High high for horse fence?

[weedsportpete]

Several months ago we bought the farm /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif . There are several paddocks built and we are repairing some of the fence and will soon put up new fence. Whats out there now are locust posts with wire mesh fence, for the most part the fence starts about 6" off the ground and goes up to about 42" (which seems an odd size to me, but I wouldn't really know).

Shouldn't the fence be higher? (48" or higher?)
Can I just restaple it - unstaple it, move it so its 12" off the ground and the re-staple it?

I've looked at old postings and people seemed to like treating their posts with chemicals or oil before putting it in the ground.. but also, black locust is recommended.. I can't find black locust, but I've found 6' cedar..

Isn't cedar just as good as locust? I think that because cedar is typically found in swampy/damp areas, so I would think it would resist rot well..

Finally, how much post should be below ground? If I use 1/3 and 2/3 rule, then I'd only have 4' above ground.. Is 48" high enough??

Thanks!
Peter

 

[riptides]

Depends on the horse, really.

I'd get rid of the wire.

Most horse fencing is treated popular or if you can afford it oak. Three rail is the norm.

We have vinyl fence, No maintenance but $$$$. Over 30 years and I should recoup the cost. HAHAH. A deer already crashed through one rail. Must have mis-judged the jump. Cracked the rail. But the section held firm.

Good luck with it, Have fun!
-Mike Z.

 

[BB_TX]

Mike - Did you do the vinyl fence yourself or have it done? How did you chose which brand to use? A search of the internet brings up numerous suppliers. I have been looking at it myself. I like the looks and idea of it. But I have stopped on the side of the highway to look at a couple and they looked and felt, well, plastic. /w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif I know they are offered in different sizes, thicknesses, with and without webs, textured and smooth, etc. I can't seem to find a site that has done a quality comparison of manufacturers and types.

 

[MikePA]

Hi Pete! With our horses, we needed the fences to be 5 feet high. How do I know? Our paddock area fence was originally 4 feet high. One morning we went out to feed the horses to find one of them, the Leopard Appaloosa, in the pasture and the others still in the paddock. /w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif My wife thought she made a mistake some how and didn't think too much of it. That night, as we're laying in bed, with the windows open, we here the clear sound of a horse moving at a good speed, then silence, then another noise. We peer out the window and, sure enough, the LA is in the pasture again. Seems he was getting a running start in the aisle in the barn, and jumping the fence in order to get to the nice grass in the pasture. /w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif

I took out all the paddock fence posts, installed 8' long PT posts buried 3 feet, leaving 5' exposed. No more problem.

 

[Justaplain]

You are going to find it tough to restaple in dried locust, but they are the best as far as lasting.Areas around gates and feeders get the most abuse so extra fencing is needed. Four rail plus wire. I have Vinyl Fence from Saratoga Fence, both 3 and 4 rail. They will feed thru it,[3 rail] so elec. is required in those spots. It is fussey to set but so is any rail fence. 2x4 mesh [not welded] 48" set 10" off the ground, with a sight board is OK for me. Separate paddocks by 8' where ever possible. I use pressure treated landscape [3x5] timbers for post. You are going to get many options and opinions. bcs

 

[LazyJ_Arabians]

Varies with the horse.. some will jump anything, some will paw it down, and some can be corraled with kite string. I'm partial to the 48" 2x4 non-climb mesh with the 2x6 sight board also.

 

[riptides]

BB-TX,

We had the fence installed by a local professional fence company. They were strictly wood installers up until a few years ago. The $$$ was more, but I figured over 30 years I am not going to be hammering boards back up, replacing warped ones, or re-staining the fence. Plus, we really wanted it to look good, since it is in the front of the house.

The "boards", three-rail style, are actually a little wider and thicker than the "standard" wooden fence. I will see if I can post a picture for you.

Bottom line- workmanship, word of mouth, and a local company did the trick for us.

-Mike Z.

 

[riptides]

All,

Please excuse the horrible quality of that attachment. The fence "looks" ok though, the kids must have swapped photo-editors on me. Looks to be standard MS software at work.

-Mike Z.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Evening Peter,

I've built more than one fence for a horse. Some of the customers knew more about animal fences than I'll ever know.

Some things I've learned over the years.

1. V Mesh is the best horse fence. 2 X 4 woven wire runs a good second.

The logic is this. With a pipe rail, wood rail, pipe and cable, pipe and rod, etc, etc, you can have a couple of problems. One is they will rub their manes which is very bad if the animal is being shown. It also doesn't do the fence any good. Secondly if the animal panics or just runs into the fence for any reason there are how ever many rails as points of contact. Each point of contact is potential for causing injury. Third, wood or plastic generally require a hot wire back up as a fear barrier to keep animals off of it.

However, a good woven wire fence will act as a net if the animal runs into it spreading the contact area and minimizing potential injury. It also doesn't give the animal a place to rub the mane causing it to look bad.

Never ever use chainlink fabric for livestock. It is a truly woven product. But unlike the woven wire fence designed for livestock with their horizontal wires chainlink will stretch and deform.

Some dairy farmers have found stretching some heavy gauge chainlink in the middle of a pasture or pen works great as a back scratcher. They probably learned this by watching an expensive chainlink fence go to heck in a handbasket as the animals rubbed against it to their heart's content.

For pastures and large pens I've found four and half feet fence is adequate. Forty eight inch wire six inches off the ground works great.

For smaller pens and paddocks I recommend five feet minimum for mares and six feet for studs.

Horses are like humans. They come in all personalities. I know one paint who learned to walk through wood and plastic rail fencing. He figured out that if he kept applying weight eventually the fence would fail and he could be a hero and lead the two mares next door where the grass was just tastier.

I watched him lean and lean and lean on a pipe fence I put in just for him. The look he gave me when he finally gave up was one of total disgust, mostly at and for me.

Do be careful with staples if you're using wood posts. Animals pick up the bad with the good when eating. If you use a woven wire be sure and make sure all your loose ends are tucked in tight and not sticking out just waiting for an eye to come by.

I've been told horses don't focus good up close. That's why they shy so easy. It's also why they will walk into something sticking out from the fence.

 

[cowboydoc]

I've been told horses don't focus good up close. That's why they shy so easy. It's also why they will walk into something sticking out from the fence.

Actually the truth is that horses have a blind spot right in front of them. They see extremely well far away or closeup. The problem is because of their eyes set to the side they have a blind spot directly in front and directly behind them.

The reason that horses shy is that they are a prey animal. The see so well because they have been programmed to shy at any unfamiliar site and run. That is the way that horses survived is because they could see so well and would shy at even the slightest movement out of their herd. Another reason why even the tamest and calmest horse will suddenly shy or throw a fit over something they have not seen before.