Electric Fence Options

[lifeishorsesarelove]

I feel like I’m going to be a regular in this section now.

I’m getting ready to order fencing for my new rental farm. I’ve changed my mind on what I should get about 10 times and I think I just need COTH to make it up for me.

I’m fencing inside a combination of page wire and small square welded wire perimeter fence. Obviously, I want to keep my guys off of it without having to singlehandedly tear it down and replace it. I already had to remove a bottom strand of barb wire that had hidden in the weeds before we cleared the fence lines.

To do my perimeter and paddock separating fence lines is going to be about 600 meters per strand. I’m thinking 3 strand should be sufficient. Fortunately, the fence posts are already in (spaced at about 7 to 10 ft between posts) so I just have to install insulators, grounding, charger and fence.

Initially I wanted to do all Electric Rope (the 6mm stuff). And then my wallet about died laughing and I’m trying to figure out less expensive combinations.

Has anyone used the thinner poly wire for horses, safely? It has a low breaking strength compared to the rope but I’m concerned about visibility. I think this may be one of those “it’ll be cheap up front but the vet bills won’t be” things, but doing at least 1 or 2 of my strands in this and then topping it with either tape or rope would be considerably more cost effective. (I can buy the poly “wire” for about a third of the cost of the same length of rope). I can always top it with a single strand of rope or tape. Or should I just run away from the stuff and pretend it isn’t an option?

Also have questions regarding insulators - obviously drilling in the twist in one’s is ideal, but again the cost - are one nail insulators worth considering? Keeping in mind that this is a rental and we’ll probably be here +/-5 years. I don’t know if one nail insulators can reasonably be expected to last that long (I don’t mind replacing a few here or there) or if I should just cough up for screw in one’s.

If anyone else has better ideas, I’m all ears, I’m new to this farm life thing and want to learn as much as I can. If I need to go the more expensive route, I’ll fence just one paddock for my guys for now and finish the rest in the spring.

[Foxglove]

lifeishorsesarelove: my answer would depend on a few things --do you have foals or yearlings or two year olds? Young horses can be really hard on fences and fences (any fence) can be hard on them as they figure them out. On the other hand, if you have older horses who know what fences are and generally peaceful --you can safely survive with less fence --in my opinion. What I have on my 20 acres that has safely held horses for almost 35 years, is high tinsel --ONE HOT STRAND at the top-middle-sort of —ok --let me explain --part of my fences are the old woven wire with barbed wire on top. Part are six-strand high tinsel, and there is one section that is four board wood. I have electric “extenders” that bring the hot wire 1 foot in (might be 18 inches) from the posts –all the posts --that wire is kept hot 24/7. These extenders are common in my area --but I can’t seem to find a picture on line --sorry, I can take one when I get home. The extenders keep the horses two feet away from the fence. Because they are so far away --I don’t have to have a hot low and middle wire --but as I said, my hot wire isn’t on top --it’s more “butt high” so that any horse that leans against it chest or butt is zapped. My horses make sure they stay a safe distance --even keeping tails off the wire. But they are older geldings who know what a fence is . . .FYI my neighbor uses the same system --that means there are 4’feet between our horses --two feet on his side of the fence, two on my side of the fence.

A second solution (and I’ve seen this done when the fences are stone, is put a line of hot wire fence (single strand) on posts set 1 -2 feed inside the existing fence. Again the result keeps the horse entirely off the fence.

But all of this depends on your horses. In an ideal world --I’ve have buck and rail with electric inside --or maybe an entire rubber fence --it seems horses can get hurt on anything --but my opinion is, that a single strand of hot wire (high tinsel) set 1 foot (to two feet) inside an existing fence is the best way to keep horses secure.

[moving_to_dc]

Yes, nail on insulators can easily last 5+ years. Some of mine have been up for over 15 years…

BUT!!! I will NEVER EVER EVER use nails to install nail on insulators. I will ALWAYS use screws. When nailed on, the insulators are darn near impossible to remove without destroying the insulators, and that is if you can pull them off at all. Installing them with the appropriate length screw makes them a breeze to take off if one breaks, or move them higher/lower, etc.

If the perimeter fence is as visible as you describe, I would have no concerns using electric polywire/twine on extenders to keep the horses off the perimeter fence.

I would not use poly wire as a cross fence to divide the pasture without also including a line of tape to make the fence more visible.

You will want to get GOOD polywire, too. They are not all the same, and some of the bargain brands at TSC do not have the ability to carry much of a charge. Premier 1 Supplies website has a good comparison chart of the different brands.

[SuzieQNutter]

Use screws not nails. Nails come out in the future and can then get into a hoof.

Use wire, not wire rope or wire tape or anything else. Rope and wire will stop working half way. Wire can stop working half way eventually as well. Get a good fence tester it will tell you that the wire is working here and a step later not here.

[mmeqcenter]

We used polywire to do a 5-strand 900’ fence line. It is perfectly visible, but if you’re really worried you can put flags on it. The breaking strength was fine for most horses, as the electricity was enough to prevent them going near it.
Then, we had a huge four year old warmblood filly for 2.5 months on temporary board. She had no cares at all about getting shocked and routinely pushed through the fence line and broke strands weekly. You could stand there and watch her get shocked and barely flinch. We’ve since replaced with wire mesh.
But if you know your guys are respectful of the fence, the polywire will be fine.

[lifeishorsesarelove]

Thanks for the input everyone!! I’ve decided to do the poly rope and do one paddock at a time. Better to do it slowly and do it right. I have a 5yo and a 14yo now, but I don’t want to end up re doing things.

Does anyone have any suggestions for what type of Fencer to buy? I have about 600 m of fence per strand in the end, 3 strands. The whole joules/amps/volts thing is a mystery I have never grasped (failed electricity unit every year in school) and I don’t know how big I need to go to get a good zap. I have help with the fence circuit so I don’t screw that up, but my help isn’t horsey and they can’t help me pick a charger! I don’t want to go totally overkill, but I can’t afford to have them walking out on me either. Nearest outlet is about 50ft from the fence and while yes itd be lovely to have someone run a proper outdoor outlet, that won’t happen. So - solar, battery, extension cord and a hard wired one? And how much power would you want?

[Christa_P]

Just a suggestion for placing the charger. You can put the charger by the outlet and use insulated wire to go from the charger to the fence. This can make it easier to check the charger and move it where the horses can’t hear it so they won’t know if it’s on.