Fencing for Horses

Fencing

• Horses evolved to live in prairie grassland and covered long distances undeterred by artificial barriers

  • Accidents

• Smaller areas needs more visible and substantial space

• Unlike ancient horsemen who were limited to sticks and stones to enclose their horses, we benefit from a wide variety of traditional and modern materials from which to choose

• Unfortunately, despite over years of development, there’s still no ideal fence for every horse-keeping purpose

  • Each fence choice involves balancing safety concerns with aesthetics, cost, and maintenance

Horse fence safety

Building codes ultimately determine fencing requirements but some general rules of thumb apply nearly everywhere

Field fences should be 54 to 60 inches above ground level

Go with a 5-feet minimum height where fences about highways or anywhere that an escaped horse can flee your premises

Safe minimum height for stall runs and paddocks

Six feet

At bottom, an opening of 8 to 12 inches will keep feet and legs from getting trapped, and also prevent foals from rolling under the fence

Fence openings should be either large enough that a hoof, leg, or even the head can’t become trapped, or very small (no more than 3 inches by 3 inches) to prevent a hoof from getting through

To maintain tension, most wire fences require triangular shaped bracing at the corners and at intervals of about 1/8 mile

• The acute angles formed by brace wires represent entrapment hazards if the horse can reach them

• Good design (such as boards used in corners to block access) can prevent injury, even death

Visibility, especially with wire fencing, is too often overlooked

• While a white plank fence of wood or PVC is easily seen by horses, wires can almost be invisible when a horse panics

• Improve visibility to wire fences by adding a top rail of wood, PVC, or durable white vinyl fence ribbon, either standard of electrified

• This makes a wire fence more visible and also deters horses from reaching over the fence to graze

Regardless of fence material and design, one of your goals should be to present a smooth side to the horses

• Exposed posts can injure a horse that runs down the fence line

•   In such cases, using an electric fence wire to create a psychological as well as a physical barrier offers a safe solution

Corners also present problems, especially if you plan to pasture horses that don’t get along well

• Any corner can create an entrapment situation where one horse is bullied

• The problem is especially bad when to corner angle is acute (90 degrees or less)

• Some solutions include corners that curve

• This requires placing wire fence barriers on the outside of the posts, but this is less of a problem in corners than it is along straight runs

• Another solution is to affix planks across corners to block access

Characteristics of a good fence

• Should be safe and adequate

  • Horses allowed as much outside, free exercise as much as possible

• Should be sturdy especially when horses lead or rub against it

• Should be at least 5 ft high

  • Foals, miniature horses, and ponies should be discouraged from rolling or getting caught underneath the fence

Wire

• Barbed wire often used but the most dangerous fencing material even in large pastures

• Can cause severe injuries and lasting scars

• Wire fences can be supported by strand of electric fence

• At least 4-5 strands for proper security

  • Kept tight and must be visible

    • Add top rail of wood

Electric fence

• Made of synthetic materials with fine wires interwoven throughout with plastic posts

  • Visible and inexpensive fence

• Good for dividing grazing area but not as boundary fence

• Comes as wire, rope, or webbing

  • Carries mild shock but does not cause injury to animals and people

• Inexpensive and easy to install but if electricity fails, easily broken

  • Excellent temporary fence to keep horses away from fencing

• In residential areas, warning should be posted

Wood

• Classic form, either painted as planks or natural round rails

• One of the safest

  • Best option for small paddocks, pens, corrals and pastures

• Expensive, high maintenance, not completely without safety concerns

  • Splinter, nails, lacerations

Wood-like synthetics

More expensive, safer, low maintenance

Cable

• Combined with top rain, pipe, or wood

• Reasonably safe but should be kept tight

  • Cannot be easily cut my humans

• Less expensive than wood or pipe

Metal pipes

• Fairly safe, most expensive, low-maintenance and strong

• Will not break but potential injury

• Most suitable for small areas

Solid masonry fence

• Brick or fieldstone

• High visibility, durability, strength, safety

• Expensive

  • Labor and takes longer to build