, we think its the ESB225 model but would need to check and horse isn't wearing a rug with tape at chest height.

check the joules on it - that model is 1.6J (same as mine) - will run the battery down quick :rolleyes: what is she like if you have to lines of electric say 2-3ft apart so that as she goes through one she gets attacked by a 2nd?
i know someone who put the electric fence a good ft above normal fencing to stop her horse leaning over - so its equivalent of 4ft-4ft6 high electric. Means they get a good zap on the neck which is unavoidable in the attempt to push the fence - maybe zapping a different body part would help but who knows -some just don't care :rolleyes:
 
Thanks coss :) the battery is about 3weeks old how long did you get out of a battery??

Might be a good idea bout a fence behind a fence :) when the other paddocks are done I'm sure all these ideas and suggestions are going to come in very handy :)
 
just a thought, but where does he go when he escapes? does he run to another field with horses in, does he go to his stable, does he go to better grass?
i would look at the reason WHY he wants to be getting out all the time before getting the barbed wire and seriously shocking stuff. then if you come to the conclusion he really is just doing it because he can and hes being a little terror, then get the heavy duty containing materials :p
 
Brimmers it just goes wallk abouts really, wanders into the neighbours gardens (albiet there is probably more grass and tasties there it is a cob after all ;) ) it has hay, feeding, company, but just always seems to think the grass is greener, its the type of horse that's never satisfied sand would stand at a roundhaybale until every scrap is gone :o

Just a typical cob really, ;) :o
 
Round pen cemented into ground lol

This would be what it would be living in if it was on my yard, liveries don't pay me enough to build special paddocks just for one horse.

How high is the current fencing?

If it was one of my horses rather than a livery I would pay out (if I thought the horse was worth the expense) for deer fencing which around here is about 10' high, then I'd have mains electric at belly height all round, a half acre paddock would cost me approximately $3000, it would have to be a damn good horse! It keeps bison in at my friends farm!

The slightly cheaper alternative would be pipe fencing. Usually the pipes are similar to scaffolding poles, 3 or 4 rails high, if a horse could destroy those then it would deserve its freedom ;)

Good luck, I feel your pain.
 
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Thanks coss :) the battery is about 3weeks old how long did you get out of a battery??

Might be a good idea bout a fence behind a fence :) when the other paddocks are done I'm sure all these ideas and suggestions are going to come in very handy :)

My biggest leisure battery lasts around 4 weeks from fully charged.
I have a selection of leisure & car batteries (on charge/in use/ waiting to go home for charging)
The oldest car battery will only do 2-4 days now & is used as last min cover only, but happily powers lights in 2 of the stables for up to 5/6 evenings.
 
Get some straight wire and run it the horses side IN FRONT of the tape on the same posts - so hes got the tape for visability but the wire will touch him.

Tape only has a few strands of metal mixed into it which is where they get the shock from, wire is obviously all metal so everything that touches him will zap him, rather than a couple of prickles. Thats why is keeps 250 head herds of cattle in ;)

Also tis cheap as chips to buy cos its agricultural rather than equine!
 
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