Temporary Horse Pasture - Fencing advice please

[ustmd]

You have gotten some great advice and I agree with most of the advice in the last 5 or 10 posts. I would definitely stay away from smooth wire.

The only advice I would give different is on the product used. When we redid the horse pasture (my wife has warm bloods), my wife looked at the Electrobraid type product vs the electric tape. She really like the rope style product, but was worried that the tensile strength was too high (at the time, their website talked about using it in zoo applications for elephants). My wife's concern was that if a horse bolts and tries to go through the fence (a situation where shock would be irrelevant), she wants the fence to break. So we went with a electric tape:

HorseguardFence.com : the best electric fence for Horse

We ended up putting in HorseGuard fencing about 7 years ago. So far we have had no major issues and the fence is still putting out an impressive shock (we have 5 acres fenced in 2 pastures).

4 years ago, I did my mother in law's pastures with the same product and she is happy with it.

I think either product would service your needs.

One note on driving the t-posts with the FEL. It works great if the soil is moist or soft, but I can speak from experience, if you have a hard, dry clay (like we have in Central Texas after this year's drought), you do not drive the t-post, you bend it.

Good luck.

 

[MotorSeven]

The last 4 years, T posts without safety caps an slick aluminium wire....my horses don't mess with the fence ever.

1978-94, 4 strands barbed wire an and never a horse/fence injury.......... guess I am on borrowed time...

I'm not saying that a horse can't injure themselves on any type of fence....I just think the danger is overrated(Stallions excluded).

 

[QRTRHRS]

The last 4 years, T posts without safety caps an slick aluminium wire....my horses don't mess with the fence ever.

1978-94, 4 strands barbed wire an and never a horse/fence injury.......... guess I am on borrowed time...

I'm not saying that a horse can't injure themselves on any type of fence....I just think the danger is overrated(Stallions excluded).

A lot depends on the breed. My Arabians tend to be active shall we say and prone to getting into situations. Then there was a time when they were worth more than a few bucks.

I would have to look but off the top of my head, a bag of 25 fence caps runs maybe ten bucks. Seems I don't get away with an emergency vet bill for less than one hundred bucks. That is if they don't impale themselves then I have to dig a hole.

I will stick with the caps.

 

[RPW]

IMO the type of fencing depends on the amount you have to string. I've got 38ac and use barb wire for all fencing. My horses respect it and haven't had an injury in over 10 years. Can it happen, of course. One thing I've learned is with a horse it's not if a horse will get hurt but when and it doesn't matter what type of fencing you've got. For smaller pastures ~3ac or less I'd use horse panels. Larger areas depend on your budget. Also when bringing a horse into a new area NEVER just release them into the pasture. Walk them around the entire perimeter. If there are obsticles in the pasture walk them to the area and around it. When it comes to horse they do have a fantastic memory for survival and small things like this I believe will keep them out of trouble.

Good luck.

 

[Ken45101]

Yes, it depends on a particular horse's temperament and herd dynamics. I also think smaller pastures will be tested more than big pastures where there is plenty of food and room to run.

Put ten horses in a half acre dry lot with barb wire and problems are more likely than having those same horses in 20 acres.

Ken

 

[USNative]

All the 11 years I lived at my old place I never had any serious injuries on our horses. I ripped out all the barbed wire and put in 2 by 4 mesh wire on 4" wooden treated posts with one electric wire at about butt level to keep them from rubbing on it. It did great.

In a years time here at the new place I have had 2 serious injuries where one tore flesh off at the knee on barbed wire and another one tore half it's foot off on an old rotted piece of culvert pipe at the pond which I never knew was there, when I discovered it after following the blood trail I promptly got it out of there. Then we had one fatal injury on my yearling after he got caught up in barbed wire. I was not home when it happened and he lay there for hours with the wire wrapped around his pastern cutting off all blood circulation and it was so tight I had to cut him loose. I worked for 6 weeks trying to save him but unfortunately he lost the hoof and had to be put down. That horse was an awesome palamino stud colt. He was my buddy and I miss him.

We have never had so many injuries until we came here. But we are going to be working on installing all new fencing here and we will be getting rid of all barbed wire. I hate that stuff.

This place is nice but it was set up for cattle and needs quite a bit of work on the fences to get it how we want it for the safety of our horses. Oh by the way, the other two horses healed from the wounds they had and are doing great. The foot injury was a $500.00 loss which sucked.

The post above by Ken is very true. You get a bunch of horses together in a very small area it is a disaster waiting to happen. I have seen horses get drove right in to fences especially at feeding time in small areas and it aint pretty.

Here is a picture of my stud colt that was put down because of the stupid barbed wire and then a few pics of the type of horse fencing I like to build:

 

[whistlepig]

I have had electric fences and horses for over 35 years. I've tried about every type of charger and every type of fence made. We went with Ramm electric fencing 4 years ago and its the best thing I have used. I like the stainless steel connectors and fittings. They are heavy duty and these things should last for very many years. Horse Fencing Systems - Flex-Fence, PVC and Electric - RAMM

 

[USNative]

I have had electric fences and horses for over 35 years. I've tried about every type of charger and every type of fence made. We went with Ramm electric fencing 4 years ago and its the best thing I have used. I like the stainless steel connectors and fittings. They are heavy duty and these things should last for very many years. Horse Fencing Systems - Flex-Fence, PVC and Electric - RAMM

Never heard of them, thanks for sharing.

 

[QRTRHRS]

Beyond too many horses in a small area, square corners are more dangerous than rounded corners. A more aggressive horse can trap a lesser one causing the lesser to panic and hit the corner.

If your fence lines curve, make sure that the fence is proud of anything such as a drain pipe or tree roots sticking out into the pasture even a few inches beyond the fence. Even if you have shown the horse(s) the fence lines, they can forget about such things when in a hurry for whatever reason.

 

[whistlepig]

Beyond too many horses in a small area, square corners are more dangerous than rounded corners. A more aggressive horse can trap a lesser one causing the lesser to panic and hit the corner.

If your fence lines curve, make sure that the fence is proud of anything such as a drain pipe or tree roots sticking out into the pasture even a few inches beyond the fence. Even if you have shown the horse(s) the fence lines, they can forget about such things when in a hurry for whatever reason.

This is an excellent point. Horses seem to congregate in corners. For some reason the squealing and kicking starts in the corners and the wrong kind of fence is what they are going to get hurt on in the corners. And horses do fall down. They get frisky in the spring mud and their feet fly out from under them and they slide into the fence. Even where they drink their water, if it is a confined area, is a good place for the squealing and kicking to start.