Fencing recommendations for a drylot/sacrifice paddock?

[JoZ]

Looks like (fingers crossed) I may have found a place to move. And a landlord who is horse-savvy (he’s a farrier) and industrious. He would like to make improvements on the horse facilities and do it with my input (gulp! the opposite of what I’ve had to put up with…).

There are three GOOD-SIZED paddocks that right now have scrub grass. Landlord is all for putting in gravel for a winter sacrifice pen. My horses tend to be airferns so I like the idea of having them in there with a slow feeder or small mesh hay bag, with access to pasture during the summer but probably not during the winter.

Anyway, I was wondering if drylots might have different fencing requirements – though I will try to keep hay in front of the horses at all times, it might not be possible without having them blow up like ticks. So I’m thinking the fence should be HOT in case they are inclined to lean on it looking for grass, or chew on it out of boredom. Plain coated wire? Something else? What has worked for you?

[UrbanHennery]

Mine are coated tensioned electric for the perimeter and electric rope to divide it. Both are HOT.

[Stushica]

Electro-braid, I LOVE the stuff, it’s way easier to handle than wire, it’s tough, it doesn’t rip out manes and tails, won’t cut up your horses, it’s zappy so none messes with it anyway, pretty much no maintaining it. We had to cut some trees off of ours last year and it just sprung back into place.

It’s not like the world most beautiful fence but after having two friends use it for years with zero issues, I’m willing to forgo the wood fencing I always thought I’d have, because this stuff is just so freaking easy.

[bathsheba8542]

My three paddocks are fenced with split rail with hot wire on the top and middle of every inch, including gates in between. Oh, that is something I finally did this past year and that was install gates in between each paddock as well. Turns out to be very helpful if I have to rotate horses around.

[Chestnut_Run]

Anothernvote for electrobraid. It’s awesome. We use it for everything–horse paddocks and pastures including for mares, foals, and our (admittedly mild mannered) stallion. I even fenced my goats and my dogs yards with it.

[GoForAGallop]

For that sort of scenario, I like a solid fence. No climb with some hot wire across the top.

Mine have a 3/4 acre drylot that they spend most of the winter in, and evenings in the summer. (Days are spent on grass pasture.) The pony in particular will find himself bored in the winter, and start poking at the fences. The no-climb doesn’t care, and I don’t have to worry about electricity. (Worse case scenario, they’ll lean on it, but it will still mostly keep them in.)

My drylot is also unfortunately near the road, so I like a more solid barrier for that as well. The no-climb does a good job of keeping dogs and humans out, as well.

The eight acres of pasture are fenced with electric, 'cause I am not mad of money and they are not going anywhere if there’s grass. :lol:

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

My drylot is 3 strands of Horseguard bipolar. I wanted it to be hot all the time. I have a mini donkey and a horse, but 3 strands works for me.

The donkeys always think they are starving. They don’t mess with the fence however. It is HOT.

I’m adding on to it with a 16’x20’ pen and that will be 4 2"x6" board fencing. I want a strong pen I can use for injuries, or to separate someone, or for foal handling, working along a fence (how I teach self-loading initially)–that kind of thing. I also want a place to hang a hay bag that isn’t a gate (the rest is hot). I will line the boards with galvanized trim, like I used on my run-in to prevent chewing.

So I have a larger hot area and a smaller pen too.

My dogs hit the horseguard once and have never tried to go into the drylot again!

[horsepoor]

My dry paddocks are fenced in a mix of Centaur HTP and 3-rail wood fencing on the outside, both with interior electric to keep horses off, and then 3 strand HorseGuard tape on fully covered t-posts for the cross fencing. All kept hot to keep them off it. I don’t have my horses in a shared paddock - they are all individual spaces. The only fence that has been a problem has been the wood, which was incorrectly spaced by my contractor and had a horse get a leg through it (between rails that were too widely spaced) – we’ve gotten rid of most of it but still have one place where I will eventually have just one board as a solid barrier at the top and then HG tape below. The wood also invites chewing, so have to use electric to prevent that as well. I do make sure my electric fence in that area is always hot – the pasture, they never challenge, but in those dry paddocks, they get bored and start face fighting over the fences or trying to grab each others ankles, etc., so eventually someone gets zapped and they leave it alone for a few days.

[Calvincrowe]

I have no climb on pipe posts with a pipe top rail. Expensive. But with the horse I board, the best option as he is rough on fences, and it looks really nice. I have to look out my window at it from 30 feet away, so I wanted it to look fabulous.

Electrobraid or tape, 3-4 strands, HOT will be an less expensive alternative.

More importantly, how will you prepare you the area for adding gravel? How big is it? Without geotextile cloth, your gravel will sink into a muddy, gravelly mix. (yes, in some parts of the country gravel on dirt works…not in the rainy PNW).