New fencing - 4 ft or 5 ft?

[Fancy That]

Need your opinions...what do you all have? 4 ft or 5 ft tall horse fencing?

We have all of our posts in, and were going to go with 5 ft....but I'm just a few inches over 5 ft, and it seemed really tall. Like I couldn't reach over it and would have to stand on my tippy toes to really see over the top rail.

4 ft seemed better for me. Our horses are currently in plain ole "short" 3 strand barbwire pasture, where they've been boarded for years and years. (they've been in several differnt pastures with just barb wire...it's common here)

Anyways - I'm not worried about our 3 gentle horses "getting out" because of fence height. I just want the most "comfortable" for our new ranch.

So I want to lean towards 4 feet. But just wanted opinions.

Oh - important detail - this is No-Climb (quality wire mesh) with a top and bottom rail.

[BasqueMom]

4.5 feet is the normal fence height or 54 inches. If you're non-climb is 4 foot and you add
a top rail, that will probably bring it to about 4.5 feet. Hubby put in a line of Centaur rail
several years ago and put it in at 5 foot and it seems a little high to me. Perhaps he was thinking of my one OTTB who jumped out of an arena once when left there by himself....
the rest of our fences are 4.5 or 54 inches. Hope this helps....

[poltroon]

People here told me to go with 5' and it's one of the smartest things we did. At 5', yes, I can't see over the top rail and it at first felt overtall - but the horses don't lean on it and don't mess with it. If it were any lower, the horses would want to hang their heads over it, push/lean on it, and then I can see that we might need to add electric. At 5', they can see over it but they don't lean, and I don't need electric.

I have no climb with a flex fence top rail.

[Fancy That]

People here told me to go with 5' and it's one of the smartest things we did. At 5', yes, I can't see over the top rail and it at first felt overtall - but the horses don't lean on it and don't mess with it. If it were any lower, the horses would want to hang their heads over it, push/lean on it, and then I can see that we might need to add electric. At 5', they can see over it but they don't lean, and I don't need electric.

I have no climb with a flex fence top rail.

Hmmmm.....I'm totally on the fence now (heheheeeee) Makes me wonder if we should stick with 5' (even though, me and my short sister think it seems really "tall")

We can get the no-climb in 4' tall or 5' tall. Our top rail will actually be the exact height (we attach the wire to the top rail on the inside...so the top of the wire fencing is at the top of the top rail. So literally, if we have 5' no-climb/woven wire...that will be the height of fence (same for 4')

Decisions, decisions!

[poltroon]

Fancy, this page, with several pictures of our fence, may help:

http://www.ponydom.com/farm/farm8.html

The two horses in those pictures are about 16h. The posts are on 8' centers.

This is another picture of the fence, 5 years later. The horses in this picture, from left to right, are 16.1, 11.1, 13.3, and 15.2.

http://www.ponydom.com/images/farm/bridey/4poniez_3163.jpg

I can dig up other pictures if you like.

--------

My neighbors next door have 4' PVC fence for their Morgans. Yes, it's very attractive, and it's nice to pet the horses over it... but to protect the fence they've had to run a strand of electric down the inside, and it's remarkably easy to zap yourself on.

[IFG]

I asked the same question about 2 years ago, and getting 5' fence was the best thing that I did. When my normally quiet horse decides to play wildly, run to the end of the paddock, rear and then buck 5' in the air, it is nice to see some fence next to him.

I have non-climb with horseguard electric tape running along the top on the inside. I was just saying to my husband during yesterday's wind storm, how much I love it.

[IFG]

Our top rail will actually be the exact height (we attach the wire to the top rail on the inside...so the top of the wire fencing is at the top of the top rail.

This sounds odd. The non-climb is on the inside of the posts except at the corners. Look at Poltroons lovely photos. The board is usually inside of that. That way if horses lean on the board, they push it into the posts. Did I understand incorrectly?

[greysandbays]

If there's a choice, I'd absolutely go with 5'. Even if you are not in snow country (where 4' fence magically becomes about 2' tall before spring comes), you want to think not only about the "gentle" horses you want to keep in -- but also about what else that might be roaming the neighborhood that you'd like to keep OUT. Like weird people...

[Mali]

I'd absolutely go for 5'. I have 4' now, totally by error. I didn't even realize that I needed to tell the fencing company how high my posts needed to be. I had them pound the posts in while I was at work, and when I returned home and saw how short they were - I just sat in the driveway and cried. No turning back now. I believe the recommended height is to be "wither height of the tallest animal fenced". I'm also only 5' high, and I would much rather know my animals are safely contained, then to worry about whether I can pet them over the fence or not. I just reach over the gate for a quite pat when need be.

[Mali]

This sounds odd. The non-climb is on the inside of the posts except at the corners. Look at Poltroons lovely photos. The board is usually inside of that. That way if horses lean on the board, they push it into the posts. Did I understand incorrectly?

I would think that if you ran the no-climb on the inside of the corners, you would risk it pulling away from the posts over time. That's an awful lot of tension to keep the fencing taut. My flexible rail fencing is run in the same matter- inside of arena fence all the way around, except it feeds thru the outside of the corners and then back in.

[CatOnLap]

I have 4 horses. 3 of them have jumped with ease over our 5 foot tall fencing at various times when they really really wanted to grass on the other side. Yet, they have never jumped over the 3 foot tall electric wire on step in posts...

Put in 5 foot fencing. And if your guys have any jumping talent, run an electric wire across the top.

[IFG]

I would think that if you ran the no-climb on the inside of the corners, you would risk it pulling away from the posts over time. That's an awful lot of tension to keep the fencing taut. My flexible rail fencing is run in the same matter- inside of arena fence all the way around, except it feeds thru the outside of the corners and then back in.

I probably did not write it clearly. I meant that the non-climb is on the inside everywhere but on the corners where it loops to the outside. That is what is in Poltroon's pics, and that is what the Red Brand installation manual specifies.

The OP mentioned having boards on the outside of the wire. I put the boards inside of the wire, so that the order from outside to inside (except on the corners) is post, wire, board, hot wire.

[GilbertsCreeksideAcres]

Five foot is smarter.

[deltawave]

If there's no reason NOT to do 5 feet, it's certainly not a bad idea. Mine are four feet, no problems. All electric rope, so nobody goes anywhere near it. To sink the posts to the depth needed to get below the frost line (45") I would've needed 9 foot poles to get 5 foot fences, and those would have had to be custom ordered and probably would've cost double what I paid for the 8 foot posts.

[yellowbritches]

Go with 5'. We lease our farm, so deal with what we have. All of our fencing is 4 foot-ish. We have mostly wood fencing, but a couple of fence lines are PVC. Our biggest guy (17h and a total ass), figured out he can lean on the PVC until it gives way, then munch happily on the neighbor's lawn. :o Can't put him in any field with that stuff. I'm sure if the fencing was taller, he'd definitely look but not lean.

[NoDQhere]

We have all the fences we've built as close to 5' as possible. As we put in the fences we got a few comments like, "You must have giraffes", but we felt taller fences just work better. We are in cow and QH country so most fences are lucky to be 3' tall! This winter has been an eye opener as the drifts have covered the short fences and many critters have went on walkabouts :no:. Not ours as we still have "some" fence above the drifts ;). Plus, our's is Horse Guard so our horses have a ton of respect for it. They have stayed put.

[Watermark Farm]

I have both 4' and 5'. We used 5' for the perimeter fences (it's non-climb with wood top rail) and 4' for the part of the pasture that wraps behind our house. I didn't want such a tall fence to border our backyard and wanted the 'friendly' feel of a 4' fence, so I could pet the horses over it.

I far prefer the 5' fence! By far! The horses respect it and it has lasted much longer. We are already replacing sections of the 4' fence after only 4 years as they lean on/over it.

Go with 5' everywhere you can. And install a strand of hot wire along the inside right away! I didn't and my itchy horses really damaged the fences in a few years. Now we are doing tons of repairs to fences that are only 2-5 years old. Also, when I have several big TBs get to running out there, I am really happy to have 5 footers!

[Fancy That]

I would think that if you ran the no-climb on the inside of the corners, you would risk it pulling away from the posts over time. That's an awful lot of tension to keep the fencing taut. My flexible rail fencing is run in the same matter- inside of arena fence all the way around, except it feeds thru the outside of the corners and then back in.

LOL - not sure why what I said was odd :) I never said I would run the no climb on the inside of the corners :)????

Just that it would be on the inside of the posts so it's strongest to contain the horses! I have professionals (horse pros too) that are installing....so it will be installed properly.

I really appreciate all the "get 5'" comments! That's what I'm going with now

[Fancy That]

I probably did not write it clearly. I meant that the non-climb is on the inside everywhere but on the corners where it loops to the outside. That is what is in Poltroon's pics, and that is what the Red Brand installation manual specifies.

The OP mentioned having boards on the outside of the wire. I put the boards inside of the wire, so that the order from outside to inside (except on the corners) is post, wire, board, hot wire.

That is EXACTLY how it will be installed. Didn't mean to make it sound like the top rail was going to be outside the wire.

Thanks all!

[MistyBlue]

Another benefit of 5' fencing is that horses are less likely to lean on it/over it for the proverbial greener grass on the other side. And fence leaners cause some serious damage over time. :winkgrin:

[Fancy That]

Just thought I'd post a couple pics of the fencing we installed.

Here is the sacrifice paddock with the 5 foot fencing (the foreground fence is actually part of our backyard fence - our whole backyard is done in this fence. Safe for dogs, kids and horses, of course!

Shows the height compared to 17.3 hd Belgian, 15 hd NSH, 15.2+ hd Morgan

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk150/elaineshickman/Horses%20First%20Days%20Twin%20Oaks/DSC01625.jpg

We also have beautiful white 3-rail vinyl horse fencing in front pasture (great looking!) It does have hot rope on the inside, top rail. It's 4.5 feet tall

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk150/elaineshickman/Horses%20First%20Days%20Twin%20Oaks/DSC01558.jpg

Here is the existing cattle fence that surrounds half of our rear pasture. We reinforced with hot rope as well. Our horses have always been in barbed wire pasture (very common in large pastures here in CA)

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk150/elaineshickman/Horses%20First%20Days%20Twin%20Oaks/DSC01622.jpg

Lastly, here is the other side of our rear pasture. Has no-climb from a neighbors' installation. 4 feet high, and it's on the "wrong side" for us, lacking a top rail too...so we put hot rope here as well.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk150/elaineshickman/Horses%20First%20Days%20Twin%20Oaks/DSC01616.jpg