Cross-fencing with hay sharing

[RooTheDay]

After ten months of excruciatingly slow, painful rehab on stall rest, it’s looking like my soft tissue horse might have reinjured herself tripping this week.

Part of the calculation behind the the ten months of slow, careful rehab was because I didn’t have another option: at the time, I didn’t have a farm, and she wasn’t a candidate for a cheap turnout situation because she can’t go out with other horses. While I admit I had rather hoped that my ten months of suffering might actually ultimately pay off in being able to ride my expensive luxury sport pet… at least I’m now about to have a field to chuck her in and another field in which to put another expensive luxury sport pet! I have options now! And I already told my vet, my coach, and literally anyone who will stand still long enough to listen that my planned option IS NOT TO DO ANOTHER TEN MONTHS OF STALL REST AND REHAB.

So! Let’s talk about pasture setups for her and the Planned Possibly Actually Useful Friend I hope to have coming for her someday soon!

I’m planning for everyone to live out. (I do have a stall-like option for emergencies.) I currently have a 2 ac, a 1 ac, and a 0.66 ac that are fenced, though I’ll ultimately be losing at least half the 1 ac to a new building. I’m not against permanent cross-fencing but would prefer to start with a temporary solution while I see how things work/how I like the layout. I’m planning to feed large squares under either a Hay Hut or Hay Bonnet / Bale Barn. With large squares, and only two horses, I would ideally prefer to be able to share one bale and set it in the fenceline. I’m planning for the cross-fencing to be electric, likely tape.

Questions!

First: for people who have experience with both, do you like the Hay Hut or the Hay Bonnet better? I think I’m leaning towards the Hay Bonnet because I like the one-piece design, but weakly so. If you have something else you like better, also interested, but it needs to be a) covered and b) moveable without a tractor (so likely not wood), since it may be a bit before we add that.

Second, the stirrup-type step-in posts seem to get the best reviews for this application. Do the Powerfields ones or the Field Guardian ones last better? Or, alternatively, should I consider the fiberglass posts (Premier 1 has some, as does Horseguard) instead? Normal step-in posts are way too low to contain my beast, and the skewering potential of T-posts (even with caps or sleeves) scares me.

Third, is it possible for my fence to be too hot? I’m thinking of just getting a Parmak 12 even though my cross runs are currently going to be maybe 250’ max. It doesn’t seem like attenuators are a thing, so I’m assuming it’s not a huge deal, but curious about folks’ personal experience with overspec here.

Fourth, is it reasonable/possible to place a feeder (e.g. Hay Hut) in the cross-fence line, and if so, how would you do it? Without adding the feeder in there, I can use the wood perimeter fence posts on both sides as end posts for the tape runs, but if I do add a feeder, I lose that ability. Plus, if the wind moves the feeder, I now have horses I don’t want in with each other in with each other. I’m not sure to what extent I could stake it in place.

I’m not necessarily against buying two feeders if I have to, but I’d rather share it and the bale if I could. I do think I could likely build a wood platform of sorts with posts on each corner that would be tractor-movable, put the bale on that structure, and put the hay cover over the top of that, then attach the tape to the four corners (creating two tape-separated aisles on each side); that would allow me to share one feeder, but I’d definitely need a tractor to relocate the wood behemoth and at that point I could just build a feeder out of wood entirely.

Anyway, hit me with your thoughts, because I need something to scheme about now that my dreams of soft tissue horse coming back into work are looking pretty rough.

[mmeqcenter]

Hay huts are easily moved by the horses, not just wind or a tractor, so I would not recommend putting a hay hut in the middle of a line of temporary fencing of step-in posts if you need to keep horses separated. They don’t really have any holes or feet or anything to stake into the ground. I would put permanent wood posts in the ground to tie the hay hut to to keep it in place, but then you won’t be able to move it around like it sounds like you want to.
Perhaps you could bolt some 2x4s or 4x4s into the bottom of the hay hut and then anchor those into the ground with some earth anchors or something.

If your beast is so hard on fencing that electric fence in a normal step-in post is not sufficient, I would not expect the taller step-in posts to be any better. Unless she jumps it and doesn’t go through it, I suppose. Personally, I have no problem with T-posts. I use 7’ t-posts pounded 2’ into the ground so I have a 5’ tall fence, with caps that have an integrated insulator, so I have a line of hot tape or rope at the very top. And I have a nifty $50 tool that enables me to easily pull them out if I want to rearrange a fence line.
I can’t stand fiberglass/plastic posts.

I use the Parmak 12 for less than a mile of fencing, it’s always in the high range of the green around nine, and it’s fantastic. If your cross runs are going to be 250’ in length, your total fence with be three or four times that for sizing purposes. 30 miles means 30 miles of actual fencing length, not length of the run, so if you have four lines on each run, you have 4x the length of that run in fencing. Obviously, you still have plenty of power from this one, but just some info.

Sorry about your lady’s injuries. I’m a big fan of Dr Green so, fingers crossed!

[RooTheDay]

Thank you! This was super helpful, though I had hoped I was wrong about the infeasibility of the Hay Hut plan.

@mmeqcenter

If your beast is so hard on fencing that electric fence in a normal step-in post is not sufficient, I would not expect the taller step-in posts to be any better. Unless she jumps it

Yeah, jumping it is the issue. She’s not bad on fence otherwise but she likes sometimes to use her scope for evil.

[beowulf]

I’ve done the cross fencing with a Hay Hut. It was no problem and worked perfectly as a short term solution - we had one guy in a similar arrangement as your mare that needed solo medical turnout. I didn’t want him to go without a roundbale, but I also didn’t want to have two round bales going at the same time. So I pulled down the wooden boards on the wood/electric fence line between both paddocks, terminated the live electric strand, and put the Hay Hut between the two pastures. It worked perfectly for the ~6 months the gelding needed to heal up. The Hay Hut was exactly as wide as the fence post distances and it did not move.

I wish I bought a second Hay Hut when I bought the first eight years ago - it’s one of the best purchases I’ve made that’s improved my (and the horse’s) QOL. I added a Hay Chix for almost zero wastage.

I have never had my Hay Hut move by horse or wind. Right now there are five horses using it at any given time. The Hay Hut is heavier than you think. It’s easiest moved around by a tractor or Skidsteer, but if you flip it on its side you can move it by hand, it’s just hard. Be careful about pulling or picking it up between the ‘windows’ - I had a well-meaning helper break it that way but was nothing wood & screws couldn’t fix. My set up is pallet, round bale (600lb), Hay Chix Net, Hay Hut.

I’m sorry to hear your girl pulled something again. Horses. On the plus side, maybe some Dr Green will be exactly what she needs. I’ve had some stubborn soft tissue issues resolve once they’re out of a stall and into a (controlled) paddock.

[Pico_Banana]

@mmeqcenter Why don’t you like fiberglass posts?

[mmeqcenter]

Because they’re flimsy and they bend and snap and don’t hold the electric tape or rope snug. The cheap ones are barely 3’ tall once in the ground, and I have 17hh horses. The 5’ and 6’ ones OP posted above are more expensive than T posts, therefore for the money I’d rather use long-lasting T posts with caps. Even for temporary fence lines, they’re still fairly easy to move.

[mmeqcenter]

@beowulf

I have never had my Hay Hut move by horse or wind.

They’re definitely heavy for humans, but I’ve watched some special creatures push them over or push them around the paddock once empty/almost empty. Special creatures, indeed.

[Incantation]

My horses push the hay hut around. The paddock I have is next to the arena in a wind tunnel. The wind does not move it, but it does blow rain into it so I can’t use with a round or large square in the warm weather because if we have a good rain it will mold before they can finish it off.
It is too small for a large square, so if I use those, I put about 2/3 of it in the hut, and put the rest on top by hand, or bag it and save it to use if I need to feed them inside. Rounds are definitely easier to load.
Remember that you need to flip it over to load it, so if you secure it to the fence, keep that in mind.

[rulex]

@RooTheDay

Normal step-in posts are way too low to contain my beast

I was able to find 5’ step in posts which I like. I do find the 4’ ones too low. That said I find step in posts pretty flimsy and really only use them for short straight areas between regular wood posts, or T-posts with caps.

@mmeqcenter

I have a 5’ tall fence, with caps that have an integrated insulator, so I have a line of hot tape or rope at the very top.

This is what I have, with 4 strands. That said, mine are quite respectful of the fence.

For a feeder, I built one with 2x4s and put a tin roof on it to somewhat protect the hay from the rain. That said I throw flakes so it’s not like the hay is sitting for days and days going mouldy. I put it along the existing fence line and built it so I can throw hay in from the outside of the fence. I also integrated a net to make it a slow feeder. Super easy and quick to fill.

[beowulf]

I wonder if the wooden pallet is what’s keeping my Hay Hut from moving? That’s interesting. I guess I’m lucky!!

[Incantation]

Mine definitely moves less in the winter when using a pallet, but if it were between fences I am not sure it would not be enough to keep a horse from slipping through. Also, I think my mare is using it as a scratching post.