Would it be cruel

windand rain

windand rain

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to fit metal chain to a field safe headcollar to try to teach a horse to respect the electric fence thinking of safety and security here so a field safe headcollar, metal chain taped with copper tape that goes over the head and across the noseband so the current is send to the nose

Fed up of building a fence every day and the pony is escaping onto the part of the field I have sprayed for ragwort so it is for his own good

If you can think of any other methods to teach respect I am all ears
fence is new on mains electric with a 6ft earth pole 4ft into the ground gives off about 10,000 volts or more
Pony is a naughty little one with tons of mane and fluff tried clipping his front no good he sticks his head through and walks through he has 5 rows of tape about 3 inches apart
 
My initial reaction is that it could be fatal. Humans are advised never to wear metal near electric fences and as horses can be killed by a lower voltage than people, it would be very unwise.
Bear in mind also, that the ground and/or horse might be wet, increasing the risk.
I'm not an electrican, but, its certainly not something I would do.
 
I was considering fashioning a harness of electric tape around one of mine once. It's probably not safe, but I can understand the desperation!
 
How about doing that to yourself first, then see how you feel about it! Pretty shocked anyone would even consider this. What is the world coming to???

Perhaps you need to look for the reasons WHY your pony is so desperate to get out rather than inventing new torture devices.

Sorry for the harsh tone, but this is just a ridiculous thing to even think of, let alone suggest. And I would think it would also be a prosecutable offence too, so depends how much you fancy a prison cell and a big fine I guess.
 
I had to bite the bullet with mine (who became a limbo queen once put on a skinny diet) and divide up with tornado horsemesh with posts and electric line above. Expensive but peace of mind, she now alternates between her skinny paddocks.

I wouldn't dare to risk anything like you are suggesting.
 
horserider said:
My initial reaction is that it could be fatal. Humans are advised never to wear metal near electric fences and as horses can be killed by a lower voltage than people, it would be very unwise.
Bear in mind also, that the ground and/or horse might be wet, increasing the risk.
I'm not an electrican, but, its certainly not something I would do.
Click to expand...

Ok so solution and as a matter of interest it is amps not volts that kill you electic fence has about 30,000 volts running through it but less than 0.5 of an amp in my understanding anyway
Sorry a bit confused now why would making the shock come into contact with a slightly more sensitive place on the head be any worse than the shock when they put a nose on it which makes people laugh. Considering anything that will stop him getting onto the weed sprayed field which would cause him a long and excruciating death from liver failure this is a short shock to teach respect not a form of torture
Reason for getting out
1 because he can
2 because we have to wait until the ragwort is gone the grass is growing in there
3 he has done it since he was a foal and is now 7 so I have given him lots of chances we have got to last resort to save his life. Moving him is not and option as ever yard round here uses electric fencing as a paddock divider and only two strands at that
 
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windand rain said:
Ok so solution and as a matter of interest it is amps not volts that kill you electic fence has about 30,000 volts running through it but less than 0.5 of an amp in my understanding anyway
Click to expand...

Ah, I never did pay much attention in physics. OH is the expert, not me, (as you can probably tell).
However, having been made quite ill when zapped by a particularly nasty fence, its not an experience I'd want to repeat.
 
Very true that it's current that kills you.
I often use 16,000 volts for my work. That killing me is dependent on what I land on!

I did once get shocked on the back of the neck by an electric fence, I was too busy looking at the ants nest under my water bucket. Not an experience I want to repeat!

How does he get through all the tape? Is he rugged?
 
Not rugged and I must admit I am at my wits end with him I have tried everything I can think of maybe just PTS before he gets ill a baby horse is the next answer and no I cant sell him until I sort this
Anyone know if eating the dead ragwort is likely when there is loads of grass
 
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Could you attach some electric tape on to the noseband of his headcollar (only a small bit like a flash band loop) and a few inches of tape like a grab handle on the ring under his chin? If you cut the ends it shouldn't catch on anything
 
Use better electric tape, a better deeper wetter stake and better energiser.....

All of the above contributes to the conductiveness of the tape - if one or more is pants the whole thing is naff.
 
As stated before the stake is 4ft into the ground the fence is new and the energiser is mains so not really helpful as I have already thought of that
 
You cant sell until you sort it? why? Better than pts! Not everyone has electric fences, im sure someone has proper post and rail or wire fencing. As for the wire....cruel
 
windand rain said:
Not rugged and I must admit I am at my wits end with him I have tried everything I can think of maybe just PTS before he gets ill a baby horse is the next answer and no I cant sell him until I sort this
Anyone know if eating the dead ragwort is likely when there is loads of grass
Click to expand...

Not sure I can comprehend your post. Are you saying that this is a foal ? Electric fencing isn't suitable for foals.
Rather than PTS (if that's what you're saying ), why not pay for livery for a short while until your sprayed field is usable again ?
 
horserider said:
Not sure I can comprehend your post. Are you saying that this is a foal ? Electric fencing isn't suitable for foals.
Rather than PTS (if that's what you're saying ), why not pay for livery for a short while until your sprayed field is usable again ?
Click to expand...

Pony is seven
 
No not a foal 7 years old
livery yards all have two strands only electric rope opening onto the main road so not an option

No not going to PTS I would rather give him a few good shocks and cant sell him partly because of this and partly because there is no market too many well behaved horses to sell a naughty one
 
Seriously, I think I'd discuss the problem with one of the major electric fence manufacturers like Hotline or Gallagher. I have ten ponies here, the fence is hardly ever on, and they (including owner!) dare not go near it. There is something wrong somewhere. Either you do not have it installed correctly or the pony has some overwhelming inducement to escape! Is it starving? Is it a stallion with a mare over the fence? Is it alone n the paddock? Etc. Basically, contented stock do not have an inducement to break out.

If it were mine, I would construct a permanent training paddock (as I have here) with four 2.5mm galvanized high tensile wires and a means of putting all the power through that fence. The paddock should not be more than about an acre. The purpose of the fence is to hold the animal long enough so it gets a fair belt of electricity. Believe me, done properly, they do NOT come back! Forget the tape head collars and bits of chain. That should not be necessary. I used to sell electric fencing and have put up nearly three miles of it on my own farm.
 
Totally cruel and I cannot bear to think that you would even consider doing such a thing.

If you are totally sure that the whole fence is energised, and it sounds like it possibly isn't - do you have a testing device - if not get one they're not expensive. You could also try replacing or adding a stretch of electric sheep netting to the lower part of your fence, there would be no stepping through it then.

You'll need to get out and pull that ragwort anyway unless you can afford to leave the sprayed section of field out of use until the dead leaves have all rotted away, which could take quite a while. So start pulling and give up this cruel, nonsensical idea that could well land you in very hot water indeed.
 
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So would a temporary fence of wire as opposed to tape be safe I havent gone the cattle wire route because I suspected that using it may cause serious injusry if he kept going through it. I rent the land so there are limits to what I can do to it and keeping it clear and well grazed is a condition of rental. Using Barrier H to kill the ragwort as there is so much and we have pulled it for several years and each year we get twice as much where we have dug it out this is my first year using weedkiller. It is all turning out to desperate measures required. He is naughty with plain wire fencing too as we have that as a perimeter fence at one side We have to put a 5 strand mains fence down there when he is in that field
 
I used to run a riding school and we had two Shetlands and they knew exactly how to down a fence on stakes they would cooperate and take out two stakes at the same time .I would have been proud of their cleverness if it had not been so naughty and created so much work.
They had to stay in a fenced paddock in the end.
 
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