I love my coated wire! I have had numerous horse get into it, and never an injury on anyone. Nothing, not one vet visit ever. Ideal is six strands and every other one hot. Make sure its hot though! We have 12 acres fenced in, and numerous lots, pastures. Board fences would have been too costly. They are also easy to maintain, and fix…if you keep a few tools on hand. I have also had youngster raised in it with no issues.
What about the CenFlex from Centaur?
I absolutely LOVE my Centaur CenFlex fence. It was so easy to install, we did it all ourselves over two weekends and it looks great!
I have coated wire and I have seen numerous times a foal goof around it and get tangled up or run into it and they either a) bounce off, b) untangle themselves without any loss of hair or c) if they are really strong, rip the tensionner off the end post, which ends in a repair for me, but no injuries.
Love it. And it’s much more affordable than wood… I also have electric strands on my fences to keep them from playing with it too much, but foals will be foals and I have been extremely pleased with the safety of this type of fencing.
UGH!!! OP IS NOT talking about ‘normal’ high tensile wire!!!
Terminology people!! High Tensile wire is not the same as Coated wire!!
Rant done so I will go on to my opinion… I have 4 strands of Centaur coated wire, all 4 strands are hot. I live off a busy 4 lane highway and have a baby, I have no anxiety about her getting out of the fence or getting hurt in the fence. She’s hit it before and the only damage done was a plastic insulator broke. No mark on the baby and she stayed inside the fence. It’s pretty safe for babies. I would never put a baby in high tensile wire, but the coated wire is nothing like regular wire. If the fence ever comes down or a baby gets tangled in it there is almost no chance if it wrapping around legs, it’s very rigid and does not bend easily.
Now my opinion of wood board fence is the opposite, I rank it almost as unsafe as non-electric high tensile wire. If they hit it it will splinter, boards come down or break, nails back out, it’s high maintenance, etc… oh and on top of all the safety issues it’s still pretty darn expensive.
100% go with a coated wire or some sort of flex rail (Centaur fence)
I have been very happy with our Ramm Flex fence. It looks like boards. The only thing I would do differently is be very careful in calculating how much fence I needed (they did it and I got an entire roll plus another 1/2 extra). The fence is self has been great. It has been great even though 2 trees have fallen on it and one horse got a leg stuck through between the top rail and 2nd rail (and he didn’t get hurt).
Just out of curiosity have any of you dealt with a cribber on like the flex fence ? I will not keep a cribber so it is pointless here and I know the wood almost any horse can/will chew so just wondered if it was deterring to Cribbers. When I say tensile wire I was referring to the uncoated stuff. The other I consider centaur or centaur like.
[QUOTE=fire_911medic;7228248]
Just out of curiosity have any of you dealt with a cribber on like the flex fence ? I will not keep a cribber so it is pointless here and I know the wood almost any horse can/will chew so just wondered if it was deterring to Cribbers. When I say tensile wire I was referring to the uncoated stuff. The other I consider centaur or centaur like.[/QUOTE]
I got a mare who is a horrible chewer (didn’t know when I bought her) but with the flex fencing no issues. The only problem I have had with my centaur flex fencing so far is when the baby deer jump in and can’t get out. They normally panic so we will go out and open a couple of gates and their fine.
The problem with high tensile is that is stretches too much, it tangles and then things go south. Even with cattle it can cause issues for that reason.
Smooth wire that is hot seems to work well and breaks if it needs to. This is more for large areas, 10-40 acres plus. For smaller area’s we have the welded metal pipe that is 6 feet high. But they probably could find a way to hurt themselves with that too.
High tensile wire is very dangerous to horses. It is not horse fence. Non climb wire with hot wire on top or board or some combination. Non climb needs to go to the ground so they cannot get feet under it. I like hot wire at chest height and on top and on both sides. Keeping horses away from the fence is the top priority. Runs that are long enough to get a good run in and wide enough to turn and not slip in grass and slide into the fence is important, too. My fences are all 5.5 feet or higher for talented jumpers to be discourages. Don’t buy 4 foot wire for big athletes, it invites horses to jump. Make the fence high. Put topers on all T posts so horses cannot impale themselves if the try to jump. Very hot white tape or wire is good to keep them off the fence.
[QUOTE=SouthernYankee;7227417]
Terminology people!! High Tensile wire is not the same as Coated wire!!
Rant done so I will go on to my opinion… I have 4 strands of Centaur coated wire, all 4 strands are hot. I live off a busy 4 lane highway and have a baby, I have no anxiety about her getting out of the fence or getting hurt in the fence. She’s hit it before and the only damage done was a plastic insulator broke. No mark on the baby and she stayed inside the fence. It’s pretty safe for babies. I would never put a baby in high tensile wire, but the coated wire is nothing like regular wire. If the fence ever comes down or a baby gets tangled in it there is almost no chance if it wrapping around legs, it’s very rigid and does not bend easily.
Now my opinion of wood board fence is the opposite, I rank it almost as unsafe as non-electric high tensile wire. If they hit it it will splinter, boards come down or break, nails back out, it’s high maintenance, etc… oh and on top of all the safety issues it’s still pretty darn expensive.
100% go with a coated wire or some sort of flex rail (Centaur fence)[/QUOTE]
A friends nice old horse got caught up and wrapped up in high tensile wire that does not break…it was electrified and he laid their all day AFTER he took most of the hide off himself…and got shocked for about 8 hours till they found him. Of course he had to be destroyed, but only after he was tortured all day…Hideous.
[QUOTE=SouthernYankee;7227417]
Terminology people!! High Tensile wire is not the same as Coated wire!!
… I would never put a baby in high tensile wire, but the coated wire is nothing like regular wire. If the fence ever comes down or a baby gets tangled in it there is almost no chance if it wrapping around legs, it’s very rigid and does not bend easily… [QUOTE]
I was trying to visualize how the coated wire could get wrapped around a leg, as it is so rigid.
[QUOTE=SouthernYankee;7227417]
Terminology people!! High Tensile wire is not the same as Coated wire!!
…It’s pretty safe for babies. I would never put a baby in high tensile wire, but the coated wire is nothing like regular wire. If the fence ever comes down or a baby gets tangled in it there is almost no chance if it wrapping around legs, it’s very rigid and does not bend easily… [/QUOTE]
I was trying to visualize how the coated wire could get wrapped around a leg, as it is so rigid.
[QUOTE=Gayle in Oregon;7228431]
A friends nice old horse got caught up and wrapped up in high tensile wire that does not break…it was electrified and he laid their all day AFTER he took most of the hide off himself…and got shocked for about 8 hours till they found him. Of course he had to be destroyed, but only after he was tortured all day…Hideous.[/QUOTE]
Key point is you are talking about high tensile wire not coated wire. Coated wire wouldn’t break either but it’s so rigid I can’t imagine it getting wrapped around anything.
I’m sure there is some horse out there that has killed themselves on coated wire or flex fence but I’ve been in ‘the horse business’ for 20+ years and have yet to see an injury from Ramm or Centaur fence (and I have 15 years experience with that fence). I have seen numerous injuries from high tensile wire, barb wire, no climb, and wood fence.
My baby was born on the farm 1 week after we moved in and we have spent the last 6+ months baby proofing. The first 8 weeks she spent in a 5’ tall no climb fence and the last 4 months has spent 24/7 in 4 strand hot coated wire. She’s been the healthiest baby I’ve had yet with no injuries to date (knock on wood). Any fence I put up will have an electric strand at some point, it encourages them to stay far far away from the fence. I also mow a strip at lawn height around the perimeter of the fence, it keeps it clean from weeds and may make it more visual.
Some of the coated wire can be high tensile and usually is. High tensile is a "type of steel /process that increases the tensile strength. I don’t like it because it will stretch tons and takes more to break. The issue being that they can get tangled up in it because it stretches so much. Traditional steel is more brittle and breaks easier but does not have the ability to stretch as much, especially the thicker gauges. I would rather have them break it or not stretch it, then their chances of getting caught up are greatly reduced. I believe the coated type of wire has less flexibility and therefore will not “wrap” like traditional high tensile. Smooth stand is also very inflexible and would be hard to wrap around a body part.
I am going to have to do some fencing next year and larger areas. I did some research and found that the smooth wire (think double strand barb wire, without the barbs) is probably the best bet for a larger field. It can be hot. I like the idea of the Centaur fence type for smaller spaces with the potential of crowding and contact.
Coated wire should be tightened and has a high tensile metal strand inside of it which is why people refer to it as high tensile. I just call it Vinyl coated wire. It is 1/4 inch thick, when tightened properly very tight and horse will bounce off it.
IT IS NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH HIGH TENSILE WIRE…OR RAZOR WIRE…it’s completely different as has been clarified earlier in this thread.
[QUOTE=stoicfish;7228848]
Some of the coated wire can be high tensile and usually is. High tensile is a "type of steel /process that increases the tensile strength. I don’t like it because it will stretch tons and takes more to break. The issue being that they can get tangled up in it because it stretches so much. Traditional steel is more brittle and breaks easier but does not have the ability to stretch as much, especially the thicker gauges. I would rather have them break it or not stretch it, then their chances of getting caught up are greatly reduced. I believe the coated type of wire has less flexibility and therefore will not “wrap” like traditional high tensile. Smooth stand is also very inflexible and would be hard to wrap around a body part.
I am going to have to do some fencing next year and larger areas. I did some research and found that the smooth wire (think double strand barb wire, without the barbs) is probably the best bet for a larger field. It can be hot. I like the idea of the Centaur fence type for smaller spaces with the potential of crowding and contact.[/QUOTE]
Not to be difficult…but as they cost about the same, why wouldn’t you do the coated wire instead of the barbless? Just curious.
I helped build a mare/foal paddock with barbless wire and one strand of tape on the top. The only thing I noticed was they never got the barbless hot (was supposed to have one strand of that hot too). Made me woner if barbless was harder to electrify than normal wire?
[QUOTE=PiedmontSporthorses;7228554]
I was trying to visualize how the coated wire could get wrapped around a leg, as it is so rigid.[/QUOTE]
The horse I know of got himself ‘knitted’ between the wire strands and then kicked and fought to get free and whiled and was getting shocked the whole time…it was torture and he finally fell to the ground where the shocks continued. This IS NOT HORSE FENCE!
[QUOTE=TrotTrotPumpkn;7230935]
Not to be difficult…but as they cost about the same, why wouldn’t you do the coated wire instead of the barbless? Just curious.
I helped build a mare/foal paddock with barbless wire and one strand of tape on the top. The only thing I noticed was they never got the barbless hot (was supposed to have one strand of that hot too). Made me woner if barbless was harder to electrify than normal wire?[/QUOTE]
Did they insulate it against the posts? Had to ask just in case, sorry if they did.
So I am from the large field/cow background and have done a ton of fencing. Seriously a ton and mostly for cattle. I have got a big hate on for high tensile. I hate how it stretches when trees land on it and you have sloppy wire afterwards and need to cut and tighten the whole fence. I have a fair amount of trees.
I might like the coated better but the uncoated was seriously dangerous around animals. Plus the barbless is easer to work with when doing the actual fencing (just my personal preference).
The barbless would have more resistance and might be harder to keep it hot compared to H.T. but it can be done with enough juice.
[QUOTE=Gayle in Oregon;7231234]
The horse I know of got himself ‘knitted’ between the wire strands and then kicked and fought to get free and whiled and was getting shocked the whole time…it was torture and he finally fell to the ground where the shocks continued. This IS NOT HORSE FENCE![/QUOTE]
Gayle, you and Piedmont aren’t talking about the same type of fence. I agree with you in regards to high tensile fence not being horse fence. I’ve seen what happens when horses get legs wrapped in it for hours and I agree it’s a horrible thing. Have you ever been around the coated wire? This stuff doesn’t have much stretch to it and it is very rigid and somewhat hard to handle. If it is installed correctly I cannot think of a scenario where a horse would be able to wrap it around legs. Yes they can put a leg through the fence but they would easily be able to pull it back through without getting hung on anything. I chose to put this up over ElectroBraid because if it being so rigid and the lower likeliness of it injuring a horse if they got into the fence. I’m not going to continue arguing with you about the difference between high tensile fence and coated wire but please think before you go bashing all kinds of electric fence. There is a difference.
Stoic I’ve got my coated wire on a large charger and have no issues with it keeping fence hot, even on the back side where I don’t always keep the weeds off the fence. It’ll actually kill the weeds that touch the fence. And it’ll let out a big spark when I put the testers to it. I agree that the barbless wire may be tougher to keep hot due to the metal used, it’s not a highly conductive metal. I’ve also got some trees in the fence line and have had limbs fall on the coated wire fence, no damage aside from a few broken plastic insulators. Once we took the limbs off the fence it bounced right back into shape as advertised.
[QUOTE=stoicfish;7231553]
Did they insulate it against the posts? Had to ask just in case, sorry if they did.
So I am from the large field/cow background and have done a ton of fencing. Seriously a ton and mostly for cattle. I have got a big hate on for high tensile. I hate how it stretches when trees land on it and you have sloppy wire afterwards and need to cut and tighten the whole fence. I have a fair amount of trees.
I might like the coated better but the uncoated was seriously dangerous around animals. Plus the barbless is easer to work with when doing the actual fencing (just my personal preference).
The barbless would have more resistance and might be harder to keep it hot compared to H.T. but it can be done with enough juice.[/QUOTE]
No, it’s a good (albeit obvious) question. Yes it was on insulators. The tape was on the same charger and held charge fine. The assumption was there was a non-obvious issue somewhere, but I always wondered if the barbless perhaps wasn’t as capable of holding a charge for some reason?
I have thought about using barbless on the side of my property that is bordered by crop fields, but then asked myself why I wouldn’t use the coated instead (so really I was asking the same question I ask myself). The nice thing about the barbless that I forgot yesterday is that I don’t have to pay shipping.
