Let’s talk portable corral panels!

[quarterhorsemom]

Those who use portable corral panels for camping or containment, can you please share about the sizing and configuration you use?

I will be camping with two horses who get along well and who respect fences. Should I do one round enclosure or divide them? How much space will they need? Freestanding or attached to my trailer? I’d love to hear what’s worked for you!

[SharonA1]

I really liked corral panels – they were more familiar to me than hi-tying, so, I just went with them. I could get mine set up by myself in a couple of minutes. You will find disciples of both. I would suggest separate corrals that share one fenceline; then everyone can bond over the fenceline but you can get in and out of the corral without having to deal with two horses who potentially are more reactive in a new place. It is really tempting to use the wall of the trailer as one of the fencelines, but I found that it wasn’t worth the inconvenience of having to walk around the whole corral in order to get around the trailer.

[Jarpur]

I’ve always owned horses that got along great with each other, and I kept them together on trail rides.

I’ve used, at various times, both metal panels and electric fencing. Have used the metal panels free-standing, as well as attached to the trailer. The latter allows for a larger enclosure, but the trailer must be protected (and the horses protected from the trailer - watch out for fenders, for example).

One problem I had with the metal panels (tried two different types, both custom-welded) was that a very smart mare I owned figured out that she could push against the panels, stick her head through the rails if possible, fold them up around her body, and walk away where she pleased. It was amazing, amusing, and scary to observe.

This was a mare who, about every 12 to 18 months caused me to borrow a 120v charger from a friend (to substitute for the solar powered one I normally use at home) to light up our cross-fencing. She’d hit that once, get ticked, and then respect the electric fence for another year or so. Rinse, repeat.

When the terrain allowed, a portable electric fence, with step-in posts, a roll of tape, and a D battery-operated charger worked well, and gave my horses a relatively large area.

At some camp sites, my horses spent their free time on an existing permanent picket line, and appeared to do okay. But I only used my own set-up for one once or twice, for single night stays, so not a lot of experience with that.