Electric Fencing For Horses?

Question

We have a back field in our newly purchased thourobred farm that has good wooden fencing around it until you get to the densly wooded back areas, then its barbed wire fencing that is an absolute mess, its very low to the ground and extremly un-safe. I am concerned about a horse getting injured in it, espielly our young curious colts that I was planning to turn out in that field. The field is pretty large, about 13 acres. Me and my wife are considering putting electric fencing in front of the dangorous wire fencing, would this work? How would we get started? I am totally clueless as to how to start putting up electric fence. WHat measurements do I need? also, the wooden fencing hasa wire of elecrtis fence on the top rail, does this effect anything? Price range? And the area we need the electric fence is swampy in parts, is this okay? Thank you!!!

Answer 1

We have put up some electric fence.  You will need a good charger (preferably a 12 volt) it works a little better than a 6 volt.  Ours is solar powered.  (At the time we did not have electric to run to the fence.)  Your cost will depend on your charger.  Ours was about $249.00.  Electric wire or wire tape, your connectors and t-posts will be the remainder of your cost.   The cost of wire depends on the gauge and length and  tape depends on the gauge of wire and the width of tape.  The t-posts come in 6' and 8' lengths and cost from $2.50 to $4.25 a post.    The only measurement you will need is the number of feet you are fencing times 4 if you use 4 strands.  We put out posts 20 feet apart and ran 2 good strong gauge electric wires with 2 - 2" white electric tapes and alternated them.  The reason we used the white 2" tape was so they were visible.  Everyone and everything would know where the fence was.  They do not work quite as well as the wire does but they are effective.  If you plan on having a gate anywhere in this fenceline you will also need the gate handles.  Any place that sells fence chargers should be able to help you further.  Swampy parts should not matter.  Just a few ideas from someone who has 22 horses and has already done this.  Hope it helps.

Answer 2

I use electric fencing for mine. I do not like barbed wire. My Father has the whole wooden fence going on and yes it is nice to look at but it is 12 years old and he is finding himself digging pretty deep in his pockets to replace all of the rotten boards and having to chase his horses down after they have pushed on it and escaped. I use 4 wires on mine the highest one at 4 feet and yes all are hot. I like it better because we have a guy across the road with a stud that escapes and comes here to attack my mares and this is the only thing that stops him. The charger is for 20 miles and is a weed burner and we only have about 1/4 of a mile fenced in. When it hits it knocks you on the ground.....picked myself up a few times from it too.

Answer 3

Hi,

Yeh I have a 10acre field and have split it into four sections using electric fence.

So elecrtic fence is pretty expensive. I  i but my fencing in metres......this is a very rough guide but.........it cost me £35 to go across my 10 acre field .........thats just for the electric rope and onlyfor 1 strip. Then I needed ............eight plastic posts at £3.00 each and off course my battery and electric on/off pack.

I stress get your on/off pack especially for horses........not for livestock as the voltage would then be too high.

My horse.......didnt need a zapp because he heard the buzz it makes and knows all to well not to go near it! Other horses..........just need 1 zapp

Hope this helps!

Answer 4

Get a good charger. I use solar. There are no wires this way. Put it in the sun and let it charge. Will last for years. We use poly rope for our electric fence. It is easy to put up, can be made permanent or temporary, costs less, and lasts for years, and if something happens, it is easy to fix. Don't get the fence in the water.

I had a stud that decided to cross the fence when I turned it on the first time. His chest hit the rope and he backed up. He has not to this day tried it again, so the fence is left off most of the time. I have had deer to tear it down to the ground, and they will not cross it laying on the ground.Barb wire can and has killed many horses. They get their feet and legs in it and the rest is history.

We ususally put our posts 10 -20 feet apart. Sometimes we use T-post sometimes we use western fence posts. Both are metal. Use insulators on them so the wire or rope will not ground out against the post. This fence will not work if this happens.

Tractor supply and rural king both have websites and just look under electric fencing. Good luck in this venture.

Answer 5

my horses are in a large area with electric fencing, works great, just dont put the fence under water in teh swamp, and put the bright plastic markers on nthe fence when you first put it up so they will be able to see it, you cna get the equipment at your local feed store or also go to www.kvvet.com and order it.

Answer 6

We use this fencing:

http://www.horseguardfence.com

The site gives you very clear directions, and they will even calculate how much material you need and put together a package and quote for you.  We used it and I LOVE it.  It is so easy to install, very versatile, very visible, and we run it off a solar charger so it doesn't cost anything to run.  And so far I haven't had to do any maintenance on it, although maintenance is very easy too.  There are little things to splice it together if a piece breaks or needs to be cut.

Emily, electric fencing is not mean.  Give me a break.  Horses learn quickly.  They touch it a couple time (or sometimes only once) get a zap, and learn to stay away from it.  I've zapped myself with it and it doesn't hurt, it's just surprising.  So a big old horse feels it even less than I do.  Wire is a lot meaner.  The horse doesn't realize not to mess around with the fence until it gets poked by barbs or gets tangled up in it and slices himself open.

Answer 7

Please don't use electric fencing. It is cruel and can easily cause injuries. There are cases of horses, and other animals, dying from these things. Please, use a regular fence. Most horses wont even challenge fences.

Answer 8

Electric fensing i dont see how it is unsafe. Prefer than electric fencing use electric tape it is a lot easier for a horse to see and less injury is caused. Electric fencing is a good way of chasing horses away from the fence and if i was you knowing thorougbreds i would be putting up electric fencing on all paddocks. If you stable your thoroughbreds you can be sure of wind sucking and crib biting so yes put up electric fences to keepyour horses out of this habit. I've owned a horse that crib bites and wond sucks and it just chewed everything up and was bad for its health. But the answer to your question yes go ahead and put electric wire up. Our paddock is half electric half wooden post :)

All you need to put up a fence is some wooden post about 3-5metresaway from each other and thread electric tape through them.

The price range is a lot cheaper than normal fencing, sorry i cant give you an exact price.

Goodluck :)