Containing and escapee mare

[4THEHORSES]

So, my three year old mare is becoming more and more difficult to keep contained,. She used to have free access to a 24x24 corral from a small (maybe 1/4 acre) turnout, fenced with hot wire. For about a year she did great there however lately she’s taken to escaping.

She bused through the hotwire and got loose (but still within the perimeter of my property) a couple times so I decided to confine her to her stall when I’m not home and turn her out when I can keep an eye on her. Trouble is that three times she has managed to break out of her stall. First twice we have no idea how she got out. Stall was still locked but mare was loose! This last time she tore the door clean off her stall (broke two chains and bent the door).

Does anyone else have a horse that likes to bust out and, if so, how do you deal with it.

Thanks!

[katyb]

It sounds to me like she needs some real turn out with real fencing, not electric.

[4THEHORSES]

Thanks katyb, unfortunately real fencing doesn’t do the job which is why we added electric. She’s a big, bulky Clydesdale and realizes that she can use her weight to destroy fencing!

We have three horses on the property and all of them have identicle turnout areas. Only thing I can think of is to try turning her out in the same area as one of the other horses.

[sublimequine]

Can you crank the fencing so you fry her butt a few times?

[sam.j4]

Do you have any idea why she’s getting loose?

My boy figured out he can test and slip underneath electric braid fence at this one place we were at.
His reasons were a: they had big bale of hay, he had rinky dink pile of hay and b: he wanted to “play” (his version of play is the wonderful game of chase and bite). Needless to say there were quite the choice words when he did it the second time…

I’d say figure out what is driving her or at least the inital motivator before it became a learned behavior.

Is she bored or restless? lonely? does she have good grazing or access to 24/7 hay? Is it a certain time of day like feeding time?

If you manage to figure out the motivation it might help with curbing the behavior.

For mine a combination of solid fence between him and neighbors and 24/7 hay for himself seems to have curbed the escape artist antics…

[4THEHORSES]

Thanks for the replies:

sublimeequine: Yes, I was thinking of trying that. Not too sure how to crank it up (battery only has one setting) but I guess there are other batteries out there that might work better.

sam.j4: You’re right, I need to figure out why she’s doing this. I already feed her a tonne of hay. She can’t have free access because she’s the ultimate pig but she get’s around 60-70 lbs per day in two feedings and he weight is great, if anything slightly heavy. I’ve tried giving her toys. Got her one of the Jolly apples and she just tore it apart and ate the entire lick! I think boredom/loneliness may be a factor so have temporarily moved her to a stall that’s sandwiched between the other two horses. Only problem is that stall has not turnout and I really don’t like restricting their movement like that. I’d considered finding someone to trail ride her a coupld days per week while I’m at work. On the whole she’s good under saddle but she’s still young and I must admit I’m concerned about liability if someone comes off.

When she breaks loose she does munch on the hay stack but not all that much. Mostly she hangs out next to my other mare so that’s why I suspect boredom/loneliness.

[sam.j4]

Three things come to mind:

1. See if she’ll get along with another horse in the field/get her a BIG horse exercise ball to play with. I hear those are fantastic (looking at getting one for my boy but knowing him he’ll just be scared of it).
2. Instead of free throwing hay, have it in a slow feeder so she has to work for it. If I can’t do free access for my boy (who is a PIG but thankfully needs a much smaller caloric count than a draft) hay nets/slow feeders/etc keep him happy. (He has anxiety over hay… even in lush grass fields… he’s speshul;))
3. You’ll find the right person I met the one friend I have on here to exercise her horse. We signed a liability agreement that pretty much said “I Know horses can be stupid or dangerous and I will not sue if I get hurt while riding”. Make sure to have that agreement and they understand her temperment. She’ll be happy, you’ll be happy and I bet less fences will be broken down.

[Appsolute]

Ahh, you didn’t mention she was a draft in your first post.

I have known a few draft horses that learned to use their bulk to destroy fencing - bent heavy steel panels like they were made out of taffy.

Only solution for them was HOT wire (actually it was electric webbing), made hot hot hot. - and it was mounted on top of the fence with risers (so it could not be jumped over).

[atr]

You could try mounting goat fence (electric mesh–got mine from Premier Fence) higher as appsolute says. This is the only fence that will keep my mini Houdini contained.

Or, can you turn her out with a buddy?

[Belltello]

I have a friend with a draft destroyer mare. The only solution was to have her paddock hotwired with a 200 mile fencer. The rinky dink 5 mile solar one WILL NOT work. They also had to put a strand of hot wire across the front of her stall. That single strand of 16’ hot wire was wired to the 5 mile fencer. A lot of juice was needed to keep her in.

Sounds like she needs a job - PRONTO. Young drafts have a lot of energy and you need to direct that through training or she’s going to continue being a big PITA.

[4THEHORSES]

Thanks for all the great suggestions. She is being worked but probably not enough so I’ll be getting her out more and like you said, crank up that hot wire and turn her out with a buddy. Slow feed hay nets are a great idea too, will give that a go and hopefully it’ll keep her mind off of mischief! She’s fully of personality, which I love, but it def gets her in trouble at times :lol:

[fooler]

AC powered electric fence to get her attention. She will not be pleased when she hits it the first time. My gelding squealed when he hit the solar powered fence, of course he is a wimp.:lol:

One of the things I do with the hay is to place flakes around the paddock so my hay vacuum, aka gelding, has to move and eat.

[UlysMom]

We have a Percheron/Belgian at our barn who would walk through any fencing like it was spiderweb, including your basic hotwire. He’s now in a paddock that’s partial pipe, partial heavy duty electric fencing. First shock on that stuff was all it took. He has some serious respect for electricity now.

Good luck to you and your Clyde.

[GraceLikeRain]

I think a buddy may really reduce her desire to bust out. Especially a younger horse that wants to rip around and be silly.