# Electrobraid fencing



## KC2LLW (Mar 10, 2020)

Hello All, New here and new to horses. I have a 40 acre horse farm with two barns in the Bethel NY area. I am thinking of letting some self boarders use the farm. It has old wooden fencing that has deteriorated over the years. I am thinking of using a product called Electrobraid rope energized fence. I plan to use wooden posts spaced 30' apart and 3 to 4 wires per post. My first question is would this be enough to safely contain the horses? My second question is would this type of fencing be up to code and allowed in New York state?

Thanks
Steve


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

You'd have to check locally for code.

I installed a similar fence for a friend two years ago. But only used the braid for the top. The other two were smooth wire. Solid posts every 30' with a floating post in between.

Worked for polo horses. And the elk and deer didn't damage it.


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

We were all electro rope fenci g for several years and if I had all the money in the world it is what I would use rather than anything else. 

Our fencer was run from the mains. We used the rope rather than the braid which broke with the wind rattling it on (many tried types) of fixtures. The rope never wore through and was easy to tighten if needed. 

I just had two strands, one at 3'6" and the other a foot below. Two reasons for this - we also ran sheep and I wanted them to have room to get under and also the dogs without getting shocked. 

Our perimeter fencing was sheep netting with an electric high tensile wire off set to the inside. All inner paddocks were the rope.


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

I have ~6 acres currently fenced in electrobraid. I tried running it off a marine battery charged with a solar panel, but had trouble keeping a charge (I suspect we didn't install the panel correctly, but that's a different story). I was able to run power from the house to the field and plug in the energizer, and that has worked well. Another mistake I made as a first-time fence installer was not leaving enough clearance between the lower strand and the ground to avoid snow burying it in winter. Another recommended option is to install a cutoff switch for that bottom strand in the winter. Fortunately my horses don't test the fence so I've gotten away with it sometimes losing power in the winter when buried. It will definitely sag some when there is heavy snow and ice on it, but it bounces right back once the snow melts off it and is easily retightened in the spring.


















Last thing I'll say is that I've had one freak accident with it where one of my horses got caught up in the hot fence, with the top strand of the electrobraid looped around her hind leg above the hock. She was caught in the fence for about 15 minutes (the time between when I fed and when I was back in the house and looked out the window seeing she was in trouble). I can't explain how she got herself caught like that, but even though I _thought _there was enough tension on the electrobraid, clearly there wasn't if she was able to get a full loop wrapped around the leg. That was a hard lesson learned, but fortunately she sustained no physical damage except a little hair falling out from the rope burn. Still felt awful that she was getting shocked over and over again until I got her freed though.

It's been up through two hard Vermont winters now and has proven very durable. When I fence another field this summer I'll be using it again.


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## KC2LLW (Mar 10, 2020)

Thanks for the info, I will start with one pasture and see how it works out. I was also thinking about high tensile wire but feel the rope would be safer for horses. I am on a tight budget so I can't afford board fencing.
Thanks,
Steve


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