[KennK]

I have 5 acres of land with about 3 acres fenced for horses and a smaller area fenced as a backyard for dogs.

For the horse area we used round wood posts every 24' with two steel t-posts spaced in between each set of round wood posts. Each corner/end has a wider & longer (deeper) round wood post with a regular sized round wood post about 8' from it and then the two connected by a horizontal round wood post about 2/3 of the way up and held in with a large spike on each end.

We tacked/clipped on a 4" high 2"x4" woven (not welded) mesh that is specifically intended for horses so that it yields a little if hit (as opposed to breaking). The mesh is on the inside of the fense posts on the borders, and where it runs through paddocks, we put it on the side toward the most-used paddocks for strength.

A single electric fence wire runs over the top to protect the mess from getting smashed by the horse's rubbing. On the metal t-posts we used the elecric fence insulators that provides a full cap on each post to protect the horses from inury if they come down on them for some reason. We bought insulated wire to run under gates and complete the electric circuit. Our gates are all the tube-type - as opposed to the sheet steel type.

Its been in place for about 15 years now and so far its held up very well. I patterned my fence after years of looking at fencing around Iowa and Illinois, and the wood post with two metal spacer t-posts seems like a pretty common design that has stood the test of time - at least in the midwest.