Wire fencing...so many kinds!

[talkofthetown]

I didn’t want to hijack the other fencing thread, but I’ve got questions. We will have to put up some fencing in the next month, and are looking for horse-safe yet cost-effective. We can do something nicer/more solid later on, but for now we just need to get something installed so we can move the ponies.

We’ve considered hot wire/tape. But I’d also like a better understanding of wire fencing before we make a decision. Apparently there’s a lot more to it than I thought.

Field fence, high tensile, no climb, livestock, deer, v mesh…these are all words I’ve seen when browsing online. Now, I understand that the size of the squares come into play (a lot of horse people don’t like the larger squares because they can catch a foot/leg). But someone please explain the differences to me, and why one may be more preferable than another??

[jdobbs64]

Hot tape gets brittle over time and then you get to replace it. it stretches, too.

Coated high tensile is safe® than uncoated, I use it. It’s best installed on the inside of fence posts, so when a horse runs into it, they bounce off of it. I’ve had that happen, horse was 100% fine. NEITHER is safe in close quarters, I use it in large pastures with no horses on the other side. If you DO elect to use it, also run hot wire to keep horses off of it.

Do not use field fence with the bigger holes, horses paw it.

If I could wave a wand, I would have 2X4 woven wire or V mesh with a hot wire topper. I would like to fence out the neighbor’s dogs.

[jdobbs64]

http://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.cfm?number=B1192

[crosscreeksh]

Anyone use “goat fencing”??? It is like field fence…woven so it bounces back…but the holes are 4x4 instead of the larger field fence holes. We are considering that for pasture fence lines…double fenced with top electric. Much cheaper than horse/no climb. Anyone have experience??

[talkofthetown]

jdobbs64, that was super helpful! Thanks for the link.

I’ve wondered about “goat fencing” before as well, but the only types I’ve ever seen are too short.

[2LaZ2race]

I don’t mind another thread on fencing! I’m struggling too!

I won’t ever use high tensile. The farm I’m boarding at uses it (electrified) and this happened to one of my horses:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/95712543@N07/shares/V3UK66

I know injuries can happen in any type of fencing, but I’ve always known high tensile wasn’t “horse safe”, I just didn’t have many options besides leaving. If you google “high tensile horse injury” it’s extensive.

I assumed (wrongly) that the coated high tensile wouldn’t be much better, but I’m learning it actually is.

[crosscreeksh]

[QUOTE=talkofthetown;8779826]
jdobbs64, that was super helpful! Thanks for the link.

I’ve wondered about “goat fencing” before as well, but the only types I’ve ever seen are too short.[/QUOTE]

FWIW -
Our local farm store sells it at 48" height!

[talkofthetown]

[QUOTE=crosscreeksh;8779976]
FWIW -
Our local farm store sells it at 48" height![/QUOTE]

Ooohhh! Wonder how much shipping would be from OK to FL…:lol:

[SouthernYankee]

Goat fence with the 4x4 holes is more unsafe than regular field fence. They can easily get a foot through it, but they cannot easily get it back out. Field fence has the same safety concerns but the holes are bigger and it’s easier to get a foot/leg out.

Horse no-climb has 2x4 holes, that is safe but it’s expensive and a PAIN to install.

Do not go with high tensile or barb wire, they are cheap and cost effective but are not safe.

Electric tape is a nice temporary fence (although many use it permanently) if a horse (or deer or coyote) runs into it they will break it and can then be loose. My parents had it and regularly had to repair it from where a deer ran through it.

I’m a Centaur brand fan through and through. They have taken the time to research and make safe products.

This is my coated wire. All 5 strands are electric. I have yet to have a horse injury. And it keeps the horses and longhorns inside the fence and on the property. It was also easy to install and requires almost no maintenance.

This is my 5" flex rail. I like the way it looks. And nothing is getting through it. But it was expensive and a pain to install. Because we have cows we ran 3 strands of the coated electric on the inside to keep them off it. The horses were fine with 1 strand of coated electric.

Here is where a tree fell on it.

Just a few cuts to get it off the fence and poof back to normal without any help from us.

Disclaimer: I do not sell Centaur fence. I just love it that much. We’ve had it up 3 years now and haven’t had to touch it (other than to move trees off it) since the install was completed.

[Bluey]

Our vets over decades keep telling us v-mesh is the gold standard, in the right place, of course.

V-mesh has had the least injuries, others more, high tensile they discourage, say horses seem to run thru it when they do without acknowledging it at all, don’t seem to even feel it, like they would barbed wire fences, where it bites and they slow down for it.

One of the worst injuries I ever saw was from a board fence, after a snow, the horse was running, tried to jump it, hit it with it’s front, which opened and degloved deeply from the knee to half way up his neck and he fell in a snowdrift on the other side, or it may have killed him.
Any fence can injure a horse if they hit it, fences are a compromise to keep horses confined and still safe.

[ThirdCharm]

Around here 4x4 is called Hogwire. We won’t shoe barns that use it. Guess why.

Jennifer

[foggybok]

We just used finish line on our back fence. It was easy to install. We went with 5 lines of it. So far it is working great. I’d like no-climb or v-mesh, but on our back line this is much more cost effective. We have a line of hot wire around the whole place too (mostly to protect the board fencing on the front.

My friend had finish line and a tree fell on it. They cut the tree and the fence popped right back up…

[talkofthetown]

Finish Line…looking at the website, it seems like it’s high tensile, but it’s actually polymer? Does that make it safer than high tensile?

We’ll most likely go with mesh or hot tape at this point, because it WILL be temporary…we’re basically fencing off an area of the yard until we can bush hog and get real fencing around the actual pasture area.

Are there any do’s, don’ts, must-know’s about buying or installing hot tape?

[GoForAGallop]

[QUOTE=talkofthetown;8781047]
Finish Line…looking at the website, it seems like it’s high tensile, but it’s actually polymer? Does that make it safer than high tensile?

We’ll most likely go with mesh or hot tape at this point, because it WILL be temporary…we’re basically fencing off an area of the yard until we can bush hog and get real fencing around the actual pasture area.

Are there any do’s, don’ts, must-know’s about buying or installing hot tape?[/QUOTE]

I wouldn’t necessarily consider mesh a temporary fence. It’s a bit of a pain to get up and requires strong posts and bracing. Taking it down is also a pain (can confirm!), and then putting up a re-rolled roll of mesh is even worse than putting up new mesh. :lol:

As for hot tape: I can get a 6 acre pasture fenced by myself in a day. That includes doing wood posts every fifth post, pounding t-posts in between. It’s easily one of the most satisfying jobs around the farm, 'cause the progress is so quick and you feel like a real professional.

Horseguard is the tried and true hot tape, and their customer service is fantastic. That being said, you can buy plenty of other tapes at your local farmer’s supply/Tractor Supply, if you don’t want to deal with shipping/want to insure that you have additional supplies within driving distance if you mis-judge.

[jdobbs64]

[QUOTE=talkofthetown;8781047]
Finish Line…looking at the website, it seems like it’s high tensile, but it’s actually polymer? Does that make it safer than high tensile?

We’ll most likely go with mesh or hot tape at this point, because it WILL be temporary…we’re basically fencing off an area of the yard until we can bush hog and get real fencing around the actual pasture area.

Are there any do’s, don’ts, must-know’s about buying or installing hot tape?[/QUOTE]
it ‘should’ be, but it’s still super thin like HT. I would get coated HT. I would mail you a snippet of mine so you can see how it really would not wrap around a horse or slice like uncoated will.

[talkofthetown]

[QUOTE=GoForAGallop;8781122]
I wouldn’t necessarily consider mesh a temporary fence. It’s a bit of a pain to get up and requires strong posts and bracing. Taking it down is also a pain (can confirm!), and then putting up a re-rolled roll of mesh is even worse than putting up new mesh. :lol:

As for hot tape: I can get a 6 acre pasture fenced by myself in a day. That includes doing wood posts every fifth post, pounding t-posts in between. It’s easily one of the most satisfying jobs around the farm, 'cause the progress is so quick and you feel like a real professional.

Horseguard is the tried and true hot tape, and their customer service is fantastic. That being said, you can buy plenty of other tapes at your local farmer’s supply/Tractor Supply, if you don’t want to deal with shipping/want to insure that you have additional supplies within driving distance if you mis-judge.[/QUOTE]

I’m sort of changing my mind mid-thread, sorry. :lol: IF we did mesh, the thought was that we could take it down and re-locate/add to it for the real pasture. However, that’s starting to sound like a pain.

So…for electric fencing:

1. Do I have to purchase a power source, or can it be plugged in to something hardwired? The location of this temporary paddock is extremely close to an RV hookup…can that work? (I know next to nothing about this, sorry).

2. Keeping in mind that the perimeter of the property is either fenced or VERY dense treeline…would braided wire be sufficient, or do we really need to use the wider tape? Looking at braided wire from TSC versus a tape set up from Horsegaurd, the first option seems WAY cheaper. But is that still safe? Going to be housing 2 horses, neither of which have ever tested a fence that I’ve noticed. They’re content to hang out wherever we’ve put them.

3. The closest I’ve come to installing hot wire was helping my dad as a teenager. Is this fairly newbie proof for DH and I to install? Or are we going to kill ourselves (or each other! lol)?

Thanks for tolerating my millions of questions. :yes:

ETA: I’m not trying to be cheap about this, obviously I want something that will be safe and appropriate for horses. But at this point we’d be better off using something that is cheaper upfront, rather than “a good investment for future use” because this whole house purchase/horse-proofing/moving costs process is draining quite a bit of our savings. I’m fine with doing minimalist setup for now until we can get our savings back up, and THEN worry about higher quality/better durability.

[SouthernYankee]

[QUOTE=talkofthetown;8781316]
I’m sort of changing my mind mid-thread, sorry. :lol: IF we did mesh, the thought was that we could take it down and re-locate/add to it for the real pasture. However, that’s starting to sound like a pain.[/QUOTE]

It is a pain, and you’ll probably damage the fence taking it down and moving it. We took down some 2x4 last year and put it back up and it was a pain in the a** and we were left with several unusable pieces.

1. you will have to buy a fence charger. You can’t just stick the wire in an outlet :eek:

2. It depends on how visible you want your fence to be. Braided wire is going to be less rigid and is more likely to wrap around a leg if a horse gets into it. The tape is more likely to break and only wrap around a horses leg if they are standing in the downed wire. Think which would give off the worse rope burn. Since it seems like you are keeping in fence savvy older horses whatever you decide will probably work. Just make sure to keep it electric, this fence is not very secure and if it is not electric (and on) they can easily break out.

3. there are plenty of instructions online that can help you install it. just make sure you have a good ground and the electric wire isn’t touching anything that will ground it out. (fence post, gates, buildings, trees, etc.)

[talkofthetown]

Got it, thanks!

[WildandWickedWarmblo]

I like no climb but it is more expensive than hog wire and other kinds. The good thing about no climb is you only need one top rail, not 3 rails of wood.

[Tiffani_B]

I have coated high tensile. Very easy to install and maintain, and there is electric on the inside to keep horses off of it.