Pretty much what the title says. I was planning on putting the mesh to the ground (worried about small kids and animals), but someone mentioned it’s a hassle to keep clear of plant growth. It will be surrounding all weather paddocks, but the outside will certainly have grass so I didn’t know if I could save myself some grief by raising it a bit for maintenance. And if I do, whats the MINIMUM I could raise to avoid a trapped hoof, but still have it secure against dogs and kids (we have lots of visitors)?
I would put it a foot off the ground. High enough to trim under, not so high larger dogs may go under. You can put a hot wire there to help keep them out. Probably on both sides with stand-off wire insulators to get it away from the posts further. Wires should also help prevent horses getting feet so close to wire as to get under. Dirt will actually compact over time as horses walk the fence, so dirt under wire will be higher than dirt inside the paddock.
Putting fence at ground level allows plants, weeds or grass to tangle, grow on or into the wire, adding to weight of fence on posts. Looks messy, tempting to bored horses, gives rodents cover to safely travel about, hard to trim because trimmer string is hitting wire all the time. Spraying fenceline plants on the bottom eats the coating off wire, shortening life of lower fence.
Our fence goes down to the ground, has been in place for over two decades, and we don’t regret having done so. Not that big a deal to weed-eat it with a string trimmer-mower once in a while, and haven’t noticed any corrosion on the bottom from the rare times we spray a product. Very glad to be able to keep out dogs.
However, we don’t have a large spread, so we’re not trying to keep miles of fencing weed-free. And we don’t live in a climate of particularly lush vegetation that might be more of an issue along a fenceline, so our fence doesn’t really look that messy if left untrimmed for a while. We don’t have a noticeable rodent problem here, either.
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All the way to the ground. The non-climb and v-mesh fences are super strong and corrosion resistant. Mine has been up 17 years and still looks new. Not corroding at the ground at all.
Leaving a gap at the bottom of any size, because of the strength of the fence, would be inviting an accident to happen - as in a horse rolls near the fence and gets a leg or head or something stuck in that gap. That would be a disaster.
I’d rather go through a few extra strings of line for my weed whacker than worry about a horse stuck under the fence.
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I have never seen woven wire / mesh / non-climb horse fence that was NOT all the way to the ground.
Yes, stuff tries to grow in it. You can use a weed dragon (propane torch) or resort to Round Up occasionally when things get out of control.
For extra fun, if you’ve got erosion happening dirt will try to pile up against it, and then you have to dig it out or it’ll rust.
Interesting how things are done in other areas! I never see no-climb installed on the ground around here. Lots of horses, big-money farms that can afford any type fencing. But none put the fence wire on the ground.
Regular farmers do, to keep small livestock contained, pigs, sheep, goats, calves. Just not horse folks.
Always a difference in opinions with horse folks!! Ha ha
We have it both ways, some V-mesh is down to the ground and yes, when dug out decades later, is still like new, if you use good wire.
Others are about 6" to 10" above the ground, especially the panels we made with 2" x 4" mesh, that are framed on 1 7/8" tubing, for our pens.
Leaving a space underneath panels is standard here.
There is the rare time a horse may get a leg under there, but it is very rare, a few times in decades.
We had one yearling colt that would take a nap every noon and roll into his pipe panels and get stuck wlth legs thru them.
That was in a pen that was 40’ x 90’, why he had to lay right by the fence and roll into it remains a mystery.
Glad when he outgrew that!
if running 2by4 mesh it might be advisable to run a 9ga smooth wire on the bottom the hog-ring the mesh to the 9ga
V-mesh usually has a 9 ga bottom
The big money farms probably don’t have neighbors that let their dogs run loose/ feral. I would imagine any loose dogs showing up on their property “disappear”. I have my V-mesh down to the ground and it keeps the neighbors Cujo(s) off my property. Yes honeysuckle and privet grow up it but I would rather deal with that than the packs of un-vaccinated canines running around here. It isn’t perfect because the ground is not all level but it is pretty effective. Keeps my cats safer too.
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Mine is four inches off of the ground. Over 20 years old, in great shape. I can weed eat under it, and it isn’t tall enough for anything to get under it. I have some spots where erosion has occurred that I have dug out. Big pain in the ass.
To keep our dog in, we have the mesh wire down to the ground. The weed eater string catches it, so twice a year, we use “round-up” on the fence. Early Spring and late Summer clears it all year long.
Always down to the ground. I have had horses hit it when they roll. If it had been off the ground, they would have gotten caught.
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Another on the ground/roundup person here. We are trying to keep neighbor dogs and coyotes out.
those and the neighbors goats… we had to run a 9 ga smooth wire on the ground then hog-ring the fence to the smooth wire to keep the goats from crawling under the fence
