# Your Opinion On Barb Wire & Other Fencing



## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

The voltage is not high enough for a horse or even a small dog to electrocute themselves. I have seen too many nasty cuts and fatalities from barbwire to even consider it. Yes, horses can injure themselves on any type of fencing, but far more frequently on barbwire. It is less likely to happen if there is nothing on the other side of the barbwire fence, such as nicer grass, another horse, etc and the barbwire is kept as tight as all get out.


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## BadWolf (Oct 12, 2012)

You're right when you say that a horse can and will hurt itself somehow on anything it manages to come in contact with; however, all we can really do is try and choose the lesser evil, be it for fencing, or bits, or shoes, or whatever.

That being said, I don't have barbed wire anywhere on my property and never intend to, even if we get cattle. It seems like there's a lot more potential for problems than what it's worth.
Is my fence perfect? No.
Is it even good? Maybe not.
I just follow my research and my natural instincts on what will keep them safe and healthy.
Some people swear by barbed wire, but I'm just not among them.


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## Chevaux (Jun 27, 2012)

Well, my pastures are fenced in three strand barb wire. I think the success with it to date (touch wood) is that the pastures are big enough the horses can roam and get sufficient grass. My corrals, on the other hand, are post and rail as I feel the smaller spaces greatly increase the chance of a horse being pushed into the fence.

In my area, I can't think of one farm that does not use barb wire for their pastures (relating specifically to the places that have horses and not just cattle). Corral material in those places vary -- some metal, some 2x6 wood, some rails.


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## littlebird (Jan 22, 2014)

As waresbear said, the voltage on electric fencing will not kill you even if you held on for a long time. It gives you a good jolt (and if the ground is wet you'll sometimes get a _real_ good jolt), but sustained contact with an electric fence will not result in death for human or horse.

Editing to add that electric fencing isn't usually constantly charged. The fence pulses so that different amounts of voltage are running through the wire at different times.


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

My electric fence will shut off after 3 zaps. Usually it grounds out if a horse gets tangled.
I had to doctor a neighbors horse that ran through barbed wire on 80 acres, so size does not matter. it was a huge jagged rip, and the horse alos speared itself on the t post. it got chased by another horse and 80 acres was not enough room. 
So Never on my place will you find barbed wire.


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## beau159 (Oct 4, 2010)

Roman said:


> Would you use barb wire?


If I had another option, I absolutely would NOT use barbed wire. 

The "barbs" on the wire will destroy horse flesh. 

Yes smooth wire can still cause damage on a horse (did to my current gelding) but it would damage them _as much_ as barbed wire will (nearly cut off the front foot of my old gelding). 



Roman said:


> I have only seen cuts from the fence on my horse ONCE and it healed up fine, never anything after that.


And so far you have been lucky. 

In 2003, that's when my old gelding got his left front leg in the fence and nearly cut off his front foot on the barbed wire. By some miracle, he came back sound from the injury but his foot looked quite mangled. 

In 2004, our Nokota mare got her left back leg into the barbed wire fence. She didn't walk on it for 3 months and never fully recovered. We could tell it bothered her. 

In 2005, my 3-year-old filly repeatedly kept cutting herself up on her front feet on the barbed wire.

(****now please note, all these barbed wire instances were when I was still in high school and my horses lived at home with my parents. They got to choose what the fence was and we had cattle. So that's what it was.**)

In 2013, my gelding got his back leg into a smooth wire fence. He cut it up pretty good and was on stall rest for a month, but I guarantee he would currently be unsound to ride if it had been barbed wire. 

Again, you are very fortunate you've not had a major injury on your hands because they can and do happen. 



Roman said:


> * But electric fencing and wood is just as harmful as barb.* Your horse could get tangled in electric.and shocked to death, or get splinters.or a piece of wood jabbed into him from a wood fencing.


No it's not. 

What's going to rip up a horse more? Coming down on top of a wood post, or coming down on top of a metal T-post? That metal T-post will cut into them like a knife. The wood post will still do some damage but not as much as the metal post. 

Smooth electric wire can still hurt a horse too, but again, it is not going to rip their body up _as bad _as barbed wire does.


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

Sorry no barbed wire around my horses - I've seen some horrible injuries caused by it over the years and in surveys it always comes out at the top in causing accidents in the field. Electric tape tends to be the lowest risk in those.


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## DancingArabian (Jul 15, 2011)

I would never use barbed wire for fencing. Electric fencing, as others have said, won't kill a horse, however certain types can cause damage if they get around a horse's leg. I'm also not a fan of the plain wire either because I've seen that cause big injuries.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## .Delete. (Jan 7, 2008)

This is what happens with tinsel wire. A mare tried to kick another horse through the fence. You can see her other leg was also caught in the fence a few weeks before. 



















And this was the result of her getting caught. 










This was only flesh wounds. Tinsel wire is dangerous. But barbed wire is even more. Horses don't look at fencing and think "Huh...that would hurt". If that mare got caught in barbed wire fencing like that, the damage would have been 100x worse.

I agree with what has been said. You're lucky your horse hasn't been seriously injured.


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## BugZapper89 (Jun 30, 2014)

^^^^^ this is exactly what happens. I only use either 4 board wood or 4 board wood with a top row of hot wire ( the stud pens ). If you handle your stock daily, like you should and keep your fences in good repair, then their will not be an issue with splinters. My farm insurance will not accept any type of claim from a wire only fence.


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## TessaMay (Jul 26, 2013)

I will never keep my horse in barbed wire. As others have said, horses can and will hurt themselves no matter what you use for fencing, but the damage done by a barbed wire fence is much, much greater than a smooth wire or other type of fencing. 

This is a horse who got her neck cut on barbed wire simply reaching over the fence, if she had gotten caught in the fence she would have been dead. As it was, the vet didn't think she was going to make it, but ended up healing. 









While I am not a big fan for smooth wire fencing by itself, my horse, if zapped once, will not go close to touching the fence again. She is very cautious of getting zapped, so I am ok using it with her. I still prefer to use something else when available, but I will keep her at barns with smooth wire fencing. I would never keep her somewhere with barbed.


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## enc0410 (Jul 16, 2014)

I have a strand of white electric ribbon and a strand of tinsel. I want to replace the tinsel with electric ribbon. I use t-posts from tractor supply and insulators to attach. My dad had barbed wire for years with horses and cows. We never had an issue with the horses, but I know people who have. In fact my dad had a gelding who could escape from 4 strands of barbed without a scratch on him. He has now switched to wood posts with cattle panels. I would steer clear of barbed wire if possible. People say its for cows, but I think the reasoning behind that is that if an animal were to get injured on barbed wire badly enough that they had lasting damage, a cow's injury would not stop the animal from being used for meat or dairy. It could potenially end a horse's career. It is a riskier fencing but that doesn't mean you will definately have problems with it. The cheapest/safest combination I feel would be the metal t posts with the 1" (or so) wide electric ribbon. I would avoid barbed or tinsel for horses.


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## enc0410 (Jul 16, 2014)

I do not have wood fencing simply because I have a horse that sucks wind badly and its expensive. I feel that that woudl be a safe option and would still add a strand of electric around the top. Also, if you are trying to save some money, my suggestion would be to focus making the fence safest where the horses will traffic the pasture most. Mine start walking the fence closest to the house when they want in, so we added a section of the blue pipe gate panels used for roundpens to that area.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

I have barbed wire surrounding large pastures. 3,000 to 8,000 acres. I use cables on smallish paddocks of 20 acres or less. They can still get hurt on wire cable. 

I even remember helping my vet operate on a gelding that kicked a board fence, must have spun, and ended up with the plank in his gut. He didn't make it. We wondered if he got stung and that started the whole tragedy. There were no horses on the other side, or others near to cause the usual horse scuffles.

Or the mare that was in a pretty paddock with four board fence who put her foot between the boards, felt caught, pulled back and pulled the board from the post. She had tendon damage to a front right pastern from the nail. Boards were secured on the inside to prevent them from loosening if a horse leaned on them, as they sometimes do.


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## Roman (Jun 13, 2014)

boots said:


> I have barbed wire surrounding large pastures. 3,000 to 8,000 acres. I use cables on smallish paddocks of 20 acres or less. They can still get hurt on wire cable.
> 
> I even remember helping my vet operate on a gelding that kicked a board fence, must have spun, and ended up with the plank in his gut. He didn't make it. We wondered if he got stung and that started the whole tragedy. There were no horses on the other side, or others near to cause the usual horse scuffles.
> 
> Or the mare that was in a pretty paddock with four board fence who put her foot between the boards, felt caught, pulled back and pulled the board from the post. She had tendon damage to a front right pastern from the nail. Boards were secured on the inside to prevent them from loosening if a horse leaned on them, as they sometimes do.


Just goes to show you NO fence is safe.


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## .Delete. (Jan 7, 2008)

Roman said:


> Just goes to show you NO fence is safe.


But some fences have higher risk than others. Barbed wire being the most risky.


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## kmdstar (Nov 17, 2009)

I would never use barbed or tinsel. 

We're putting up fence now. Wood posts with no climb mesh. I made sure the holes in the mesh were not big enough to put a hoof through, because I've had that happen before at another barn. We'll probably put electrobraid on the top, because I'm not sure what else I'd be comfortable putting up and I don't want the horses leaning on the mesh.


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## DuffyDuck (Sep 27, 2011)

My old area had a lot of wild boar.

Someone on the yard used barbed wire. 

So when the rest of the horses were crashing around and freaking out in their paddocks, his horse ran straight in to the wire and continued to panic.
He wasn't as badly injured as the neck picture, but I would never ever allow my horse to go through that if I could prevent it.

Horses WILL always find that one thing the they can harm themselves on. I will make their lives.. whether it be in the field, their feed, their hooves or their work out, as safe and healthy as I possibly can. I am their carer.


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## Incitatus32 (Jan 5, 2013)

Where I board we use electric wire and make breaks in it, it gives a good shock but busts easily when a 1000+lb animal runs through it. That being said I've seen horses who do good in barbed wire and those who don't. I think it's one of those things that depends on the horse and owner. My mare did fine in a field with barbed wire; but she never tested the fence, never kicked other horses on the other side and had ample room to move away from the fence. My gelding would probably be dead if I put him in that same field. 

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that though it would not be my first choice of fencing, a lot depends on how the horse acts with it and how much risk the owner wants to take. The horses who are fenced with barbed wire IME have always been checked on hourly by their owners to help prevent tragedies.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

I was caught between a rock and a hard place. I tried electric but had moose bulldozing right thro it. Horses got out and wound up crossing a highway. No one was hurt. The pasture was divided. When a bull moose is on a quest for a lady moose, it mowed down the wire in both pastures. They don't know to back off the charge. In desperation I had barbed wire put up. End of problem. It was a matter of either a horse being hit on the highway or someone being badly injured or killed by a horse.


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## GracielaGata (Jan 14, 2012)

Chevaux said:


> Well, my pastures are fenced in three strand barb wire. I think the success with it to date (touch wood) is that the pastures are big enough the horses can roam and get sufficient grass. My corrals, on the other hand, are post and rail as I feel the smaller spaces greatly increase the chance of a horse being pushed into the fence.
> 
> In my area, I can't think of one farm that does not use barb wire for their pastures (relating specifically to the places that have horses and not just cattle). Corral material in those places vary -- some metal, some 2x6 wood, some rails.


^^ All of this.
We have 3-4 strand barbed wire all over our 6 acres. No other fencing, aside from the same set up chevaux has with wooden corrals.
90% of horses/animals out here are kept in large barbed wire fields. 
Very big knock on wood, but we don't have issues with the barbed wire that my mare doesn't bring on herself, when she sticks her head through to graze the other side, since unfortunately we are still trying to figure out how to optimize the grass and have them in a tree filled field that is mostly trodden down to dirt. 
And knock, on wood, even the times she has nicked herself, they have all been minor and healed quickly. 
I think it helps to have very even keel, not high key personality horses, and that they get along quite well. I have seen them be pushy to each other, but it is almost as if they understand when to back down in small spaces (near the gate, which has a barn on one side), or the pushee will get out soon enough to not have an issue.


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## SlideStop (Dec 28, 2011)

Anything and everything has to potential to hurt horses. It seems that where there is a will there's a way!! But I'm certainly not going to add to that risk but putting them in a pasture surrounded by barbed wire. Why? To save a buck? It's not worth the horses pain, the vet bill and the emotional expense. What if your horse becomes permanently injured and has to be put down or isn't rideable ever again?

Putting a horse in a paddock with barbed wire because "they do just fine" and because "horses can get hurt in any type of fence" is like saying it's ok to drive a car at 100mph with no seat belt because you've been fine in the past and people die all the time in car accidents. NOTHING in life is guaranteed, especially for safety, but your can take steps to minimize your (or your horses) risk of injury.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## .Delete. (Jan 7, 2008)

This is where teaching a horse to hobble is invaluable


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## Gizmo (Dec 19, 2010)

Correct me if I am wrong but isn't barbed wire illegal in a lot of places, I know it is illegal to use it with animals in my state. That being said I usually use wodden fencing, but I have had to expand recently and used the polytape. Both my horses are very respectful of the electric fence. So much so it is actually off 90% of the time. When I had Gizmo there was a very deep scare on his foot and hoof and my farrier at the time had said that it looked like he had gotten his foot wrapped around barbed wire and it had scared him deeply and had taken off part of his hoof. So there is one reason I would never use it. But to each their own. Horses can really get hurt on anything.


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## Skipsfirstspike (Mar 22, 2010)

I had read that barbed wire is illegal in a residential area, but not in a rural setting when used for livestock.


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## Cielo Notturno (Sep 12, 2013)

My horse is kept in a pasture with electric wire fencing. He knows better than touch it, and the wire is thin enough that it would break if the horse got tangled in it. Bombproof? Of course not. Nothing is bombproof. We can only talk about higher risk and lower risk. 

I think that barbed wire is a good type of fencing only if you don't mind your livestock dying on it. That _includes_ cows; I have personally seen a dead cow on barbed wire. 

I don't know about mooses, but if I just *had* to have a barbed wire fencing, I'd put it on the outside of a horse-safe one. Like 4ft or more between the barbed and the electrified or wood or whatever.


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

I have only ever boarded horses, but if I owned a property and kept them there, barbed wire would be a big fat NO. Too many horror stories; too many things that could go wrong. Extra for fencing is totally worth the peace of mind.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

It seems the difference in whether barbed wire is okay or not may be part of scope and law.

Where I am, the pastures where I use barbed wire are larger than many urban neighborhoods. Thousands of acres. It takes thousands of acres just to graze a few horses and/or cattle. 

Another consideration is that some western states have "fence out" laws. If you don't want animals entering your property it is your responsibility to have fences that keep that animal out. Cattle or neighboring horses, bison anything. 

And you cannot interfere with the movement of wildlife. Antelope go through, so fence has to spaced to allow for their crawling. Deer go over, so it can't be too high. Elk and moose either go over (hopefully) or right through, with no harm to themselves, which keeps us fixing it.

I can understand why it wouldn't be good to use barbed wire in high density areas. But, here it makes sense.


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## clumsychelsea (Jul 9, 2014)

Barbed wire is a massive no-no for me. We have it surrounding a good part of our pasture, but all the boarders have been working to take it down and replace it with something safer. True, all fences have their hazards, but barbed wire is seriously not worth the risk. My horse tried to crawl through a fence (what a weirdo) and I was horrified because her head was about two inches from getting caught up in barbed wire. We are getting RID of that stuff.


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

You think it's safe until you have a horse that gets hurt on it. =/
I moved into my place with old, cattle fencing and two rows of barbed wire, and OLD horses who respected fencing. I never had an issue with it, but I wanted it gone. I replaced it with pole fencing in 2008. I now own a QH who gets into everything and pokes his face everywhere. I am SURE that he would have an injury from barbed wire, If I used it. Even though horses heal very well from flesh injuries, they also panic when trapped and cut themselves straight to the bone. THOSE don't heal right and are permanent lamenesses, if not reason to put them down.
I understand that Saddlebag has a unique situation. Fencing is expensive so I don't want to bash, just let you know that some people with wildlife problems and horses will sometimes put up an additional fence that may have barbed wire and keep out deer and moose and then put a horse fence inside of it and a safe distance from it. We aren't made of money, so we make do. If you don't have Saddlebag's problem, consider bracketing poles. This isn't what we did, but the nearby Amish community has embraced this fencing. My fencing came in 10 foot metal pole sections welded to vertical pieces. Theirs are 3 inch diameter poles, placed right next to each other and bracketed to wooden fence posts.

Here are some examples of pole fencing. YES, they are expensive!:
All Steel Fence
http://www.angellscustomwelding.com...-with-3-inch-square-tubing-poles-and-caps.jpg
http://www.fivestarranch.com/images/steel-pipe-fence.jpg
Here is my fencing--don't even know if the company is still in business:

You can SEE Buster Brown sticking his head into things he shouldn't, but most horses WILL do this.
I suggest that you start with cheap electric, and then immediately begin to build the standard 3-4 rail wooden fence on the outside of it. Take your time, build it right, and then decide if you want to keep the wire next to or above your top rail. I have seen many farms do this, to keep their horses from knocking off the top rail. Rails go on the INSIDE of your fences, otherwise horses can kick them right off. IF they kick an inside rail, it just breaks and stays put.
There is no perfect fencing, but wooden fences and metal pole fences have proven to be the safest horse fencing around. They do rust and rot and need maintainence.
Just some food for thought for you. =D


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## Kodachrome310 (Jun 29, 2014)

Unfortunately we have barbed wire all over our place. I don't like it and have seen some really bad injuries from it, even lost a horse last year...that said most of the injuries have been from either kicking at a horse in the neighboring pasture or running through it, once your horse knows what it is and to keep an eye out for it they usually do pretty good. I wouldn't use it in small pastures >1/2 acre if it could be avoided especially if your horses don't always get along real well or use it between pastures if it can be helped. It is sometimes the only way you can afford to fence the big pastures.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## HadleyBug (Jul 10, 2014)

I personally will never use barbed wire for my horses. When I was 18 and building my stables, I was boarding my horses at a friends who had cows, so naturally barbed wire. 

My one yearling at the time stuck his head through, I'm guessing for grass, and gashed his neck right open. I went the next day and there was blood everywhere.. It was really dang scary. 

And then not even two days later one of my geldings, Knome, was running and playing and rearing an kicking at another horse and got his leg caught. And I saw that happen. He tore his leg ALL up. And he was the head of my show team at that time. During show season none the less.

But they were both flesh wounds for both, they healed right up.. I just don't trust it for horses.

As for electric fences, mine isn't even close to high voltage to electrocute anything. Just give them a small zap. I have never had a horse get hurt with electric fences.

As for wood fencing, I also use this. I have had ONE time where my only stallion on the farm crashed through it. But he didn't get hurt and it was only his temporary pasture.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

Corporal--My filly did the same thing with similar fencing. Goes to show horses find a way to get themselves into trouble, perpetually xD


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

Barbed wire in a domestic situation is illegal but not for livestock in a rural setting. Now if your property is alongside a highway then depending on where you are at there may be restrictions as it becomes a liability issue. I think the UK has different laws and restrict use but I'm not sure. My cousin wanted to use it there for her animals as that is what she was raised with in NM but hubby said they couldn't.


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

I wasn't aware of any UK laws that prohibited the use of barbed wire for livestock and horse fencing when I lived there - its become less popular over the years and there are some really odd laws that can be upheld if people injure themselves on it including one ridiculous case where a woman was told to remove it from the top of her solid panel garden fence in case the burglars she'd put it there to deter got hurt on it 
Most horses aren't there aren't kept on large acreage - neither are cattle - on the scale they're kept in the US because there just isn't the same amount of open spaces. What we do have in the UK are a lot more hedges often with barbed wire fence running through them


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## Dontworrybeappy (Jul 21, 2014)

My barn uses eclectic wire, one shock and they understand!


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## paintmered (Jul 27, 2014)

I personally wouldn't use barb wire fencing. If a horse gets scared and gets scared bad enough, they will try pretty hard to take that fence down and run away. Horses don't know that that is harmful. They just think that it is just some fencing.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

Saddlebag said:


> I was caught between a rock and a hard place. I tried electric but had moose bulldozing right thro it. Horses got out and wound up crossing a highway. No one was hurt. The pasture was divided. When a bull moose is on a quest for a lady moose, it mowed down the wire in both pastures. They don't know to back off the charge. In desperation I had barbed wire put up. End of problem. It was a matter of either a horse being hit on the highway or someone being badly injured or killed by a horse.


Actually, high tensile, the thick stuff, which a 3000 lb tree can fall on and not break, (it's expensive, yes), it better, and no, moose can't break it, not a chance. When I say high tensile, everyone thinks of that cheap stuff, which can be electric, it's not the same thing, this stuff is heavy, I doubt the average person can lift a spool of it. I have it in my pastures, otherwise, like you, my horses would be out due to trees falling on the fence, moose plowing through it. This fence holds up and there is tighteners you attach every so often, so when something like a tree fall on it, you chainsaw off the tree, then use your tighteners to taut it up again. In fact, it's stronger than barbwire, which snaps when a tree of this magnitude falls on it.


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## DoubleJ2 (Feb 12, 2011)

All of my horses are in a barb wire pasture and they do just fine. I think it just depend on your horse. If your horse doesn't respect a fence, then you probably shouldn't put them in a barb wire pasture.


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## Roman (Jun 13, 2014)

^^ Agreed.

I wouldn't turn a horse out into a new pasture with barb before taking a walk and getting him to learn you don't play with it.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## SlideStop (Dec 28, 2011)

And when your horse is running in a blind terror and doesn't see the barbed wire?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## .Delete. (Jan 7, 2008)

Or your horse doesn't get the point of you showing them the fence? This may come as a surprise, but horses don't speak English or read minds. 

Walking a horse along a fence may show them the fence, but that isn't translating into "don't touch it".


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## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

You may not have had a horse wounded BY barbed wire but it's not that hard to find photos of wounds caused by it.

My vet did a tour around all the local riding clubs showing a slideshow of how to make pastures safe for horses and what happens when they're not, including graphic photos.

A leg wound done in a high tensile plain wire fence is a clean cut, easily stitched and usually resulting in fairly minimal scarring. More likely than not, the horse that tangles itself in plain wire will be sound for riding later on.

A leg wound done in barbed wire is NOT clean. The whole leg basically ends up shredded. Torn to ribbons, beyond redemption. Some can be saved, IF infection can be held off long enough. But personally... I would euth. The road to recovery is so long, so painful and so **** tough that I wouldn't want to go through it MYSELF, much less put one of my animals through it.

I've never met an injury from a plain wire fence I would even THINK about euthing a horse for. Not even the one that got her hoof caught in the wire. But if I was irresponsible enough to have my horse in barbed wire and she got tangled, you bet your bottom dollar I would euth her. There's no flesh LEFT after a proper barbed wire tangle.


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## Cynical25 (Mar 7, 2013)

The only injury I've ever had to euthanize a horse from was barbed wire - his struggling severed tendons on both front legs. Granted, he was a yearling who had not yet been taught to give to pressure, but he also wasn't "supposed" to have been near that barbed wire on the neighbor's cow pasture - he jumped out of his pipe fence.

I know plenty of ranchers who's horses do fine in barbed wire, to but those horses are also generally hobble trained and are less likely to struggle if caught up - they'll wait to be freed. The babies are generally in solid construction fencing.

Horses WILL find a way to get hurt, no matter the fencing we choose, lol. But I will never put up something liked barbed wire that will make it even easier for them to do so.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

For the record, I have, on purpose, ran into my high tensile wire fence with my arms up in the air to see what would happen. It bounced me back on my rear like an elastic, now if I were to do that with barbwire, I would have been cut up right good.


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

There is no such thing as horse safe fencing.
No matter what, a horse will figure out a way to hurt itself.

The best you can do is use what works best for _YOUR _situation.

We have barbed wire around all of the pastures here as it is a cattle ranch. I have had two horses severely injured from barbed wire. The most recent from too many horses coming down to water in the water gap and getting pushed through it. 
I believe that too many horses in a small area is asking for trouble no matter what you're using. Unfortunately not everyone can buy thousands of acres to turn their horses out on so you contain them the best you can.
The other horse was ran through by a mountain lion and I believe that no fencing available would of prevented an injury.

Seen horses hurt themselves on no-climb, page wire, hog and horse panels, board(plastic and wood), tinsel, electric, and a $20,000 rodeo pickup horse strangled in nice welded pipe fence.

Pick your poison.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

Horses can injure themselves on molecules of air, fact!


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## littlebird (Jan 22, 2014)

Regarding electric fencing (the wire type), I've seen horses bust through it several times with not a scratch. When the BO changed the pasture arrangement and fenced up a new pasture and moved the horses over they broke out into the 'common area' a couple times in one day (and probably several other times when I was not there) and had not a lick of evidence of being injured by their bid for freedom. 

Not to say that a horse will not or cannot be injured by electric/wire fencing, but I personally haven't seen it happen.


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## karliejaye (Nov 19, 2011)

The first horse I witnessed having to be euthed was put down due to a barbed wire fence injury. He and 1 other horse were on 5 acres with 1 side in barbed wire. They had been buddies together in that pasture for more than 10 years. 1 day out of the blue 1 gelding chased the other straight through that barbed wire fence. He got vet treatment for about 3 months before the infection got too bad and he had to be put down. 
If they can injure themselves they will, and barbed wire injuries are prone to infection and complications.


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## sig1946 (Dec 22, 2012)

*100% Barbwire*

We have had 100% barbwire horse pastures in this area long before we came on the scene and out horse do just fine. Plenty of grass inside the fence, no need for them to try to reach through. Never an injury,


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