Would it be cruel

Having never tried tethering how do you go about it and will he have to go in a field on his own for fear of the others getting tangled in the tether. Being a numpty here but I really dont now how to do it I know you have to use a collar and chain and a stake into the ground

If he was jumping out it would be easy we would just make the fence too high we have 6 ft round it now as one of the others jumps in her rug in winter if there isnt enough grass to keep her happy she is allergic to hay it upsets her tummy so grass and bucket feeds are her staple diet. Sometimes if there is a blade more grass the other side she will jump she also jumps to go to the naughty pony when he goes out so we are already a bit like Fort Knox
 
He would need to be in a separate paddock for safety you need a tethering spike which is screw shaped and you screw it into the ground ( a bigger version of what you use for a dog ) you meed a 360degree swivel and some light wieght chain that's obviously strong enough for the job but not too heavy.
I would use a leather headcollar people also use collars put I have never done that . You move them twice a day and I would exercise somehow as well daily .
I always left water in a rubber trug some people water several times a day.
You need to allow for the sun and bad weather and perhaps stable at those times.
It's not something I like but needs must.
Do you take him for walks to exercise his brain ? Or try teaching him to long rien and get him out and about Shetlands are to bright to be field ornaments .
 
You have put up with his rubbish for 7 years?! Wow sounds like you really love him...not. secure fencing with a new owner comes to mind! Dont know how you can even think about pts! Its not a right to own horses; if u cant afford to move him somewhere secure you should rehome him. and the market at this current time? Why are u worried..your thinking about pts when it would be cheaper to give him away. naughty or not hes 7 years old he doesnt deserve to be pts!! Im sure theres plenty of people out there looking for a companion or ridden pony or whatever he is suitable for.
 
BSJAlove said:
It doesn't sound like the horse is unhappy, it sounds like he thinks the grass is greener on the other side.
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Yay!! Finally some people are seeing the light rather than thinking something is wrong with the pony if it is escaping. Some of them are greedy things - usually the ones that have to be in starvation paddocks behind electric fences!

Foxhunter49 said:
Put a deeper earth into the fence - that will make the shock stronger.
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Yes, agree with this. We found that the horses trashed electric fences if they were temporary poles - could you add a few wooden posts along the line? We also found that electric rope rather than tape made a massive difference.

I've never tried it, but they do chicken wire than can be electrified - would that be worth a try?
 
Just skipped through. We have all electric fencing on our small stud. Wide tape on wooden posts. Previous owners also ran a stud. I have a two month old foal out with her mum she has no problem with the electric fence. Nor have the previous 5!!!

My laminitic pony is a nightmare so I put tape quite low down so if she tries to go through it it will zap her legs - she still managed to escape last night!!! I did not put the tape low enough.

I have no problem with horses being zapped by electric fence - it teaches them respect for their own good. As far as headcollars are concerned I don't have a problem with leather ones for turn out - I use them occassionally BUT I don't have taps/stand pipes, automatic drinkers or feeders in my fields. Fencing is set inside hedge and tree boundary.
 
Seriously try hogging him, it does grow back. I have a dales pony who managed to hog himself....( long story different subject). He is back to his full mane tho now. He was also a spectacular Houdini in his youth!

Unfortunately there are some little beggars who do escape for fun.

Another suggestion would be a double row of fencing? Pain in the wot sit as extra expense, but ? Have to admit a zap from the mains fencing at our yard worked for my boy. Can you get the fence checked for the amount of power going through it? I know our farmer has something to check the strength, a mains fence really should have a very very painful kick to it.... Is it possible that there is a break somewhere inside the actual tape? How is the fence joined up? Is the fence one continual piece or several knotted together. It surprising how these little things can cause the actual strength going through the fence to drop off. Any branches or long plants touching the fence anywhere? This can affect the power too. Good luck I do understand how frustrating it can be. X
 
If he's going under/through the fence how about fencing an area with electrified netting something like this
http://www.snackandtack.co.uk/fenci...0m-6088&utm_campaign=product+listing+ads#6280
as well as the tape.
I agree you could try electric tape on his headcollar and plaited in his mane and get him wet before you first put him out with the new things on so it works better.
I used to have a houdini pony but he jumped out and the best way to keep him in somewhere was a sort of back to front blinkers which stopped him from being able to see in front of him to jump.
 
A horse will only ever eat Ragwort if they have no grazing and absolutely starving or because they have been starved got a taste for it. I grazed my horses on ground with ragwort have tried digging it up every year for 20 years and not once have my horses eaten it, this year I've had it sprayed and was told it would be 3 weeks before I could put any of my horses back on it, so give your ponies some hay during the day as it's still cold and the grass is not growing, not round here anyway.
 
Does every single strand at every 5 metres read as 10k Volts?

For your size paddock you would need at least a 2m earth stake and if you are on predominantly dry and/or sandy soil you will need 2, maybe 3. Arguably 10k is too much (5 stands of 4k volts is normally considered enough for a mardy bull!) and it might be you need more earth stakes to even out the load.

Check in the wet (when it has been raining for a couple of hours) for the tell-tale cracking of a short. Use metal screw clamps instead of knots to secure and join. If you are using turbo rope, use one with as high a strand count as possible. If you are using tape, consider swapping every other strand with plain nickel stock wire and electrify it. Make sure the strands are connected into a circuit.

Sorry if you have mentioned, but if you are using plastic posts, swap to wood and use fixings. Plastic posts see to lose the power somewhere and are not normally recommended for distances that you will have.

As others have said, he will be escaping for a reason. With mine it is food - he feels he is not getting enough so takes himself off. However this last year he has only escaped through an open gate :D I re-did my fencing with wide tape about 6" off the floor, strand of plain wire, then another strand of tape and this seems to work for him.
 
Honey08 said:
Yay!! Finally some people are seeing the light rather than thinking something is wrong with the pony if it is escaping. Some of them are greedy things - usually the ones that have to be in starvation paddocks behind electric fences!



Yes, agree with this. We found that the horses trashed electric fences if they were temporary poles - could you add a few wooden posts along the line? We also found that electric rope rather than tape made a massive difference.

I've never tried it, but they do chicken wire than can be electrified - would that be worth a try?
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I agree. We have leccy rope and wooden poles, although if it's a rented yard you may not be able to do this.

Clearly, people on this forum haven't delt with a determined greedy horse. Obviously he's deeply unhappy ;) good luck op. hope tethering works! It's incredibly under rated.
 
horserider said:
I rented land one winter, built stables, put water in. Then spring came and when I saw the extent of ragwort that popped up, I moved the horses within 24 hours. Left everything.

Your current arrangement isn't working on several levels for this pony. You only rent the land, so move.
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Why on earth didn't you just pull the ragwort?
 
I would tether before I risked electrocution. ...... or considered pts......

I don't understand why you couldn't sell, not everyone has electric fences. Up here our stone walls are bloody good at containing small ponies. You could also try fencing with posts and taught wire plus electric or planting a good thorny hedge.
 
Are you able to knock in some wooden posts?

If you can then I would suggest some hot rail - have a look at the horse rail website.

It works - just ask my escape artist section a!

It is a bit pricey but is a permanent solution to stop his nonsense - you can always lift the wooden posts if you leave and fill the holes with compacted sand
 
I haven't read all the replies but I am adding that I don't think this is a good idea. I once got a shock from an electric fence onto the underwire of my bra!!!! I could touch the fence and take the shock ok ish as you'd expect, but I was left with a nasty burn where the underwire had been.

Be careful!!!
 
Hog him!! I hog my mare as she will lift up a line with her mane and ****** off. Once hogged she leaves well alone.

What type of tape do you have? I sell different grades, one is paper thin with only 3 conductors and is awful, the other is reinforced edges 7 conductors and much stronger. Have you checked tension in your fenceline? Better still use electric rope, if at all possible use Equiline - serious stuff but mega money. Wooden posts are also preferable to plastic. And Hotline do a metal post which is live all the way down until the last couple of inches - great fun watching post lifters play with these!!

In your system you really need more than one earth, I'll bet your power is dropping somewhere in the line, get a PROPER tester- preferably a multi directional fault finder or at least a volt meter.

Failing that sheep or poultry netting may be an answer. If everything fails, I would not blame you for the PTS option, better that than get sued if he ever caused an accident....
 
We use wooden fence posts with two rows of wide tape, for persistent small escape artist electrify both top and bottom, and put the posts closer together, or have an inside row of electric tape and plastic fence posts as well
 
Is each strand electric?

One of mine is a bit of an escape artist... even through post and rail!

He finally started respecting electric fences when all three strands were hot and the fence was turned right up. He had been running around like a (insert word here), so he was a bit sweaty... which helped conduct the current.

He was unrugged, tried to get out and got absolutely belted by the fence... Now all he needs to do is sense the fence is on and he does not go near it.

I accidently touched the fence a few times, I can tell you I did not need coffee at all that morning. It was enough of a deterrent.

If that doesn't work, maybe look at different fencing? Cyclone mesh or chicken wire as well as the hot wire?
 
What joule output is your energiser? Joules is what alters the belt they get, "10,000" of this and that and mains power or massive batteries sounds great, but it's joules that matter and they come from the energiser. That and a massive earth spike, that you water around if it gets a bit dry...

Soon as I learnt about good earthing and joules, even my sheep in full fleece started staying in ;)
 
Only got as far as page four but op I like how you are saying has anyone got any sensible and constructive advice and are quite snippy at those who are horrified by your initial idea. Quite frankly you don't even sound as though you like your horse.

My first thought was what if there was a storm? Excellent way to attract lightning and get him killed. Your fencing is the issue and I think up until page four anyway, you had been given plenty of good advice. I agree about putting a chain on yourself first and trying it. But never do it to your poor horse. As for selling him plenty of people have post and rail!
 
Op, have you thought about a round pen for him within your field? The metal one's you get for stallions that have really high sides. You'll need to move it round so he gets fresh grass and he'll be separated from his friends but within the same field if that makes sense. I know they'll be expensive but maybe you could find something second hand or construct something out of the tall metal mesh type fencing you see round some building sites.
 
There are some good suggestions here now. Pull his mane instead of hogging it then. I can't understand why its such a big deal, unless he is a top showing prospect!
Also wooden fence posts are relatively easy to put in an take down so I would use them instead of plastic posts.
 
Cortez said:
Why on earth didn't you just pull the ragwort?
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Put it this way, there were other issues which although sorted, made us realise it would never be a long term option, so stabling the horses while we cleared the land for the owner, wasn't in the best interests of the horses.
 
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