Just back from the local horse hospital from euthanizing a lovely mare after she tried to kick another mare through an electrobraid fence and got her leg caught and badly damaged. I’ve kept horses for 15 years here and although I only have my summer pasture fenced with electrobraid I’ve never had a problem. I never in my wildest dreams imagined a scenario like this and I’m still reeling with shock.
I’ve already phoned my fencing guy to come out and rip it all out ASAP and install wood fencing.
I am so sorry for your tragedy. Thank you for the warning, I am in the process of deciding on a temporary fencing solution and will definitely strike this off my list
Kafue, how terribly tragic. I’m sorry for your loss.
What a horrible tragedy! But before you replace it with wood, have you considered Horse Guard electric tape? We have used it for years and have never had an injury, even when two crabby mares had a kick fest through the fence.
Sorry for your loss. Horses can manage to kill themselves on any type of fence, even 4 board oak. Zenyata’s filly was probably surrounded by the safest fencing possible and still managed to fatally injure herself. Dont beat yourself up about your choice of fence. Again sorry for your loss.
I have to agree with jherald. I have had a horse take out an upright post and 8 oak planks in a fence after a direct hit to the post sliding through the snow.
So very sorry for your loss!
Sorry for your loss. Rather than rip out the electrobraid, you might be better off to add the second fence with a laneway between paddocks. Horses fighting over/through fences of any kind can cause injury.
I am so sorry for your loss. What a terrible way to lose a horse.
Was the fence hot, and had it been tightened this spring? I’ve seen a few electrobraid injuries, but always if the fence wasn’t hot and/or it wasn’t kept tight.
I had a filly puncture her heart from trying to jump oak board fencing. The board splintered in her chest instead of breaking away cleanly and she did not make it. I wish we had better options for fencing since they all seen to cause injury at some point.
I am sorry for your loss!
Anytime you lose a good one is a bad time.
Anytime you confine a horse you run the risk of injury to the horse. There is no “perfect” confinement system, there are only excellent systems. When properly used Electrobraid can be excellent. Or it can be a disaster. It all depends on use.
Over the years we’ve use board fence (without injury); barbed wire (with minor injuries to one horse); high tensile wire (without injury); paige wire (without injury); various types of electric tape (without injury); and Electrobraid (without injury).
Take that for what it’s worth.
G.
^^^^^This.
They manage to mangle themselves with no fences, too.
We had a filly break its leg in a pipe yard.
Barbed wire usually causes minor scarring as above. Plain wire can cause fatal injuries and never to be ridden again injuries.
Hot plain wire means your horse won’t go near the fences. Stand offs keep them further away from the fence for kickers.
I’ve treated serious injuries from virtually every type of fencing there is.
I know it’s horrible to see a terrible fence injury, but IME appropriately installed/well maintained electric fencing is generally safe and also gives horses a healthy respect for fences. Safety tips might include acclimatizing horses to it carefully, checking it daily to make sure it is charged, not using it as perimeter fence, and not using it for horses that are known to test it (or that know that they can jump it).
A safety tip for all kinds of fence is to have lanes in between paddocks to prevent horses from attempting to interact physically over/through a fence which can increase the likelihood of fence injuries. This might not be relevant for two groups of solid citizens.
I agree with others that horses can (sadly) maim themselves on just about any type of fence.
I’ve since heard from several others that they have had horses badly injured or lost a horse from rolling into electrobraid and getting a leg caught.
Losing any horse is awful but this mare was a much loved mare bought from the original breeder by a young lady who had been caring for her for several years and had just bought her. She had owned her for 5 days before this happened and moved her to my place because i give a level of care that she could not get at the other barn. I have never had a horse injure themself at my barn in all the years i’ve kept horses. I am so careful that my husband accuses me of being paranoid. My confidence has been badly shaken and i can’t sleep at night from flashbacks of finding this poor horse with her leg mangled. I just feel so desperate for this young woman.
Very very sorry for your loss. It’s always best to have horses separated by two fences so they can’t argue through a fenceline. There is no absolutely safe material. I’ve seen them go through wood fences and sustain serious injuries.
OP I realize that this must be horrible for you and that you feel dreadfully responsible. Tear the Electrobraid out if it suits you to do so.
But two times my buddy has come home, once to a rising two year old colt stone dead in the field, kicked dead center in the forehead, and the second time to that same colt’s grand dam unable to rise with a broken scapula. Euthe’d that afternoon. Both valuable and loved animals and both dead through pasture accidents.
I’ve witnessed at my trainer’s, four board fence, a filly kick high at her “enemy” and thank God we were all there and saw her go right through the fence. She was hanging there. Vet was there on another call with sedatives available, Roberto took that fence apart so fast . . . Only scrapes. Could have been just as deadly if the filly had panicked.
They survive the most unsurvivable looking accidents in trailers, and they walk five steps and lay down and breathe their last on some fine summer morning days after having gone to some fun and easy event.
There is no rhyme or reason to it, you gave that horse the best care you could. My deepest sympathies to the owner and yourself.
[QUOTE=Kafue;8152997]
I’ve since heard from several others that they have had horses badly injured or lost a horse from rolling into electrobraid and getting a leg caught.
Losing any horse is awful but this mare was a much loved mare bought from the original breeder by a young lady who had been caring for her for several years and had just bought her. She had owned her for 5 days before this happened and moved her to my place because i give a level of care that she could not get at the other barn. I have never had a horse injure themself at my barn in all the years i’ve kept horses. I am so careful that my husband accuses me of being paranoid. My confidence has been badly shaken and i can’t sleep at night from flashbacks of finding this poor horse with her leg mangled. I just feel so desperate for this young woman.[/QUOTE]
You have done nothing wrong. Horses in fields get injured and sometimes those injuries are fatal. You have no reason to feel “desperate.” Life, for humans or horses, does not come with a guarantee.
We’ve had losses before that were quite painful. We carefully review the facts so that if there was something we could have done differently we do it to prevent future losses. That’s the best we can do.
Tearing up the Electrobraid and replacing it with something else will not guarantee increased safety; it may do just the opposite. Remember the old saying, “act in haste; repent in leisure.”
Best of luck going forward.
G.
I feel like I need to chime in one more time here. Of course you cannot prevent all accidents, but in my experience what makes high tensile, or rope type ELECTRIC fence is because a horse will struggle harder and injure themselves irreparably because of the electricity and because the fence will not break. Again, just my opinion, but any ELECTRIFIED fence needs to break before the animal does.
We have used the electric Horse Guard tape for over 12 years and Safe Fence before that. The Horse Guard will stop a horse in NORMAL situations, foals will bounce right off of it. Our stallions will not even reach over it to touch a mare. We have shared fence lines (not for the stallions, of course) and do not have problems very often. And when we do, there is no Vet bill and one person can easily fix the fence in minutes. Over the years we have seen many types of fence injuries. But in 20 years we have not had a single Vet bill related to a fence injury!
There’s nothing worse than losing a young horse to what seems to be a preventable injury. I’m so sorry.
As for fencing, I’ve had one horse who would bulldoze fences and roam the property with a garland of electrobraid and t-posts trailing behind her any time it got dry enough to weaken the ground connection in our arid climate, never to suffer more than a wee bit of rope burn. And seen another have the misfortune of colliding shoulder-first with a solid upright post in a solid fence and require euthanasia right there in the field. Some horses – some lovely, sane, promising horses indeed – would meet with deadly accidents even if they were all kept in padded stalls.
Kafue, I hope you can sleep. It sounds like you care for horses as well as anyone could, and that this was the sort of tragedy that can’t be predicted or prevented.
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