Mark4510
Gold Member
Hey Soundguy, I have seen a horse fire off a shot and get a hoof through cheap 2x4 but never the better stuff like RedBrand.
I think that Soundguy, MikePA, and others have seen my posts on equine fencing and know that I have pretty strong opinions of fencing based on the mistakes I have made and seen made, so no offense meant to anyone. Sharing knowledge is a good idea. To me, the best horse fence is like the one that wroughtnharv has in his post, steel pipe fence with good no climb but here is my recollection of my earlier post.
1. Steel pipe with no climb – Steel acts as a good fairly solid barrier so a horse wont charge through it. In most cases a horse can actually bounce off a steel fence with only bruises. The no climb (do a search on RedBrand No Climb) keeps feet from getting stuck. The steel pipe and no climb are also the best deterrents to rustling. And yes, it is far more common than most people know…….
2. No climb with hot wire and T posts – Same thing with the no climb as I said above. Just set good corners, stretch it tight and I would run a hot wire top and bottom. Also run a stand up steel post every 4-5 T posts to increase stiffness of the fence. Get some big PVC caps that slip over the exposed T post tops, fill it with construction adhesive and shove them over the top. In case the horse is a horse and hits the top of the T post you are less likely to have a vet bill.
3. 3-4 rail board with no climb – Same as the two above but, as mentioned, if a horse runs into a board fence it will shatter and can really tear up a horse with the pointed ends. If the wood is heavy it can be pretty good to keep the horses in including being a deterrent to rustlers.
4. 3-4 rail vinyl fence with no climb– Same as board fence but those rails can pop out pretty easily. If you want a nice looking fence but one that is also pretty horse safe then set up your vinyl fence, set ‘em in concrete, set steel pipe corners and then every 40’ set a vertical steel pipe. Set the corners and inline steel pipes 1” inside the vinyl and in concrete. Then set the no climb between the steel and vinyl, pull it tight from the corners, tie it off to the inline steel and between the inline steel pipes attach to they vinyl. Make sure you run hot wire around the inside.
5. 8-12 strand high tension steel wire – I actually like this set up. If the spacing is close on the wire and the tension is high, its very hard for a horse to get a hoof in between. I think it looks nice and neat and also keep the neighbors dogs that pack up from worrying the livestock.
6. Centaur vinyl coated multi wire fencing – sort of between multi strand high tension and vinyl. The Burbank equestrian center used this a number of years ago and all I can say is it does not hold its age well. It looked good new but they had to keep tightening it every year. It got to the point were they would have to pull it apart, reset the tighteners and then pull it again. It also does nothing to keep the dogs out and it’s easy for the horses to lean on it.
7. Rope/Tape electric fencing – Much like the Centaur fencing it does not stand up well over time. Gravity takes a toll on it. One of the little event centers in our area got talked into setting up the tape fence and I saw a couple of spooked horses literally run right through it. Fight or Flight is hard to overcome even if they know it’s hot.
8. Barb wire – For horses, it aint gonna happen if I can help it. Horses are just an accident looking for a place to happen. God made them grazers so fencing them with anything is creating problems. Having said that, any horse that is entrusted to my care deserves the best I can offer regardless if they are national caliber reined cow horse or a broke down rescued pasture ornament. I suspect the argument of barb wire is a little like the dispute I got into a couple of weeks ago with a local facility owner. They have about 30 horses on an exposed hill. No shade, small fenced pastures with only Star Thistle, watered once a day, flies in black clouds that worry them constantly, with weeks of 105+ degree days with the sun just beating down on them. The owners attitude was that horses all over have it worse than these horses so it’s not so bad. I don’t understand that attitude. Just because there are worse things does not mean that this is right.
So that’s my take….
Mark
I think that Soundguy, MikePA, and others have seen my posts on equine fencing and know that I have pretty strong opinions of fencing based on the mistakes I have made and seen made, so no offense meant to anyone. Sharing knowledge is a good idea. To me, the best horse fence is like the one that wroughtnharv has in his post, steel pipe fence with good no climb but here is my recollection of my earlier post.
1. Steel pipe with no climb – Steel acts as a good fairly solid barrier so a horse wont charge through it. In most cases a horse can actually bounce off a steel fence with only bruises. The no climb (do a search on RedBrand No Climb) keeps feet from getting stuck. The steel pipe and no climb are also the best deterrents to rustling. And yes, it is far more common than most people know…….
2. No climb with hot wire and T posts – Same thing with the no climb as I said above. Just set good corners, stretch it tight and I would run a hot wire top and bottom. Also run a stand up steel post every 4-5 T posts to increase stiffness of the fence. Get some big PVC caps that slip over the exposed T post tops, fill it with construction adhesive and shove them over the top. In case the horse is a horse and hits the top of the T post you are less likely to have a vet bill.
3. 3-4 rail board with no climb – Same as the two above but, as mentioned, if a horse runs into a board fence it will shatter and can really tear up a horse with the pointed ends. If the wood is heavy it can be pretty good to keep the horses in including being a deterrent to rustlers.
4. 3-4 rail vinyl fence with no climb– Same as board fence but those rails can pop out pretty easily. If you want a nice looking fence but one that is also pretty horse safe then set up your vinyl fence, set ‘em in concrete, set steel pipe corners and then every 40’ set a vertical steel pipe. Set the corners and inline steel pipes 1” inside the vinyl and in concrete. Then set the no climb between the steel and vinyl, pull it tight from the corners, tie it off to the inline steel and between the inline steel pipes attach to they vinyl. Make sure you run hot wire around the inside.
5. 8-12 strand high tension steel wire – I actually like this set up. If the spacing is close on the wire and the tension is high, its very hard for a horse to get a hoof in between. I think it looks nice and neat and also keep the neighbors dogs that pack up from worrying the livestock.
6. Centaur vinyl coated multi wire fencing – sort of between multi strand high tension and vinyl. The Burbank equestrian center used this a number of years ago and all I can say is it does not hold its age well. It looked good new but they had to keep tightening it every year. It got to the point were they would have to pull it apart, reset the tighteners and then pull it again. It also does nothing to keep the dogs out and it’s easy for the horses to lean on it.
7. Rope/Tape electric fencing – Much like the Centaur fencing it does not stand up well over time. Gravity takes a toll on it. One of the little event centers in our area got talked into setting up the tape fence and I saw a couple of spooked horses literally run right through it. Fight or Flight is hard to overcome even if they know it’s hot.
8. Barb wire – For horses, it aint gonna happen if I can help it. Horses are just an accident looking for a place to happen. God made them grazers so fencing them with anything is creating problems. Having said that, any horse that is entrusted to my care deserves the best I can offer regardless if they are national caliber reined cow horse or a broke down rescued pasture ornament. I suspect the argument of barb wire is a little like the dispute I got into a couple of weeks ago with a local facility owner. They have about 30 horses on an exposed hill. No shade, small fenced pastures with only Star Thistle, watered once a day, flies in black clouds that worry them constantly, with weeks of 105+ degree days with the sun just beating down on them. The owners attitude was that horses all over have it worse than these horses so it’s not so bad. I don’t understand that attitude. Just because there are worse things does not mean that this is right.
So that’s my take….
Mark
