[Melelio]

Guessing that when the covenant was written to say no wire they were not thinking a nice neat fence with no climb and boards. They were trying to prevent T-posts with sagging hot wire or barbed wire.

Yeah, pretty much this. It's just laughable that you think of Kentucky with miles of beautiful horse fence, and wire mesh on it.....Million dollar farms. The guy who wrote this just wasn't thinking ....just a broad wave of the pen. He apparently did this to ALL his subdivisions.

It was mentioned to add a 2nd fence behind it, but that irked me for the exact reason that it adds a buttload of cost, and even then, I could still put up a trashy looking wire fence....what would that help, having a decent one in front, and 6 feet back, a crap one?

Sheesh....yeah, I was just being peeved off with the weird suggestions, but that let the steam off

Gotta think about this...thanks for the great ideas! And not doggin me for my meany humor...

[Miss J]

Yes, I second and third the 'tape'. Either that or sit outside with a .22. We aren't allowed to discharge firearms within my county, unless livestock is being harmed.

I love the idea of the pallet fence! Lmao! Technically it is a wooden fence but it looks like crap! Nieghbor down the road has a pallet fence, and it does look trashy! And I live in an 'upper class' neighborhood, just no HOA. Thank god. The county is strict enough!

[Melelio]

We have an HOA member who had some sort of feud with the HOA, and he put out at his front gate a sink and a toilet!!!

I have to find out what that was all about....but it's not against the 'rules'... HEEHEE!!!

[LauraKY]

We have the same rule, any perimeter fencing has to be 4 board black plank fencing. It's unenforceable in my county, but to keep the peace, I have a hot tape running around the top and my interior fencing can be anything. Do you have a restriction on a 2nd fence inside the first?

[cowboymom]

You could always get some orange plastic snow fence...

[Simkie]

Electric poultry netting? Make it it nice and hot and you sure won't have problems with dogs. I wouldn't call it "wire"...

http://www.strombergschickens.com/pr...Poultry-Fences

[poltroon]

If there's the option of, ahem, persuading a group to vote for a waiver, the pallet option is extremely, ahem, 'attractive', given that it is easy to put in, easy to take out, and makes the point with exceptional clarity.

If you want a solution that should satisfy both you and the HOA police for the longer term, I'd suggest several strands of brown Horseguard fence with whatever vertical spacing seems to work - perhaps 6"? It's inexpensive, easy to work with, relatively attractive, and you'd have the option to electrify it or not depending upon how much effort the animals will put into going through the fence.

There is also black and grey plastic netting out there meant for this purpose, and there is wire mesh that is plastic coated, if that can be made to fly. The plastic netting comes in various stages ranging from very flimsy to horse-sufficient.

Random googling finds:
http://www.industrialnetting.com/poultry.html
http://horsefencedirect.com/tensar.html

[Ruth0552]

Rocks? Brick? Old Bathtubs?

[Badger]

This looks very promising. Non-wire so should be allowed. Black mesh that is very subtle.

http://www.bestfriendfence.com/prod-fence-standard.asp

[Melelio]

Ooh, Badger, nice one! That looks possible! I could even run it 3 feet or so up the fence. The HOA can't cry about it, for sure; NOT wire!

I wonder how long it takes to break down in hot hot sun, though.

Also looks like you could maybe make your own hay nets outta it, too! The remnants left from fencing....

I don't want to make enemies of the neighbors, but really, I'd love to do something like pallets JUST to show em it's not wire that makes things look trashy, it's simply trashiNESS that does it.

But I won't. I'm only petty in the privacy of my head...and here in my post

[carolprudm]

I just thought of lattice as it WOULD end up looking trashy, and that's what the 'no wire' rule was intended to keep from happening....just a point that not ALL was considered in that one blanket 'no wire' rule to their end they were looking for.

I guess I'm just a little peeved

Whatever I end up doing I have about 600 feet to do of it. Don't really want another mouth to feed (LGD or donkey).

Thanks for listening!

I have 4 board white vinyl lined with 2 x 4 inch mesh. If you like I can email you a picture. You can hardly see it is there

[PeteyPie]

Is a hedge a possibility? Some plants can be impenetrable and can do double duty to hide a discrete placement of wire until the plants are dense enough. Bougainvillea, super-thorny roses, or even cleverly espaliered fruit trees woven into a tight lattice can work. some evergreens are dense and spiky. Of course this would be placed outside the fence, not inside where the horses would eat it, and I am thinking of something that would be trimmed a bit shorter than the top rail of your attractive wood fence.

Here's a braided willow fence. Willow spreads easily, so something to think about:
http://www.gapphotos.com/images/WebP...53/0053568.jpg


And a fence made of cut (dead) willow:
http://www.rivendalewillows.co.uk/

Here is a nice espaliered apple fence, but not quite right for you because it leaves the bottom open:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_CvDCiEFbNy...lier+apple.jpg

Google images of espaliered fences:
http://www.google.com/search?q=espal...w=1067&bih=503

Instructions to build a security hedge:
http://survivalstuff.wordpress.com/2...-and-security/

Google images of security hedges:
http://www.google.com/search?q=secur...w=1067&bih=503

Yikes! Talk about thorns!
http://www.crispbarriers.com/livingfence.shtml

[Melelio]

Petey, any living thing (or chompy thing) I put on a fence my gold mare will eat (esp. since there's no grass here)...she actually ate a HUG hole in my new 10' white pine tree...a PINE TREE! How icky must that have tasted????? That's the day I stuck up an electric wire at neck/chest reaching level on that paddock....but that was in Maryland...

Not to mention anything at ground level here can harbor snakes, so that's a no go. Oh, and the watering issue....and lack of rainfall thereof here

[Crackerdog]

Petey, any living thing (or chompy thing) I put on a fence my gold mare will eat (esp. since there's no grass here)...she actually ate a HUG hole in my new 10' white pine tree...a PINE TREE! How icky must that have tasted????? That's the day I stuck up an electric wire at neck/chest reaching level on that paddock....but that was in Maryland...

Not to mention anything at ground level here can harbor snakes, so that's a no go. Oh, and the watering issue....and lack of rainfall thereof here

Actually my gelding really likes pine boughs so they can't taste too bad as picky as he is over food and treats. When they get blown out the trees he snaps them up, plays with them, and eats all the needles off. Every now and then I will throw one in his paddock from our woods if we haven't had a hard wind in a while. Horses are weird.