PVC/ Vinyl Fencing??

[SHFarm]

Positive/ Negative experiences with the three board PVC/ Vinyl Fencing. I know it is expensive and the white gets mildewy. But what about durability and safety? Anyone done it in brown?? Thanks!

[Jaegermonster]

There is an equestrian subdivision down the street from my farm. They have MILES of that pvc fence and it was professionally installed. At least every other day when I drive by there is a board or two down, and forget it after a heavy storm or wind. There are boards down all over the place.

[ponygirl]

I have photos of what it looks like when fires get to close to it. Think of white ribbon candy. We has a rash of wild fires in my area last year that destroyed many homes. Made this fence look like ribbon candy. I'd not have it. You will also need to put up hot wire to keep the horses off of it.

[Fancy That]

We love the look of it and the "horse estate area" we are in has tons of it.

You need hot wire to keep horses off of it.

Never thought about what it would do in a fire!!???

We only have it for "looks" at the very front of our property. I love that classic "white three rail fence" look.

But the majority of our property is wood with no climb.

[trottingfilly]

Yes, I definitely second the use of hot wire. Also if a horse kicks it or you hit it with a mower or something, it cracks and edges are very sharp.
Horses do not seem to respect it that well, if they panic, they'll just run right through without even bothering to jump and boards will go flying.

[camohn]

Positive/ Negative experiences with the three board PVC/ Vinyl Fencing. I know it is expensive and the white gets mildewy. But what about durability and safety? Anyone done it in brown?? Thanks!
We did one tiny paddock in it (the HARD PVC board) and I hate it.
When horses crash into it one of 2 things happen. At best the little teeth that hold it in break off and the board pops out. And it will fall out forever more/it will not stay put if you just pop it back in. You have to replace the pricey board. At worst (happens primarily when it is cold and the PVC is brittle) a horse crashes into it and the board breaks with sharp and jagged ends that can do serious equine damage.
We did other areas in the flexible PVC/tension wire stuff (Ramm/Centaur) and love it. The horses bounce right off of it and it never breaks.

[trottingfilly]

Luv luv luv Ramm/Centaur fence also!! :yes:

[Personal Champ]

HATE IT.

I have 9 pastures done in it where I am the barn manager. We have anywhere from 35-45 horses, and I repair fence once daily. No Kidding. We also have a round pen and our outdoor done in it.

We have 3 strands of hot wire, it still gets kicked, shatters on the cold days and cracks on the warm ones. Horses don't respect it even with hot wire, I just had one relatively intelligent horse go galloping across the pasture, try to go through the gate, knock into the 4x4 post, crack that off at ground level and decimate all 3 rails.

Regarding wind - yes, it will blow down. There is a tool that puts a crimped tongue thingy in it so when you slip it into the post, it doesn't pull out as easily.

Go with something else. Seriously.

[TBlitz]

Despite all the negative feedback, I've had very good luck with it for the last 4 years. I love love love the look of it! For the last year, I've had electric fence insulators screwed in near the top of the fence and one strand of electric fence. I had a horse fall through the fence once and the boards he hit just popped out of the slot and I put them right back in. It does get power washed at least once a year to keep it looking pretty, but it's never looked nasty. My destructive horses aren't interested in destroying the white fence at all, it's the paddock with no climb fencing and T-posts with electric fence insulators on top that's fun to take apart. The T-post insulators are fun to take off for my young one :rolleyes:.

[kahjul]

They have it everywhere where I board. iI've been there for 3 years and have only seen 1 broken board. They do have hot wire on the top rail of every paddock/pasture and for 1 particularly obnoxious gelding they have hot wire on all 3 rails. As a very odd extra-my horse is allergic to it and we had to build her a pasture in the center of the property with no vinyl. So, I think it looks nice and it seems to have held up well here, but I would not build with it for myself.

[HurricaneHolly]

We have had flexible vinyl rail at the stable at my day camp for about 8 yrs. It holds up well, but does need to be tightened after the winter. Our horses like to lean against it and rub their butts!! The only safety problems ( one which was BAD) have been that a few horses like to actually step between the bottom and middle rails with one leg- sometimes a bit tough getting the leg back through and ...I had one nosey pony put her leg up on the top of the bottom rail and stretch out. When she went to pull her leg back, her shoe caught the top of the rail and the metal reinforced rail went between her hoof and shoe...and of course she started to panic! I had just enough reach to hold her halter with one hand and grab my walkie talkie with the others and call maintainence for bolt cutters. We had to cut the section of fence out as fast as possible. That meant that the entire section of fence had to be replaced as it is installed as a running section with no break. That incident was reported to the company and we are very careful about the pawing thing!! the really strange thing was that as this happened< I was talking to the camp accrediation lady about our program and are safety protocols-talk about a test!

[showponies]

In really cold weather it can shatter, my horse and his buddy were playing and someone kicked out..it shattered, and I had to call the vet to stitch the eye.I am old fashion, post and rail:yes:

[Cindyg]

Mine is 14 years old and looks as good as new. We love it. We've never had a board fall down, shatter, melt, or come loose. ?? I had no idea people had so much trouble with it. We've not made a single repair. It's possible that the climate affects your success. We live in Texas. Lots of neighbors have it, and I've never noticed anyone else with a problem.

I did put hot wire around the top of it years ago, when my horse was young, wild, and horny. But we took it down years ago and have had no problems.

[BasqueMom]

There's a wide range of quality with the PVC fencing--not all of it is truly designed for
agricultural use which is heavier duty and more expensive. And I do think weather conditions make a difference. And some manufactuers will void the warranty if you drill
into it to attach insulators to add an electric wire.

[camohn]

We have had flexible vinyl rail at the stable at my day camp for about 8 yrs. It holds up well, but does need to be tightened after the winter. Our horses like to lean against it and rub their butts!! The only safety problems ( one which was BAD) have been that a few horses like to actually step between the bottom and middle rails with one leg- sometimes a bit tough getting the leg back through and ...I had one nosey pony put her leg up on the top of the bottom rail and stretch out. When she went to pull her leg back, her shoe caught the top of the rail and the metal reinforced rail went between her hoof and shoe...and of course she started to panic! I had just enough reach to hold her halter with one hand and grab my walkie talkie with the others and call maintainence for bolt cutters. We had to cut the section of fence out as fast as possible. That meant that the entire section of fence had to be replaced as it is installed as a running section with no break. That incident was reported to the company and we are very careful about the pawing thing!! the really strange thing was that as this happened< I was talking to the camp accrediation lady about our program and are safety protocols-talk about a test!

The FLEXIBLE vinyl is the key there. We have that and love it. The hard NON flexible stuff is much hated.

[camohn]

And the other part of the post.....yes Cenatur and Ramm come in brown!