Horse Jumping Out of Pasture

[MsJump21]

A couple months ago I bought a horse fully knowing that she was a pasture jumper. She would jump out to see one of her friends in another pasture and she had lots of energy since she wasn’t being ridden due to having a break and living in a stall. She is now living outside full time and she has made friends in her field and become boss mare. She had been receiving regular exercise up until quarantine and was jumping out occasionally instead of every day. Recently she has decided to jump out and go for a stroll around the property.

The fence is at least 4’ and I can’t raise the fence since I don’t own the property. She’s friends with all the horses in her field so I don’t think she’s leaving to go see another horse. I will not use hobbles as she will probably figure out how to run around with them on and she can’t be supervised 24/7. I’m not sure what to do especially since I can’t go to the barn due to quarantine. Has anyone else ever experienced this or have any ideas of how to get her to stop jumping out?

[NotGrandPrixYet]

Yes. But you won’t be able to do what I did because it’s not your place. I put a top strand of electrified braid around the fence lines. They learn not to go near fences, hot or not.

[NotGrandPrixYet]

Maybe if you pay for it and install it around your horse’s paddock, the barn owner will allow it.

[SonnysMom]

One farm I was at had a purebred Belgian draft horse that would regularly jump out. 16.3H at barely 3 years old so was a good sized girl. So BO put electric a few feet inside the post and rail on step in posts. Cool now she was jumping an oxer instead of a vertical. So the HO/BO tied a tire to her halter and let her drag it around the field. She had fuzzies on her halter to keep from rubbing. She was smart, wasn’t one to panic and there really wasn’t anything in the field to catch it on. She was good with it for the next 2 months he owned her.

[staceymc]

Mine occasionally still does it at age 12. Nothing I’ve found has worked. We don’t do night turn out since he has to be supervised. I just try not to think about it too much. He normally doesn’t go anywhere except to find better, yummier grass.

[Daventry]

Years ago, we had a mare that was a fence jumper. She regularly showed in the 4’6" jumpers, so our 4’ fence was not an issue for her. As other have suggested, we MacGyvered a top strand of electric fence that was about a foot above the top board. That did the trick.

[ace]

My first horse was a fence jumper. We bought him from a casual riding home where there was just him and one other horse in a large field. 4’6" fences didn’t keep him in, so they built the fences up to 6 feet. they could only get a 5 foot gate stock from the local farm supply store. Since it was the low spot, he jumped the 5 foot gate. So they raised the gate to the 6 foot height to match the fence. It left a gap at the bottom so he rolled himself under the gate (they caught him in the act!!) This was a 16.3HH Percheron cross, that wasn’t a particularly good competitive jumper but could deer jump single fences like crazy.

When we bought him and moved him to the boarding stable which had way more horses and activity going on (we rode 6 days a week and he was turned out with a group of 8 geldings), he stopped jumping out, even though the fences were only about 4’6". Unless he was bored!!

Sorry, no advice other than taller fences or hot wire, as already mentioned, just commiserating!