Hi all,
Do any of you use Horseguard for perimeter fencing—not just for separating pastures? Due to the cost of installing new fencing on a property we are leasing, we are looking at the option of putting in 4 x 4s with Horseguard for the fencing, rather than with lumber 4 rail. I do not think the entire property has perimeter fencing, but I’m not sure, so security is foremost in my mind. I’d like your thoughts on this.
Thanks!
Yep, it’s at my barn.
The most important thing to remember is that it MUST be hot. String it right, make sure it doesn’t ground out, and check it on a regular basis. They make little things to hang on the fence that bling as long as it works. If you don’t check it on a regular basis you’ll figure it out when you have loose horses and 500 feet of broken connectors.
When we needed to re-do fencing, I considered this but decided to go with no-climb, as our pastures face the road and I didn’t want any opportunities for escapes.
Having said that, we’ve always had HG fencing for paddocks and it has lasted a good long while. We put up two dry lot paddocks in the last year and used HG fencing for it (two strands of tape) without any issues. If I were to do perimeter fencing, I’d probably do four strands of tape and make sure the charger worked very well. I’d also use it with either wood posts or t-posts with the sleeves over them. I do think that properly installed (meaning pulled tight and with good posts) it looks quite nice. I used to have the white fencing, but now I have the brown/green and I think it looks more attractive than the white.
I don’t know if this fits your plan, but if I had to use electric tape for perimeter fencing, I think I would strong consider putting up two lines, one inside and one on the perimeter. Could use step-in posts and something less expensive for the interior line.
I’ve had two friends lose horses who got out of substandard fencing. Both were hit by cars. Both had gotten out before. Both families kept telling themselves it was a “fluke,” and did not want to spend more $$ on fencing. I had another friend whose horses were not killed, but did get out fairly regularly.
I just couldn’t take it if my horses got out and were injured or killed because I cut corners on the fencing. And I do understand budget constraints. An interior line and a perimeter fence, both hot, would make me feel better, if I had to go with hot wire.
I used to have my paddock fenced with electrobraid, it was a budget thing. Worried about it all the time. And I am at the end of a dead-end road off an abandoned highway, no road anywhere near that paddock. But if the power was out, or it got real dry, or the weeds grew up, or the snow got high … I was worried.
I don’t worry anymore since I got the Centaur flexible vinyl rail on wood posts for the perimeter. I use Horseguard for cross-fencing and love it.
And I do know that I am a worrier, so maybe I’m just over the top.
Thank you so much! I am a worrier as well. The perimeter is 6 acres of land, and belongs to the homeowner, so we’re making a paddock out back of the barn, which we are leasing. If the horses got out of the paddock (plan is to use 4 strands of HG—my horse is 17 hh), I don’t think they would get far…but, as you said, I am a worrier. We will use 4 x 4 posts, properly installed with concrete. Frankly, I’d rather use wooden rails with hot HG inside, rather than just HG, but I expect the pricing is going to be enormous. Thanks again!
Just for comparison’s sake, around here an easy calculation to determine the cost of no-climb fencing was $10-$11/foot, all in. So if you measure out how much space you want to fence off (linear feet), then you at least have a comparison. HG would be much cheaper. Of course, fencing is probably more expensive where you are - everything is!
[QUOTE=Spartacus;8623749]
Hi all,
Do any of you use Horseguard for perimeter fencing—not just for separating pastures? Due to the cost of installing new fencing on a property we are leasing, we are looking at the option of putting in 4 x 4s with Horseguard for the fencing, rather than with lumber 4 rail. I do not think the entire property has perimeter fencing, but I’m not sure, so security is foremost in my mind. I’d like your thoughts on this.
Thanks![/QUOTE]
Yep, we did split rail ( always replacing rails now!) on the road frontage with 1 strand HG at the top, then 3 strand green HG for 18 acres pastures, still fine after 15 years
Risa
HappyTrailsTrailers
BalancedRideTrailers
I would ditto the plan to have two layers of fence if you can, especially for a small property, for a situation where there’s a busy road or blind curves, or a situation where animals are left unattended for long periods of time. One of the layers can be pretty minimal - which one you want it to be is negotiable. My experience is that if the horses break through one fence they usually will settle and be respectful of a second fence.
If you do one layer, do the 4 strands, get a kickass charger and put a visual fence tester on it so you will know easily and immediately if it is shorted out. (Most of my electric is on solar, but my neighbor reminded me when I added a plugin charger that it won’t be on when the power is out, so another thing to keep in mind.) Having four strands also makes it a lot less likely that the horse will test the fence or get through.
You also need to make sure that you mow or spray under the fence line so that weeds don’t short out the bottom tape (or in my area, even the top tape!).
If you don’t own this property, I would suggest considering tall t-posts with the HG T-post covers so that you can remove the whole fence and take it elsewhere. T-posts of course have a terrible reputation, but I think one of the reasons is that short ones are just daggers waiting to happen. Tall ones (8’) don’t allow the horse to get its body over it, and if they are covered, I don’t think they’re more dangerous than the wooden posts.
One of the nicest things about Horse Guard (in my opinion) is that you don’t need nearly as large of posts as you do with wire or plank fencing. We have miles of it on 3" (top diameter) by 7’ treated wood posts. Our corners are braced, but nothing in concrete. A PSA about concreting posts in is it is a major mess if a post gets broken off. Then you are digging out a nice rock of concrete.
We have 200 acres so our perimeter fence is field fence with capped steel posts and a strip of HG. Our pasture/paddock fences are all Horse Guard. 4 strands for stallions, 3 for everyone else, 2 strands in a couple “low risk” areas. Our fence chargers are Patriot brand with high joules and they run off of deep cycle (marine) batteries. We charge batteries as needed.
I would be comfortable using HG anywhere except near a busy highway. Not because I think HG would fail, but because I would worry about liability if it did. Because any fence can fail but in court, non horse people would believe a wood or wire fence wouldn’t have broken.
poltroon makes a good point. If you don’t own this property, I would second that you can use good t-posts with covers. Wood posts in concrete is overkill.
And, it’s true that you can pull those t-posts and re-use both posts and HG tape (as well a the charger) elsewhere. I have pulled and re-set so many t-posts, and re-used so much tape it’s crazy. All on my own property, too. As finances, circumstances and herd size / dynamics changed, so did my fencing.
If you pull them out straight, the t-posts last almost forever. And the HG tape holds up well, too. I also have re-used the step-in posts and 1/2 inch farm store brand electric tape many many many times.
Thanks! I won’t use T-posts. I’ve seen two horses impaled on them over the years; one through the chest, and one into the abdomen. In addition, about 10 years ago, one of my own horses took out an entire line of electric fence (5 T-posts), pulling it about 30 feet. We think there was a mountain lion involved.
I love love love my Horseguard fencing, but because we front a two lane road with a 50 MPH speed limit (which is often exceeded) I won’t use it for perimeter fencing. If I lived somewhere quieter (further away from roads) I might, but not here.
Do I understand correctly that the entire property is six acres, but you plan to fence only a paddock behind the barn? What size paddock?
If not too terribly large, you might consider pipe portable panels fastened to T-posts (posts on the outside, away from horses, and with caps on top). A neighbor did that and is able to re-arrange them as necessary; we did a short run ourselves to cross-fence our permanent sacrifice paddock. This might be more of a barrier for your tall horse.
You could take them with you or sell them when you move. They’d be more expensive than Horseguard, but I see second-hand panels on sale on CL not infrequently.
I suggest this because another neighbor has tried to get by with electric perimeter fencing for years (not Horseguard, however, nor several strands) and her horses (especially one of them) have gotten out so very many times.
Don’t get me wrong, we are very satisfied with our Horseguard cross-fencing and highly recommend it, at least for that purpose.
[QUOTE=Jarpur;8624671]
Do I understand correctly that the entire property is six acres, but you plan to fence only a paddock behind the barn? What size paddock?
If not too terribly large, you might consider pipe portable panels fastened to T-posts (posts on the outside, away from horses, and with caps on top). A neighbor did that and is able to re-arrange them as necessary; we did a short run ourselves to cross-fence our permanent sacrifice paddock. This might be more of a barrier for your tall horse.
You could take them with you or sell them when you move. They’d be more expensive than Horseguard, but I see second-hand panels on sale on CL not infrequently.
I suggest this because another neighbor has tried to get by with electric perimeter fencing for years (not Horseguard, however, nor several strands) and her horses (especially one of them) have gotten out so very many times.
Don’t get me wrong, we are very satisfied with our Horseguard cross-fencing and highly recommend it, at least for that purpose.[/QUOTE]
No need to use T-posts at all with pipe panels. Pipe panels make excellent fence and again are portable and reusable.
[QUOTE=Spartacus;8624636]
Thanks! I won’t use T-posts. I’ve seen two horses impaled on them over the years; one through the chest, and one into the abdomen. In addition, about 10 years ago, one of my own horses took out an entire line of electric fence (5 T-posts), pulling it about 30 feet. We think there was a mountain lion involved.[/QUOTE]
Fair enough. As I said, I think the secret is to use heavy duty, capped T-posts that are 8’ or taller - tall enough that there’s no real likelihood for a horse to get above one. The Horseguard covers are expensive but very appropriate and well made. Taller posts (of any material) are safer posts.
My experience with Horseguard is that the insulators would break before they would pull out t-posts. YMMV.
I have HG on T-posts, but I covered the T-posts with sections of PVC pipe and attached the insulators to the pipe. I used the gray pipe and it looks quite nice and was incredibly easy to install.
I live on a highway and do not use HG for my exterior fence for all the reasons NoDQhere stated. My current exterior runs are no-climb with HG on top, board lined with HG, or along the corn field & shelterbelt, HG & coated wire. Even at 5’ high, I’m pretty sure the horse could jump the gate, but luckily most of their brains don’t work that way (“we go in and out”). The beauty of electric is they don’t want to get that close to it.
Along the highway I would use no-climb, except it is the lowest area of the farm and can flood. It also has extreme hills, making pulling such a fence difficult. I plan to do electrified coated wire and flex fence there. Currently it is just a pasture I don’t use. It is fenced with field fence and barbwire installed by the state, which is considered a “legal fence” for liability purposes here. You should always check your state laws, imo.
All my interior fencing is 3 rows of HG on wood posts.
We’ve found that we prefer to install T-posts on sections of portable pipe panels that are not curving runs, to add stability to the fence-line. I agree that a circular or oval paddock (such as a round pen) wouldn’t need them. I’ve also seen hardware designed to lock adjacent panels together in a straight line, or at right angles, but never used it.
[QUOTE=Jarpur;8625580]
We’ve found that we prefer to install T-posts on sections of portable pipe panels that are not curving runs, to add stability to the fence-line. I agree that a circular or oval paddock (such as a round pen) wouldn’t need them. I’ve also seen hardware designed to lock adjacent panels together in a straight line, or at right angles, but never used it.[/QUOTE]
I just use those clamps that clamp adjacent panels together. That’s all I’ve needed to keep anything in any shape. I’ve seen many pipe corral installations and never seen one using t-posts. These are heavy duty panels generally made locally, with a square top corner, not ones that are nationally shipped.
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