barbed wire- over my dead body- alternatives?

[Seven-up]

I'll try to keep this as brief as possible. We need to re-fence a small section of a pasture (maybe 40 feet?) since the old fence was leaned on until it was flat and the horses just walked over it.

My dad told me his plans to put hogwire up and then a strand of barbed wire along the top, because he thinks it will keep the horses from leaning on it. I told him if he puts it up, I'll cut it down. :lol: We practically came to blows over this. No one needs to convince me barbed wire doesn't belong anywhere near horses. I don't want the hogwire either; I've seen plenty of cuts and shoes caught in it over the years.

Most of our fencing is white pvc fencing, and one pasture has electricity run for hotwire. More pvc fencing isn't in the budget right now, so I'm thinking about board fencing w/hotwire. The pasture we need to re-fence doesn't have electricity run to it, so a normal hotwire setup won't work. I know there are solar chargers and battery setups, but I don't know anything about them. Does a solar charger have to have clear access to sunlight? The area in question is fairly shady for a good portion of the day. How much area do the chargers cover? Do you have a limited amount of feet of wire that it can electrify? What's the general cost associated with these?

Any other options for keeping the horses off the fence besides zapping them? (I think hotwire is the best option, but maybe there's something I'm not thinking of.)

Help me avoid a knockdown, dragout fight with my father! :winkgrin:

[poltroon]

Well, what's your budget? Do you have to replace posts?

For just 40', simple is to get some pipe corral panels.

The cheapest, safe option would be Horseguard electric tape. Yes you can get solar chargers, and yes, you need sun. However, the charger will run about $200, which makes it not very cost effective for such a short run.

If you've got posts and they're braced, you could also look at the plastic flex-fence. I think Ramm has a minimum order of 330' though.

Board fence has the advantage that the parts are easy to source for a short run.

A simple thing you can do to keep the horses off the fence is to make it tall. If it's not comfortable for them to hang their heads over, they won't lean on it.

[YankeeLawyer]

I was going to suggest horseguard until I saw the part re lack of electricity / lack of sunlight.

I would maybe point out that a single, inevitable vet bill necessitated by a run-in with barbed wire will eliminate any savings the hogwire/ barbed wire setup would represent, and could cost a lot more. The former owners had hogwire on my property and we had to remove all of it and replace it with board fencing before the horses came home.

The price of wood is down in general now; maybe get an estimate for board fencing?

[Seven-up]

Well, what's your budget? Do you have to replace posts?

For just 40', simple is to get some pipe corral panels.

The cheapest, safe option would be Horseguard electric tape. Yes you can get solar chargers, and yes, you need sun. However, the charger will run about $200, which makes it not very cost effective for such a short run.

If you've got posts and they're braced, you could also look at the plastic flex-fence. I think Ramm has a minimum order of 330' though.

Board fence has the advantage that the parts are easy to source for a short run.

A simple thing you can do to keep the horses off the fence is to make it tall. If it's not comfortable for them to hang their heads over, they won't lean on it.


Actually, I forgot to mention this before. When we replaced the fence w/pvc, we kept the wooden posts and boards. They still have the insulators on them. So we don't need to spend anything on the fencing, just need to figure a way to get some juice flowing. Mainly I just need to find out if a solar charger would work, because I can place it in an area that gets a lot more sun, but it would be 200' down the fenceline from where we need the wire to be. And there's a gate inbetween that.

So how many feet of wire can draw off of a solar charger? If I placed the charger in the sun, and ran the line all the way down to where it needs to be, it would probably be 200' or so.

Are the battery ones cheaper? Do they work better, worse?

Love the idea of a tall fence. That's just the brilliant answer I was looking for. Too bad the posts we have were cut down to make the fence about 4'6" or something like that. :( Bummer.

[Seven-up]

I would maybe point out that a single, inevitable vet bill necessitated by a run-in with barbed wire will eliminate any savings the hogwire/ barbed wire setup would represent, and could cost a lot more.


EXACTLY. That has already been brought up. He thinks they won't touch it because it's sharp. It's like the man hasn't spent his whole life around horses. If anything, they'll be drawn to it like a magnet just to figure out how they can kill or maim themselves!

If you knew the man, you'd understand how maddening it is to have a conversation with him. His logic works in a way that says if they haven't hurt themselves on it yet, they're not going to. :lol: Yeah, right. Trouble is, many years ago my horse fell, slid into a barbed wire fence and sliced up the insides of her hind legs. The main injury was on a front leg where a broken piece of terra cotta pot had been buried in the dirt. Until she fell on it, and sliced a huge chunk out of her forearm. But since that was the main one, the barbed wire cuts got lost in his memory. Of course.


Anyway, so board fencing is doable, I just need to figure out how to make it zappy.

[foggybok]

Actually, I forgot to mention this before. When we replaced the fence w/pvc, we kept the wooden posts and boards. They still have the insulators on them. So we don't need to spend anything on the fencing, just need to figure a way to get some juice flowing. Mainly I just need to find out if a solar charger would work, because I can place it in an area that gets a lot more sun, but it would be 200' down the fenceline from where we need the wire to be. And there's a gate inbetween that.

So how many feet of wire can draw off of a solar charger? If I placed the charger in the sun, and ran the line all the way down to where it needs to be, it would probably be 200' or so.

Are the battery ones cheaper? Do they work better, worse?

Love the idea of a tall fence. That's just the brilliant answer I was looking for. Too bad the posts we have were cut down to make the fence about 4'6" or something like that. :( Bummer.

Yes, battery ones are better and cheaper (but you have to buy a battery).

They seem to give a better jolt and last longer. You will need to keep the battery charged though

[Rescue Pony]

If your horses know about electric tape I would say that.....it works well....

Also even smooth wire would work....and buy some cheap flag tape and tie every couple feet. That will keep your horses away from the fence while it is weaker than the other fence and also allow them to see the wire better.....if they see it it reduces the chance they will go through it.:D

[NoDQhere]

Horses NEVER learn to respect wire. It just doesn't "compute" that wire "hurts".

Having said that, we have miles of Horse Guard electric tape and haven't had a fence injury since we started using it. We have the fencers that use a car or marine battery. They pack a punch and are economical to buy and use. You do need a battery charger. Or you can go solar but the cheap solar ones don't work so you have to get a good one. Gallagher (sp?) makes a good one, but I think they are about $250. Of course that isn't even the cost of one Vet bill from barbwire.

www.horseguardfence.com

[Altamont Sport Horses]

Just read up on the chargers. They will say how many miles of fence they can accomodate. For example, the 12v Parmak solar charger I have is for 25 miles of fence and can handle a moderate amount of wet weeds touching it. It packs a powerful punch and the stallions respect it.

[goodhors]

A very fast solution would be using the combination wire panels from a farm store. I think they are 48 inches high or higher, 16ft long. If you already have posts, you could fasten panels to them. Hang panels higher if you want, to prevent leaning over. The bottom wires are closely spaced, to prevent a hoof going thru while panel is in the air. You can overlap the panels to prevent cutting, leave them their full length for use other places later on. Panels are good supported on the ground or hung higher on the posts for mowing under later.

Then when you get money, time, you could replace the panels to have matching fence with the rest of the place. Use them elsewhere.

I would still go ahead with the electric wire plan, would keep horses from rubbing or pushing on the panels and posts. Horses need to give ANY fence space, not ignore it to lean.

Panels would be cheaper than buying corral panels, just about as useful to have around. Easy to resell later on. A bit lighter to carry!

[poltroon]

So how many feet of wire can draw off of a solar charger? If I placed the charger in the sun, and ran the line all the way down to where it needs to be, it would probably be 200' or so.

That's not a problem except that you have to have a place to run that 200' of wire. If you have existing fence to run it along, then easy. If it's 200' of bare span, then you'd have to either bury it or run fence there.

[Rescue Pony]

I am going to caution about using corral panels. We had a mare who kicked out at another horse and got her foot stuck between two panels......luckly she was a calm paint and just laied there till we could dig the panels out of the snow and ice and get the vet out to the place we were boarding her. Lets just say we drove 80mph in a 55mph with the sheriff leading the way (gotta love small towns).

But she was on stall rest for 3 weeks afterwards and she was lucky not to break anything. Swelling took forever to go down!

[Ibex]

I agree - no coral panels! My old BOs were in love with them, and they scare the crap out of me. They're only slightly better than wire IMHO...

[poltroon]

I agree - no coral panels! My old BOs were in love with them, and they scare the crap out of me. They're only slightly better than wire IMHO...

It depends on the panels. The kind that I get have no place for a foot to get stuck, and meet at square corners at the top.

I didn't even know the other kind existed until I heard people talking about them online.

[fooler]

Get at least 1 inch electric tape & a charger - less expensive in the long run and less for the horses to destroy themselves on. Stay away from smooth wire for electric fencing. It works like a saw when the little darlings decided to get wrapped up in it.

I use a solar charger, in shadow, to charge 2+ acrea pasture. My gelding loves to chew and itch on the wood fence. He respects the punch of the solar charger so much I can enlarge fenced paddocks with step-in-posts and a single strand of tape.

Good Luck

[horsey nurse]

I would never use wire anywhere on a farm, I have heard too many horror stories. If you can put up board fence and sink the posts properly you shouldn't have any problems if the horses lean in it. You shouldn't need hot wire. But if you do the battery operated ones would be the way to go, the solar ones dont work well at all IMHO.

[Seven-up]

Thanks, all.

I'm not going with panels. Don't like them anyway, but we already have 4x4 posts (with insulators still attached) and boards from the old fence we took down. We're not buying new stuff when we still have usable stuff just sitting there.


I think I'll look into the battery chargers.


The area in question is shaped sort of like a big rectangle, with one short end larger, and the other shorter. The shorter end has a gate, (gate is on the long side, but right in the corner) and that's the end we need to re-fence. One long side is the pvc fence, and that has the gate in it, and the opposite long side is still wire fencing, but is buried about 15 feet in a thick treeline. You can't even get to the fence, so I'm not so worried about the safety issue with that. The pvc fence is equipped to slide hotwire thru it, so it wouldn't be hard to wire that. That's in the eventual plans anyway. It might even have the wire run thru it already, but I don't think it does. 25 mi. worth of coverage from a battery charger sounds impressive. My piddly little area would definitely be covered. And if I used a battery charger, I wouldn't have to worry about wiring around the gate. I could put the charger right in the corner where I need it.

I'm off to investigate battery chargers. Anybody have one they really like? Hate?

[RU2U]

If you do go with any wire fencing go with alum. wire. Our wire fence broke (bad pony) and baby colt got caught in the flinging fence line. The wire wrapped around his neck 7xs. He would have been decapitated with anything else. Instead the wire broke and I gently removed his new necklace.

Never use high tensile as a friends wire broke and cut the tendon in her mare and mare was put down. Nice young 3 year old TB, great dressage prospect gone.