Escaping from flex fencing (Centaur, Ramm)

[Gryhnd]

We have 3 rail flex-fence from Centaur. Have had a horse and a pony in the pasture for about a year. The pony got out a month or so ago, and today the horse got out. Nothing is broken, gates shut, the only thing we can find is the middle rail a little crimped at a couple of brackets. We don't have electric.

The only thing we can think of is that they "accidently" got out when rubbing/scratching against it - kind of fell through the rails, so to speak, and found themselves on the other side (?). When the pony did it, DH was a bit surprised she'd fit through the rails, but now the horse has evidently done it also. Sure wish we had seen it happen!

We are thinking we have 2, maybe 3 options, none of which are either appealing to us or manageable right now with our current finances:
1) put a strand of electric (possibly solar) in the middle;
2) add a 4th rail - not sure that would work though I would think it would, but would mean buying more materials and moving the middle rail so huge PITA;
3) add a little bit of perimeter fencing, we cannot do much due to specifics with property, but we could add something to somewhat divert/contain a loose horse, but they could still wander off as there is no way to completely fence in our property (note we are about 3/4 mi off the main road with only 2 other neighbors back here, so it's relatively safe unless they wandered too far - not that I want them getting out by any means, though).

Just curious if anyone else has had escapes from this type of fencing and what they did. I guess adding electric is probably our best bet, we are just not crazy about it (nothing to do w/ the horses, we just find it inconvenient/unpleasant for us).

[Edgewood]

We have 3 rail flex-fence from Centaur. Have had a horse and a pony in the pasture for about a year. The pony got out a month or so ago, and today the horse got out. Nothing is broken, gates shut, the only thing we can find is the middle rail a little crimped at a couple of brackets. We don't have electric.

The only thing we can think of is that they "accidently" got out when rubbing/scratching against it - kind of fell through the rails, so to speak, and found themselves on the other side (?). When the pony did it, DH was a bit surprised she'd fit through the rails, but now the horse has evidently done it also. Sure wish we had seen it happen!

We are thinking we have 2, maybe 3 options, none of which are either appealing to us or manageable right now with our current finances:
1) put a strand of electric (possibly solar) in the middle;
2) add a 4th rail - not sure that would work though I would think it would, but would mean buying more materials and moving the middle rail so huge PITA;
3) add a little bit of perimeter fencing, we cannot do much due to specifics with property, but we could add something to somewhat divert/contain a loose horse, but they could still wander off as there is no way to completely fence in our property (note we are about 3/4 mi off the main road with only 2 other neighbors back here, so it's relatively safe unless they wandered too far - not that I want them getting out by any means, though).

Just curious if anyone else has had escapes from this type of fencing and what they did. I guess adding electric is probably our best bet, we are just not crazy about it (nothing to do w/ the horses, we just find it inconvenient/unpleasant for us).

I had 1 yearling filly do it twice with my 4 rail Centaur. She did it by scratching her butt on it. We put hotwire on the fence, 1 strand, between the top and 2nd rail. Worked like a charm...no horses ever out after that. It seems as if they cannot resist (without the hot wire) scratching on it. And some of them scratch so hard they lose their balance and slip "between" the rails.
:lol:

[camohn]

Full grown horse: only had one do it once when he fell on it/rolled through. I was happy as he would have been seriously imjured otherwise (I saw it happen when he took a turn at a full gallop and slipped/fell on it with his shoulder.)
Small pony: we had one that used to crawl through it daily. Had to use lower strand horwire
Horse filly: had one that also did it chronically/on purpose as a baby and had to be "cured" with a strand of hotwire. Now that she is a 15H yearling she can no longer fit even with the hotwire off. She was QUITE intentional about it. There is one spot in the fence where the posts are further apart than they should be so the fence has more give there. She would walk along the fence and lean on each section with her shoulder looking for the one with the give. You could just *SEE* the little lighbulb go off in her expression when she hit the one with the give. She would then put one foot over the bottom rail, then the other one, stand up to stretch the fence and crawl through. Her place to escape TO? The hay field...the grass IS greener over there....

[Gryhnd]

That is too funny about the filly purposely finding her way out. I am pretty sure this is completely accidental on their part. They must be scratching their butt, which I have seen them do, and somehow get their back legs through or just fall out. And considering it only happened twice (so far) in a year, and in the summer, I think it's more likely the extra rubbing/scratching they do in the summer with the bugs/itchiness. The rails are reasonably tight but I suppose could be cranked a little more, but I think by putting their butt on the middle rail, they just squish it down since that is the only clue we find, a rail crimped into the brackets, so a tighter rail probably wouldn't make a difference. Just surprised the horse fit through. No hay field on the other side, even though of course they think the grass is greener, they don't eat down their pasture, so they've got plenty of grass on the inside :)

[Daydream Believer]

I had the Spur vinyl rail at one time and my foals would pop through it easily. The adults had no respect for it either nor did the local deer who would also crawl though it. I ended up having to put up electric between both rails to protect the Spur fence from the horses. Did I mention how much I hated that fence?

[horsepoor]

I have 3-rail Centaur and did two lines of electric -- one at the top and one between the bottom and middle rail (I have a mini mule, so that was for her, plus it keeps the big dumblood from sticking his head out to eat grass on the other side). So my vote is for adding electric. If you really don't want to do that, one other option might be to do the coated wire (one strand, so a narrow version of the stuff you have) in between the bigger rails. It might fill in the gaps enough to keep them from slipping through, and it is easy enough to install yourself. That is actually what I intend to do someday with mine, but just haven't done it -- and haven't had any escapees yet.

[Tack N' Tow]

When we got the Centuar we put up 3 rails and my 36" Mini guy daily decided which paddock he wanted to be in. He just put his head thru and then stepped over, perfect heights for him! He didn't eve wiggly the fence doing his exit/entrance) He never went totally out, just between paddocks, but since he truly didn't need to eat the extra grass and hay on the other side, I had to restrict his wanderings. I put electric rope between the bottom rails, on or off it kept him in. I ended up putting another line below the top rail simply since the white rope against the black fence looked funny with just the bottom one.

I almost never turn on the electric anymore and we do have young deer that walk thru to graze with the ponies all the time, they just shimmy thru, seen them do it slowly and quickly!

But all that aside I love the Centaur fence, it was easy to install, easy to keep taught and the big tree that fell on it did no damage. Wish the cost had been a bit easier on the wallet, but wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

[DiablosHalo]

Electric wire! Like all pp's... I've had babies and adults go through it from rubbing on it. Electric wire works everytime! I have one strand of polycoated wire near the top and it works wonders. Goodluck!!