Building a new barn that will have small runs off the stalls. They are mostly for layup and inclement weather, most of the time the horses live on big pasture. Trying to figure out the safest fencing for my runs. The rest of my farm is 3 board wood fencing. Considering doing that for my runs but curious if there are safer options for small spaces.
We have pipe panels for the runs in the quarantine barn and horse wire mesh panels we made ourselves out of 2" heavy tubing and horse 2" x 4" wire mesh.
We like and have had good luck with both kinds.
More important for runs we think is that horses have room to stay away from their neighbors.
The standard 12’ wide run is barely enough, ours are 14’ wide in the quarantine barn and 16’ wide in the big barn.
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The equine clinic I worked for had pipe panels with plenty of space too. I think that is a great method.
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I am pretty sure Bluey’s wire mesh is woven wire rather than wielded
Her setup is the same as most of ours, we do have one paddock that is three rail wooded with the woven wire (some is 2by4 and some is V Mesh) behind the wooden rails (sandwiched between rails and posts)
The biggest issue is separation of the horses, we have five paddocks that are interconnected that we can if needed have an empty paddock between warring horses
We have both, V-mesh, that is the gold standard for horse safe fencing and, because we could not find any during covid we used then the welded horse 2" x 4" welded wire mesh for the run panels we made for the big barn and for the turn-out paddocks.
For the horse stalls we used the heavier 2" x 2" welded wire panels.
We would have used regular horse pipe panels for the runs in the big barn but considering some horses were showing and some stallions, we wanted to avoid them chewing on each other in play thru or above the panels, why we wanted a more solid barrier between them.
The welded wire panels we made work fine, but don’t know if they will last like the now 50+ year old V-mesh pens, that still look like new.
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there is V Mesh fencing around here that was installed in the 1950s that is still in very good condition, to me the V Mesh is the Gold Standard
we have had to run a wire rope cable behind the woven wire and the fence posts at butt scratching height, the cable has adjustors that can be retightened as the horses attempt to push the fence down
I think either pipe or wood will work fine.
I will say that the standard pipe panels bought at say tractor supply might not live up to this type of living if you own a horse that sits/leans on them. They get quite bent.
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In small spaces I feel better having mesh. I have 4-board elsewhere but for my dry lot and run behind the barn I have top-board with 2”x4” woven mesh.
(Lower board added because the mini-donk was bending the wire outward by using it for full-body scratches!)
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Is there a brand name of the V mesh? How is it attached? I.e. if there is one shared fence line with runs on either side, how do you attach it so it isn’t sharp on the side it’s attached on?
V- mesh is not sharp on either side.
Our five old pens were on the short side of the barn and is where we kept our mature stallions, next to each other and they got along very well across that safe fence.
We had pipe posts and a pipe over the top, no middle or bottom pipe.
The wire was wire wrapped around each post and the top pipe with wire out of a roll and on the bottom end of the pens it was wrapped around a pipe with holes and bolts on that corner posts, that we would tighten to keep the mesh well strung.
It rarely needed tightening over many years.
Some just wrap the wire around both corner posts, it really rarely needs to be stretched if it is set right the first time.
I think Ramm fence has that wire now, Tractor supply can also order it for you, or most hardware stores can, Red Brand carries some also.
It comes in several heights.
might add this is what V Mesh is supposed to look like, what some sellers claim to be V Mesh is not
the weave pattern is continuous which results in no cut wire ends to harm animals
I have no idea who made what we have as we installed it over 30 years ago
Ramm carries it but sit down when you look at their pricing. I’m doing my runs next year and was pricing it out.
Be careful with what gauge you get, some are really thin and a horse can push right through it.
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Thanks all. What’s the right gauge and size?
I’m a huge fan of electric rope or tape for applications like this. It’s inexpensive, easy to maintain, and the horses respect it. It’s also very hard for a horse to get injured with electric fencing.
Electric fencing sounds very effective but, since horses tend to stay a few feet away from it, doesn’t that reduce the effective size of the runs quite a bit?
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It really depends on the horse. Some are afraid to get too close. Others not so much. My young colt pushed through it the other day right after I turned the charger off. He knew I was letting him out next and was impatient. He pushed right through it. I cringed thinking he’s going to get tangled and take down the entire fence. Somehow he just pushed the post aside and squeezed through. Not sure if he was just lucky or is a genius because he made it through and didn’t take the fence down.
I had wondered how he was getting out without taking down the fence. I honestly thought he was jumping out. I need to get a better charger and some extra grounds. He isn’t respectful enough of the fencing. I do think he is going to keep testing it until he learns better… Sort of the age he is in. Fortunately he is not as bad as my neighbors cows. Their attempts at electric fencing have not turned out well. The cows take it down on a near daily basis.
Electric works great, but you have to have a horse that respects it and the charger needs enough power to make sure they respect it.
if the ground is dry the electric fence is less effective
We always waited until it had rained before introducing a new horse to areas that are controlled by electric fencing
As for “smart horses” our real horses would use the pony as the fence tester by crowding him into the fence, if he did not react touching the fence then they knew it was safe to challenge
As for clear jumping my daughter’s back then new horse we kept finding in the paddock with one of our mares, she thought I was putting him in there and I thought she was…he was clear jumping the paddock three rail fence into the paddock. Turned out he could easily clear a five foot fence
I am replacing my current run fencing with 4 board Buckley fencing. It is a metal fence that looks like wood and is set in rubber grommets for some give. I have a very precocious young horse who can unscrew screws and take fence apart, so his run, which will be double sized, will have hot wire. Actually we are going to run hot wire along the top of all of them but have a splitter with two switches so I can turn off the electric to the other two runs and leave the electric on the double sized run. Buckley has its own electric fence mounts. I can’t wait to get this done. https://www.buckleyfence.com/horse-fencing/
The fence that gets the most pressure at our place is Diamond V-mesh on cedar posts with a top board. Has needed no repairs in almost 25 years (top board occasionally re-stained) – has never required tightening, for instance. As mentioned above, at the gates and ends of runs, the fencing material is wrapped around the posts.
Needs to be well-installed, of course, especially since this fencing is very attractive for body scratching purposes during shedding season. When it was installed, I thought about adding a line of electric to keep the horses off the fence (as we did with our perimeter pasture fencing of a different type), but never got around to it, and has proven unnecessary for our horses.
Have never had a horse even slightly injured, not even a scratch, on this fencing. Hate to think what it would cost today, but it’s been worth it – we only had to do this once. I recommend Diamond V-mesh, if it is a possibility financially.
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I like electric fencing but I do not think the smaller space of a stall run-out is the place for it.
I also think it is the place for the best fencing you can afford. It is a place that gets the most up close horse attention.
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