Most people dream of beautiful post and rails fencing, but which fencing is best for horses for those that aren’t able to post and rail their paddocks. This article looks at the alternatives.
Post and rail is often considered to be the most effective form of fencing for keeping horses within their allotted paddocks. If you don’t wish to post and rail, don’t worry, there are alternatives, both for permanent fencing, and temporary paddocks as required.
Electric fencing is not the only alternative to post and rail. There are many fencing options, read on to find out the type of fencing that may suit you and your horse.
Best Temporary Fencing For Horses
Plastic fence posts with either electric rope or tape is probably the most common types of fencing used for temporary paddocks. If you’re looking for inexpensive horse fencing/safe fencing for horses then plastic posts may be for you. It can be easily moved for strip grazing, or even as a barrier between horses when introducing a new herd member.
The pros of plastic post and tape fencing:
- Cheap – Using plastic fencing with tape/rope is cheaper than wooden posts
- Moveable – If you need to regularly move the tape for good doers, then plastic posts are your go to option
- Height – Plastic posts come in a variety of heights
- Tape or Rope – Both rope and tape can be successfully used on plastic posts without the need for insulators that you’d need on wooden posts
- Widely available – If you need more posts, they are stocked in most equestrian or country stores and can be picked up quickly without the need to wait for a delivery date
- Colours – Posts can be bought in a variety of colours, although white and green are the most common
There are however downsides to using plastic posts:
- Less durable – Plastic degrades in sun and cold weather more quickly than wood
- Less secure – Many horses have realised that running through plastic fences is quite simple, leading to expensive and inconvenient repair bills. Plastic posts don’t appear to horses as solid as their wooden counterparts so some horses may be more likely to try to push through
- Visually unappealing – There’s no getting away from the fact that a field full of plastic posts just doesn’t look as professional as competently installed post and rail fencing
If you want to increase the durability, but still have the convenient mobility of plastic posts, then try looking at their metal counterparts. These are far less likely to snap, but can be easily moved. The price may be higher, but it’s likely you’ll find that they last you longer.
What Is The Best Electric Fencing For Horses
When you’re looking at buying electric fencing for horses then the tape you use is one of the most important aspects. Don’t be tempted just to go for the cheapest, compare them first. The best electric tape will have a minimum of four strands of wire running through it, although 8 strands is preferable. This will ensure that your horse will get a decent shock and deter even the most determined horse from trying to go through.
Tape comes in a variety of widths, which you use is down to personal choice, but I like 40mm as it’s easier for the horse to see, and doesn’t tangle as badly as thinner tape.
If you’re using electric tape though, it’s the energiser you use that will ultimately keep the horse in (or not). There are many many energisers on the market, but aim to buy the one with the highest joules output that you can afford. This is what ‘packs the punch’. If you buy an energiser that only gives out 0.9j your horse is likely not to feel a thing, especially in the winter with a thick coat or rugs. 3J output is the lowest to reasonably go, but those that give in excess of this are more effective.
If your horse doesn’t respect the plastic posts normally used with electric tape, you could use wooden posts instead and give up mobility for security – whatever works best for you and your horse.
Best Horse Fence Options For Your Paddock
If you own your own land then the world is your oyster. Post and rail, stone walls, or hedging, are all options if you are able to do as you please.
If you are able to wait for a hedge to grow, then these can be a great addition to your land, not only from an environmental point of view, but also for the purposes of security. Not many people are willing to crawl through a well set hawthorn bush to access a property!
Using a variety of hedges will also allow your horse to supplement his diet, many hedging plants are beneficial for horses. Currently in the UK you can also obtain grants towards the cost of setting hedges which can ease the financial burden, especially if you want to plant a hedge next to an existing wooden fence and have the time to wait for it to mature.
Many fields, especially in the North are surrounded by stone walls to keep in livestock and horses. Unfortunately, the cost is more prohibitive in present times, although there is nothing quite like a lovely dry stone wall around your property. Walls will need maintenance over the years, normally less than other forms of barriers, but don’t think that you can simply pop a wall up and forget about it for ever more.
How High Should My Fence Be
This ultimately depends upon the horse or horses you intend to keep in. A fence of 1.03m or 4ft should really be the lowest you consider. Another thing to keep in mind is what you’re going to use between the posts. Tape, rope, or rail should have a low strand/rail to discourage your horse from limboing underneath, whilst if you’re using fencing mesh wire this is normally installed to the ground in any case.
If you think your horse may be tempted to jump out of a low fenced paddock, then a taller fence may be more practical – a 5ft fence with an electric strand on top should keep most horses inside the fence.
Hedges can be let to grow as tall as you like in most areas, but for ease of maintenance are normally kept to around 6ft high so they can be flailed easily each year.
Inexpensive Horse Fencing Options
If you don’t want plastic or metal posts, then herris fencing or stock fencing can be used – this isn’t necessarily inexpensive, but you may have some from previous building works. As temporary fencing these can work well. Some people use old pallets over posts as a short term measure, but pallet wood isn’t of the best quality and pallets can be covered in stray nails. If this is the fence you’re planning to use, check your pallet carefully and remove any protruding nails or screws before letting your horse anywhere near a pallet fence.
How Do I Protect My Fence From Horses
If you think that your horse is likely to try to barge through, jump over, or damage your fence through vices, then there are a few things you can do to keep your fence in tact:
- Electric – Using a strand of electric tape around the top rail of your fence will help your horse stay away – this can help with horses that : * rub
- Paint – Use a preservative on your wood to help it stand up to the weather for longer
- Crib paint – Paint on crib paint in all the area your horse likes to crib
- Double up – If your horse likes to barge through or jump over your plastic post fence, then use a second fence about half a metre behind the original one so that the visual impact is enough of a deterrent to your horse
New Fencing
In the last few years new vinyl fencing products have been introduced in the UK, a type of vinyl fencing that looks like wood but needs less maintenance and will ‘give’ slightly before returning to shape should your horse accidentally run into it. The plastic horse fence ‘rails’ don’t snap as readily as traditional wood would do, so are safer for your horse. They also have the ability to be electrified, so have very many positives with very few drawbacks. In my opinion, flexible vinyl fencing for horses is probably one of the safest horse fencing that can be used. Coming in different colours they can also be matched with your existing fencing.
Conclusion
There is no such thing as the ‘best’ fencing for horses. Each horse is different so there is only the best fencing for your horse and your current budget. As long as your horse is safe, that’s really all that matters. I will caveat this by saying that I rather like the vinyl fencing that is now on the market, but selling a kidney isn’t an option right now, so I’ll be staying with more traditional options. Normally a combination of traditional and permanent fencing is used around a perimeter; often hedging, with temporary and moveable plastic posts internally that can be arranged when grazing needs have been determined.
Related articles
