It is very simple to install and also to maintain and brilliant for moving around when you need to make a paddock bigger or smaller. It will not cost the amount that a wooden fencing would normally cost. It is ideal for horses that crib. It stops cribbing and stops the horse from rubbing their manes and tails out.
Horse are far from silly animals, they are very intelligent indeed and once they get a shock from the fencing, they understand to stay away from it. When you start to measure for the fencing, you should also take into consideration the size of your horse. If your horse is 16/17 hands then you will need the tall post. My horses are 14 hands and under. So I have used a mixure of medium and large post.
If you have ponies or foals, remember to use two strands of tape/rope. I always had two strands for, Ollie and Milly. When I first installed the fencing for, Ollie, I made my first mistake by leaving to large a gap inbetween the strands! Ollie would always test the fencing and even when he got a shock he would still go back to test it! Here is, Ollie when I first put the fencing up and as you can see. Ollie could stand under the top strand. I had to lower the top one. I tried with the lower strand first and brought it higher but he would dip his head down and go under. It is best to have it at nose level for the small pony or foal. That is the most sensitive part. |
When you think of it, the post are only plastic and two strands of tape/rope and that can keep in a horse of around 400/500 KG in weight! It is very impressive.
Take your measurements when you go to buy the energiser to make sure you get the right voltage. You can get all different voltages. Is your horse wearing a rug? If so then you might need a higer voltage. Some horses have longer or thicker hair and it makes a difference
if your horse is wearing shoes. If you get a low voltage and need a high one,
then you will be wasting your money. If in doubt get the phone number from the
back of the package and call the manufacture.
Electric Fence Tester This is what I use to test the fencing each time I leave the field. You hook it onto the wire and at the bottom of the box there is a black wire hanging down with a little metal part for you to push into the soil. In the white part of the box is numbers from 600v up to 7000v. The lights in the little windows will light up to show you how much voltage is going through the fencing. If it is not flashing then there could be something touching the wire. Check all around the fencing and make sure it is clear from, grass, branches, trees, nettles or anything else. It will stop your energiser from working. Be very careful with these. The wire is very thin and I have bought three through the wire breaking where it comes out of the box. For the price of these, they really should be made better. |
To keep horses in a field with electric fencing is easy to install. You can have sections of the field separated and move the horses around to different parts of the field with ease.
It is excellent for rotating and keeping parts of the field clean and allowing the grass to grow and to spray weeds with your horses safe in the other half of the field.
I have a mixture of large and small plastic fence post. The cost of the post do raise with the height of post. They are mainly sold in sets of five. The cost to set up can be quite expensive. You can also buy the battery for the fencing but I find an old car battery does a great job. You can also use a caravan battery. Then you will need to buy the energiser. You can buy them online or from most horse shops. You will also need to buy the post and the electric wire. This comes in rope form or tape. I have used both. I now stay with the rope. It does last a lot longer then the tape. The tape tends to squash together when you move the fencing around and the wire breaks in the tape making it weak. The rope is a lot more stronger. The wire can still break in the rope if you are not careful when taking it out of the post. The hooks on the post seem to catch hold of the wire and when trying to pull it out the wire sometimes gets caught and rips apart, so do be careful. But that is easier said then
done if you are moving it in the cold weather. My fingers go numb and the wire can cause little cuts at the tip of your fingers. I find it hard wearing gloves. I always land up taking them off as they seem to get in the way. The best gloves for me is the fingerless gloves.
Once you have all the above items you are ready to start with your fencing. Set out the post where you want your paddock and then tread the wire throughthe post. Put the electric box and battery outside of the paddock so the horses cannot get to it and out of sight of passers by! I alway put a large feed bucket over the box and battery so no one can see it. You do not want it stolen!
Once you have it all set up you need to push the steel bar of the box deep into the ground. Then you need to connect the wires to the right places. The green/yellow wire with the green clip goes onto the steel bar of the energiser. Then clip the red clip onto the positive battery terminal with the symbol on the battery like this + Then place the black clip onto the negative symbol that looks like this - Then place the smaller red clip onto the wire. The fencing is up and running.
When you unhook the gate to enter, make sure you hook it back on again. If you want it open, just hook it onto the fence.
I usually have a strand of wire that goes to the height of the chest of the horse and one lower down. It is up to you where you put your wire and how many strands you use. You can always add to the fencing. There is so many online shops that sell of the items you need and many sell the kits. The kit will include everything but you will need more of the post. If you shop around you will find a big difference in prices. There are two shops I buy from. One is so much cheaper for the wire and the post but the other shop is cheaper for the electric box.
Good luck with setting up your fencing and do not forget to turn it back on once you leave the field. It is easy to diconnect it when you arrive and so easy to forget to connect it back on again.