# Fence question, please help.



## Trying Again (Mar 8, 2015)

First off I hope this is the right place to ask this, if not I am sorry.

We are about to move to some land an little over an hour away from where we currently are. There is nothing on the land, we are starting from scratch. Unfortunately instead of leaving our horse where she is now we have to take her with us as soon as possible, so I am going to have to use barbless wire to begin with instead of horse wire which I will be switching to as soon as I can. My question is what heights are best to put the wire at? It will be four strands and she is not all that big and not a jumper so I was thinking 4 1/2 feet (137 centimeters). But what height is safest for the other wires?


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## whisperbaby22 (Jan 25, 2013)

Please put up some additional information as to why you need the barbless. There are other options available, for temporary fencing with nothing else pipe panels with electric is the safest.


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## HombresArablegacy (Oct 12, 2013)

I used barb less wire for 8 years on a property I was renting. Used 3 strands with top strand at 4 feet....BUT....I also ran a strand of hot wire along the top, as I felt it essential. Never had any problems with horses getting caught in the fence. I would not do it without hot wire. 

My current neighbors have high tensile wire fencing, and over the years I've witnessed one of their mares seriously injure her hind leg getting caught up in the wire. Their current horses, well, the mare likes to roll next to the fence and get her legs caught in it. They FINALLY put up a strand of hot wire a few months back after I found their pony in my front yard. 

Since then, no more problems.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Trying Again (Mar 8, 2015)

whisperbaby22 said:


> Please put up some additional information as to why you need the barbless. There are other options available, for temporary fencing with nothing else pipe panels with electric is the safest.


Pipe panels are costing a lot down here, like $55 for a ten foot panel. I could just buy 100 feet of horse wire for half what I could by four pipe panels for...and have over twice the room. 

What about wood pole fence? Would that be safe?


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## Trying Again (Mar 8, 2015)

HombresArablegacy said:


> I used barb less wire for 8 years on a property I was renting. Used 3 strands with top strand at 4 feet....BUT....I also ran a strand of hot wire along the top, as I felt it essential. Never had any problems with horses getting caught in the fence. I would not do it without hot wire.
> 
> My current neighbors have high tensile wire fencing, and over the years I've witnessed one of their mares seriously injure her hind leg getting caught up in the wire. Their current horses, well, the mare likes to roll next to the fence and get her legs caught in it. They FINALLY put up a strand of hot wire a few months back after I found their pony in my front yard.
> 
> ...


I can't do electric right away as solar panels need to be set up first.


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## whisperbaby22 (Jan 25, 2013)

OK, do you have electricity on the property? If you do, you can buy cheap continuous current chargers and if your ground is not to hard, just those cheap plastic step in posts. If you don't have electric to the property and go ahead with the barbless, I would just keep an eye on your horse and if she rolls to close the the fence, move the wires higher in that spot.


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## HombresArablegacy (Oct 12, 2013)

Trying Again said:


> I can't do electric right away as solar panels need to be set up first.


Then get a bunch of day glow colored tape to flag the fence every 8 feet or so so they can see the fence. If push comes to shove, cut a bunch of plastic grocery bags into strip and use it to flag the fence. 

As for solar powered fence chargers, it takes about 90 minutes to set the box up on a sturdy post, sink 3 ground poles, and run the wiring from the ground poles to the charger. It will charge up in 24 hours. Most pack enough juice for 25 miles of fencing.

solar powered fence chargers Google link

solar powered fence chargers_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## HombresArablegacy (Oct 12, 2013)

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/solar-powered-electric-fence

$79.00 and free shipping!!!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Joel Reiter (Feb 9, 2015)

You can buy a state of the art, extremely powerful solar fence charger for $300, and many good ones sell for far less. That will be a pittance compared to the rest of your fence expenses.

Here are two web sites that will teach you about making a good electric horse fence:
Electric Horse Fence Installation & Planning - ElectroBraid®

Horses - Premier1Supplies​


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## Trying Again (Mar 8, 2015)

I found fencing I had forgotten I had today, so now I have the proper fence I need. Thanks for your help everyone.


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## Trying Again (Mar 8, 2015)

HombresArablegacy said:


> Then get a bunch of day glow colored tape to flag the fence every 8 feet or so so they can see the fence. If push comes to shove, cut a bunch of plastic grocery bags into strip and use it to flag the fence.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Thank you for the flag idea, I was thinking about the grocery bags myself, I'll probably put it on the horse fence anyway just to be sure she sees it.


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

what fencing did you find ? just curious. I like my fences to be a min of 5 foot tall . 
I will have the bottom rail at 2 or 2 1/2 feet off the ground. I do not like them shorter than that as it is easy to get a leg stuck, but then again I have had horses get a head and neck under the space ( give a horse a chance to get hurt it will ) . 
I found that if the bottom is at 3 ft, they can roll out from under , or even get down and crawl under , my paint that was 15 hh would crawl and squeeze under a 3 ft fence rail.


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## Trying Again (Mar 8, 2015)

stevenson said:


> what fencing did you find ? just curious. I like my fences to be a min of 5 foot tall .
> I will have the bottom rail at 2 or 2 1/2 feet off the ground. I do not like them shorter than that as it is easy to get a leg stuck, but then again I have had horses get a head and neck under the space ( give a horse a chance to get hurt it will ) .
> I found that if the bottom is at 3 ft, they can roll out from under , or even get down and crawl under , my paint that was 15 hh would crawl and squeeze under a 3 ft fence rail.


Well I found some garden fence that the chickens can use so that the horse can use the horse fence. 

Garnet does the same thing, she'll get down on her knees and crawl under a fence.


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## Nutty Saddler (May 26, 2009)

I have post & rail , stud fencing , hedges - and all have to have a hot wire 

The hedge gets eaten , the stud fence gets crushed down by horses leaning over it , the post & rail gets pushed over when the horses scratch themselves on it - I've found that if they can destroy it they do , the only thing that keeps them off the fence is electric


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## Trying Again (Mar 8, 2015)

Nutty Saddler said:


> I have post & rail , stud fencing , hedges - and all have to have a hot wire
> 
> The hedge gets eaten , the stud fence gets crushed down by horses leaning over it , the post & rail gets pushed over when the horses scratch themselves on it - I've found that if they can destroy it they do , the only thing that keeps them off the fence is electric


Garnet isn't hard on fences, she's pretty small so she cannot reach over the average horse fence much. Besides, the immediate fencing will be temporary as we get all the livestock and set up and safe. 

I believe it also depends on the strength and bracing of your individual fence.


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## Nutty Saddler (May 26, 2009)

Trying again

I also have some horses that wont so much as walk over a rope on the ground - but I also have a 500kg lipizzaner that likes to scratch her rear end and pushes over just about everything except a 40ft tree , and recently a 17hh 500kg monster that can reach over just about everything unless it's 6ft tall, between them caused daily damage to my fencing until it was electrified - I have had more than 40 horses and for sure the only thing that can keep them contained is electric


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## Trying Again (Mar 8, 2015)

Nutty Saddler said:


> Trying again
> 
> I also have some horses that wont so much as walk over a rope on the ground - but I also have a 500kg lipizzaner that likes to scratch her rear end and pushes over just about everything except a 40ft tree , and recently a 17hh 500kg monster that can reach over just about everything unless it's 6ft tall, between them caused daily damage to my fencing until it was electrified - I have had more than 40 horses and for sure the only thing that can keep them contained is electric


I wasn't suggesting there was something wrong with your fencing. I was just saying I know my horse, have lived with her, and know she won't be shoving fences down until I get an electric fence up...I'd rather not proceed further with this conversation if it is going to become argumentative.


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## Nutty Saddler (May 26, 2009)

Trying again

I was not trying to argumentative , sorry for that impression.

I am simply attempting to explain that had I known at the beginning of building my fencing what I know at the end then I would have built it differently - and saved myself a lot of time and money in the process.
The horses I started out with never went anywhere near the fencing I had , but sadly as time progressed they passed on and I got new ones - the Lipizzaner I mentioned I have only had for just over a year and I learnt through experience that not all horses keep off the fencing

I also lost one of my ponies recently and had to get a new field companion for my shetland - this new pony and one of my other field companions that I had for 9 years ( in a different field ) had a kicking session through the fence which nearly cost her her life - subsequently a 4ft fence is now a 6ft fence so they don't butt heads over the fence line 

I'm not trying to tell you what to build for your horse - just trying to part some experience that I've had and that the horses that you have today might not be the horses that you have tomorrow


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## Trying Again (Mar 8, 2015)

Thank you. 

Our fencing will be electric as it is not only expected to hold horses, but cattle, goats, and sheep as well. Goats, now that's a tricky ****** to fence.


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## Nutty Saddler (May 26, 2009)

good luck with goats - my neighbor has goats and only stud fencing keeps them contained - he said that once they learn that the current doesn't pass through their horns they simply use them to rip electric down to get out


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