# Horse won't respect fence.. bad cut again



## Casey02 (Sep 20, 2011)

If he is getting through electric wire. I would assume volts are not strong enough or something along that affect.


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## BarrelracingArabian (Mar 31, 2010)

I would agree maybe see about adding a midway strand of electric wire? I know my trainers horses figured out when the wire was off and the gelding I ride would pull it down little ******. Never had one actually go under one that is on and not go runnin for the hills when shocked. Granted her mastiffs have to have horse hot wire to keep them in their kennels, regular hot wire did absolutely nothing to keep them in, her male ate through pig fencing and put a hole in the chain link.


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## SlideStop (Dec 28, 2011)

First thing, I'd make sure the fence is set to *T-Rex* strength! Make him think twice about going through it again!! Check how far he is away from the source of electricity. The farther away the weaker the pulse. Maybe you can have him moved closer to the source?


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## Palomine (Oct 30, 2010)

How many in the herd is my question?

And 10 acres for more than 2 or 3 horses is pushing it. Could be he is getting run off grazing and he is trying to find a place to eat in peace too.

I'd be looking into bringing him home I think.


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## Phly (Nov 14, 2012)

We have one of Horse like that, he's a fricking fence wrecker. Why?, I don't know, what I do know is making our two wire fence tight as it should be has kept him in. 
He means no harm or has any wish to leave, but pushes fences. And I found that he stops pushing if they are tight and strong. 
If the high tinsel has give, it needs to be tighter.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

This fence needs to be one hot wire and one wire hooked to neutral or ground on the charger. And the charger needs to be well grounded with preferably three rods in the ground and all connected. If the fence is weak a poor ground is often the problem. It also needs to be check periodically for branches. A single hot wire in summer will suffice because the horse is standing on the ground. In winter where there is snow there definitely has to be two wires. Most chargers are good for a mile or more. It is dealing with voltage only, no amperage thus little resistance. The fence should be tested with a voltmeter.


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## nikelodeon79 (Mar 3, 2008)

I will ask the BO about the setup of the fence. The biggest issue is that Oz is the ONLY horse that is getting out. In the winter when it happened there were three horses that got cut but we think the first one pulled the wire down and then the other two got tangled in it because it was down and nobody noticed. 

There are 7 horses in the herd (I may be off about the acreage, and they have been turned out in a larger pasture since I was last out there). Oz is not getting bullied, though... he has no marks on him and nobody's ever seen him getting chased since the first few weeks he arrived (back in September). The BO actually WATCHED him walk through the fence... and nobody was bothering him in the slightest.

My biggest worry about bringing him to my parents is the barbed wire. We put up barbless on the fence we just replaced but there is still barbed on the rest of it. Granted, it's all going to be electric, but if he's not respecting the electric where he's at, why would he respect the electric at my parents? Another down side is that it's over an hour away, but the way things have been going at work lately I haven't been able to work with him, anyway. :-(

He's still in training, and I haven't even ridden him yet. I'm "in training" myself. I've been taking lessons. Both of us were just at the point where the trainer felt I could ride him and then this happened. :-( So, I really don't want to bring him home until I've at least ridden him a few times to make sure I'm comfortable. I have no arena (outdoor or indoor) at my parents' so that security would not be there. It would be straight up trail riding (there is an arena a few miles away but we'd have to trail ride in order to get there). 

I'm just really tore up about it. First and foremost, I'm upset he's hurt. Secondly, I was planning on riding him a lot this summer and then making a decision what to do in the fall: keep him where he's at, move him to my parents, or sell him if he ends up being too much horse for me. Now I'm continuing to pay board, his training time will be extended, plus there's the extra cost while he's stall bound and requires so much extra care.


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## Muppetgirl (Sep 16, 2012)

Have you thought about setting up electric tape and standards at your parents place? Nothing to get hurt on and set it up so it packs a punch.....then transfer the tape to the regular fence (with the use of insulators) once he learns to keep of it......??


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## nikelodeon79 (Mar 3, 2008)

Muppetgirl said:


> Have you thought about setting up electric tape and standards at your parents place? Nothing to get hurt on and set it up so it packs a punch.....then transfer the tape to the regular fence (with the use of insulators) once he learns to keep of it......??


I actually was considering setting up tape. I have to put T post caps on and saw the nifty ones that double as tape insulators. The only trouble is cost... we're talking approximately two miles of fence and hundreds of posts. Cheapest I've found for caps is $7 for a bag of 10... I'm afraid to price out tape....


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## Muppetgirl (Sep 16, 2012)

nikelodeon79 said:


> I actually was considering setting up tape. I have to put T post caps on and saw the nifty ones that double as tape insulators. The only trouble is cost... we're talking approximately two miles of fence and hundreds of posts. Cheapest I've found for caps is $7 for a bag of 10... I'm afraid to price out tape....


Rotate graze him, square off a smaller space and just shift it once a week or so, those standards are super easy to move, that way you don't have to tape the whole thing, just square off areas:wink:


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## nikelodeon79 (Mar 3, 2008)

Muppetgirl said:


> Rotate graze him, square off a smaller space and just shift it once a week or so, those standards are super easy to move, that way you don't have to tape the whole thing, just square off areas:wink:


That's the other problem.... I'm lucky if I get to my parents twice per month. The day to day care falls to my mom and dad so things need to be as easy as possible.


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## Muppetgirl (Sep 16, 2012)

nikelodeon79 said:


> That's the other problem.... I'm lucky if I get to my parents twice per month. The day to day care falls to my mom and dad so things need to be as easy as possible.


How many acres will he be on at your parents place? Because if its a huge area I wouldn't be too concerned about him and the fences, they usually only be dinky with fences if they're in a smaller space.

You could standard and tape a large square big enough for him to pick at for two weeks? Hmmmm.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

I have one who would just go right through the tape. Problem was the output of the charger. It was sufficient for dogs really, but not for a determined horse. I bought a 15 joule AC unit that is rated for bulls and other large strong animals. He touched it 2 times, not again. The first time he touched it, he walked up like he was going through it.....uh HUH! You could hear him grunt all the way back to the barn. Second time, he walked up and sniffed it and touched it with his nose. He ran like he'd been bit by something. Hasn't offered to get close to it since. Everybody else respects the 1 joule type but oh no, not him, he gotta have the strongest one Zareba makes. I also put up the the Dare Heavy Duty Equi Rope, breaking point 1592 lbs. and it STRETCHES a lot before it breaks, so it's gives a lesson that's not soon forgotten. 

Charts and Guides < Electric Fence Resources | Zareba

I forgot to mention, I have a common fence with a neighbor that has barb wire too, I just put the T posts 3 feet inside the fence line and used the caps and 5 in. extended length t-post insulators to add some distance. He WON'T get near that barb wire because of the HOT wire.


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## nikelodeon79 (Mar 3, 2008)

Thanks for all the ideas. 

The pasture at my parents is large... 30-40 acres. It is great pasture and also has trees. There is a free choice shelter with two doors so nobody gets caught inside. The other horses on the farm are my AQHA gelding that loves everyone, my SIL's Arab/Paint gelding that is a big snot until he gets to know a new horse (which is why we leave new horses in a corral for a long time when they first arrive) and two young shetland ponies (one recently gelded, the other a yearling that will be gelded next year). SIL's gelding is actually the low horse in the herd which is why he's a jerk to new horses... we think he's trying to get one up on them before he falls to bottom horse again. Ponies are actually going to be let out with the big boys after being in their own pen for nearly nine months... have to wait for Warrior to heal up after his gelding, though.


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## Muppetgirl (Sep 16, 2012)

nikelodeon79 said:


> Thanks for all the ideas.
> 
> The pasture at my parents is large... 30-40 acres. It is great pasture and also has trees. There is a free choice shelter with two doors so nobody gets caught inside. The other horses on the farm are my AQHA gelding that loves everyone, my SIL's Arab/Paint gelding that is a big snot until he gets to know a new horse (which is why we leave new horses in a corral for a long time when they first arrive) and two young shetland ponies (one recently gelded, the other a yearling that will be gelded next year). SIL's gelding is actually the low horse in the herd which is why he's a jerk to new horses... we think he's trying to get one up on them before he falls to bottom horse again. Ponies are actually going to be let out with the big boys after being in their own pen for nearly nine months... have to wait for Warrior to heal up after his gelding, though.


I'm thinking you'll probably be ok with that much land for him to move freely around on.....with that much space they usually only get themselves derailed in a fence if they get into a fight beside the fence, they get a fright beside the fence or they get fed beside the fence, I've seen loads of injuries to horses from people being too lazy to take the feed a fair distance into the pasture and just throwing it over the fence and letting the horses squabble beside the fence.


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## nikelodeon79 (Mar 3, 2008)

I've never been a fan of barbed wire but I gotta say, I've kept horses in it for 20 years without a single wire related injury (knocks on wood). Kept my new boy in smooth wire for nine months and he's managed to cut himself twice. Go figure.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

I agree with checking what kind of charger you're using. Some chargers that are commonly sold for horses just don't pack much "umph". I can walk up to my fence and, while it does bite a little bit, it's only unpleasant. For horses like Oz, it needs to be painful to touch the fence.

I second the use of the powerful chargers that are rated for cattle. While I can stand and hold my finger to my charger all day with only some discomfort to show for it, I accidentally touched a wire run from a bull charger once...and I'll never do it again. It literally knocked me off my feet. It was about like being tazed LOL.


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## apachiedragon (Apr 19, 2008)

Unfortunately, once horses know they can get out, they are much much harder to keep in from then on. I had one that would jump over fences if he couldn't bust or go through them. We tried it all, and ended up with 5 foot no climb with a hot wire topper 6 inches above that, and gates set high with a hot line strung over the top of them. And even then, he still managed to get out. And it didn't matter what sort of pasture he was on, or how many herd mates we had, he still did it. I watched him bust through a fence to leave a 40 acre pasture of grass and his 4 best buddies, to nibble scrub grass and weeds on the edge of a crop field. He passed away at 29 from cancer, and still managed to jump out over the gate not even a week before he passed. He waited on the outside of the gate, never even walked off from it, he just escaped out of habit. 

Now that you have an escape artist, you will have to be extra diligent about fence upkeep for as long as you have him.


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## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

We have two Houdinis. It's seriously irritating. We have a cattle rated charger and we're using less than 1/5 of the amount of fenceline it's rated to. And yet almost every morning we go outside and the tread-ins are all over the joint and the fence is down and both the mares are on the wrong side of the bloody fence.

These same mares broke a stable gate to get into the feed, and are notorious for opening gates. One is impossible to keep in plain wire, has to be cattle mesh or she's straight through.

Irritatingly we don't own the property and can't afford to spend the kind of money it would take to re-fence on a property we don't own, especially considering it's looking like the area will be developed in another year or two. My girl in particular is quite hard on fences and has no respect for electrics, regardless of strength...


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