# Fencing ?



## Amblin Cowgirl (Apr 27, 2010)

Hi guys! I am going to be building (lean to or small barn) and putting fencing up on my uncles land this coming spring so i can bring a horse or two over. I am wondering what is the best thing to use for fencing, that is at a fairly good cost. We have A LOT of snow here in the winter, with some high winds, SO i want it to be strong enough to withstand that as well! Any input would be great, thanks!


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## Alwaysbehind (Jul 10, 2009)

With lots of snow and high winds electric tape will not hold up. Electric anything will have a problem if it gets buried in the snow. 

I would go with some sort of no climb wire fencing with a board on the top and maybe on strand of electric to keep the horses from chewing and leaning on the fence.


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## mliponoga (Jul 24, 2010)

I've never had a problem with electric fencing in the snow or winds of Northern or Southern Michigan.


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## Amblin Cowgirl (Apr 27, 2010)

We had a lot of problems with the electric fence at my old place. It was the rope stuff with wire strands all wrapped throughout it. We had three strands running from post to post. In the winter when he had 3+ feet of snow the bottom strand would be under the snow and short out the rest of the fence, in turn stopping the electric current flowing through. And of course, our Percherons ( being the lovely LARGE horses they are) would test the fence when it was down and go for a nice visit to the neighbors house! I was thinking about the no climb wire fencing, but i have heard that they can be dangerous because horses will get their legs trapped in them ? Here in New Brunswick, Canada we have some pretty extreme snow storms and we can get A LOT of snow! Also, i am wondering if I really need to run an electric strand with the me wire fencing ? If so, does anyone know anything about solar powered fencers ?


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## mliponoga (Jul 24, 2010)

I would never recommend the solar powered fencers unless absolutely need be. I've used them time and time again and had nothing but issues with them. They don't last long, roughly a year, and they are no where near as strong as even my little 5 mile fencer that I have now.


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## Crossover (Sep 18, 2010)

I lived in Upper Michigan and had no problem with electric fencing. I use now three strands of electric rope (the high current, not "horse" rope) with a strand of 1 1/2" tape on top. This makes my fence about 5 1/2ft tall. Bottom wire is roughly 12" off ground. This is to keep minis and foals inside. I've never had any problems with horses running through it. My corners are all railroad ties with a tie interspered with the t-posts to keep it stable. We get some seriously high winds here in KY. The posts are approx 12' apart. I have both a solar and a plug in electric box. I agree about the solar, it works okay, but not nearly as well as the plug in. What I recommend for the snow is to simply unattach your current to whatever wire is covered in snow. The upper wires will still be hot and keep your guys where they belong. I also recommend the rope vs tape on bottom as the tape is nice looking but doesnt' work as well and will be stretched by the wind/ snow. If you don't have any small horses then lift the bottom wire higher as weeds can be annoying to trim. Thankfully my mini and donkey take care of most of them.


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