ceder post fence for mini

[Mike K]

Ok I guess I am one of those bad new horse owners. When I picked up Dandy I didnt have a place for him to stay. First thing I did was to build him a stall. He gets put up every night and let out in to the yard wich has chain link fince around it. I have been working on fenceing off the "pasture" and I have decided that along the front I am going to do a ceder post fence. 2 rails also ceder post. I have been playing lumber jack all day and have most of the post cut and a few of the rails. All of this is beeing made out of unfinished ceder tree's that I am cutting down and up. should look real nice when I am done. Post are going to be 12 feet apart they are 8 feet tall with 3 feet in the ground. Now come the question what would be a good spacing on the rails? I have 5 feet of post above the ground.

Mike

 

[chandab]

Personally, with minis, I'd put up a mesh between the posts and rails to keep dogs out.

Sorry, I'm not sure on the spacing of the rails. What size minis do you have? It'll have some effect on the rail spacing, as the really little guys, could possibly squeeze through or under spacing that the bigger minis couldn't.

 

[Mike K]

Well yea I would guess size of the mini would make a big deference. I didn't even think about posting that. He is roughly 35". Luckily I don't have to wary to much about dogs. I have one and him and the mini are best friends. Jake "my dog" want let anything come any where near the property. How ever I will probably wind up with some mesh between the bottom rial and the ground to keep my wife's chihuahua in. But I am open to all suggestions and idea's.

Mike

 

[chandab]

That's good that you don't have to worry about dogs; I'm not too worried about our three dogs, but, around here I use mesh to ensure wandering coyotes don't get into the paddocks, I hear them howling about every night these days.

 

[shorthorsemom]

I use the no-climb mesh horse fence from tractor supply. I love it. Peace of mind, it is nice tough stuff and looks good too. I put that between the posts.

 

[DiamondLRanch]

I'm not sure how it will look but /i always use at least 3 rails. tallest rail is 48 inches high. Or you can use a hot rope or wire to keep animals out in between the rails. I have Pygmy goats so I have hot wire as well. The lowest wire would keep the chihuahua in.

 

[rockin r]

I am not sure how true this is but, I was told YEARS ago that Cedar (RED) woods are toxic to horses. That it is not a good idea to bed them in red shavings or treees that they can crib or chew on? I have never confirmed that, but we don't use any red wood(s) in our barns or fencing....Anyone else ever hear of that????

 

[Mike K]

thanks for all the reply's. rockin r never hear that before. I will have to do some digging and see if I can come up with any info on it. If I see him biting on the fence I can run a hot wire down the bottom fence rail to keep him off of it. I started on the fence this weekend. Got two sections up. I thought about it long and hard and settled on spacing of 20". The bottom rail is 20" off the ground and the top rail is 20" off the bottom rail. This is at center of the rail so they are a bit closer outer edge to outer edge. they are just stuck together and the only post that is truly in place is the one next to the chain link fence corner. It is a lot of work. there is a 1 & 3/4" hole through each post and on the end of the rail's I cut a dow to match so they fit together like tongue and grove.

Let me know what you think.

Mike

 

[Marty]

I think its going to look very nice but I think its way too high up from the ground. He can easily get his entire head and neck up under there then lift the whole thing. They like to scratch their manes on stuff that like. OH!

I'll go measure mine in the am for you.

PS Save yourself a lot of trouble and just add a hot wire to inside.

 

[Mike K]

Marty I would be very grateful to you. As is I could adjust the height a bit but it would also bring the top rail down. I plan on setting the post in concrete so that should help with him being able to pull it out of the ground. I am only doing this on the road side of our place. I wanted something that looked nice. I was going to use t-post and chain link but he is pretty hard on the chain link around the front and it has a top rail I was afraid that keep knocking the t-post loose. We live on sandy land but there is a very hard clay base about a foot down where I am putting the fence in. Running a hot wire down the lower rial would be easy.

Mike

 

[susanne]

Mike, I would do as Marty suggested and add hot wire on the inside of the cedar fence -- that way it would look great AND keep your horse in. Insulators on your posts will keep the wire away from the cedar, and they and the wire will be barely visible from the outside.

One caution with little dogs -- ours are very talented at squeezing in but then have a hard time finding their way back out. Run another hot wire at chihuahua height. At the risk of sounding mean, once they encounter the wire, they'll not soon forget (and better they get "bitten" by the fence than stepped on by a horse).

 

[h2t99]

That fence is going to look great!! Little Kings has split rail on alot of their farm and they use either hot wire or maybe even barb wire if I remember correctly. It has been several years since I have been there but I remember how nice it looked. Maybe you can email them and ask what they have used. So definately use the hot wire and good luck with the fence!!

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Mike, we have mostly rail fences here (over time we keep adding more fencing and it is all rail) We use 3 rails (4 for the stallions) and the bottom rail is 10" above ground. There is no more than 12" between the bottom and second rail 14" between the second and third (top) rail. These measurements are taken from the top of the lower rail to the bottom of the higher one so the 10,12 and 14" are the gaps between the rails. These measurements have been successful in holding everything from our largest 34" mare down to new foals who are under 20". Good luck it looks like a nice fence.

 

[Mike K]

Thanks for the reply's every one. I am going to have to do some thinking. Like I didn't already do a lot of that. At this point I could shave the bottom of the post and lower the bottom rail. Then adding in 1 or 2 rails. Like I said everything is just stuck together. The rope is really holding it. I put Dandy up beside it and I don't see any way in the world he could get out but he is a pretty big little guy. If we "when we" wind up getting mare I don't want to have to worry about her getting out. The work does no bother me and to be honest there are a lot of easier way to build a fence. I just want it to look nice and be functional. I could do the hot wire on the inside but I would really rather not. I will try and get a little better photo tonight of Dandy standing next to it to put it in better perspective.

Mike

 

[Marty]

Hi Mike. My bottom railing is 1 foot off the ground and 1 foot inbetween spaces. Hope that helps.

 

[Mike K]

Marty it does very much. that seams to be fairly consistent number. I have a idea to fix it with out cutting the post down but it is one of those things that just cant be put into words. Stay tuned for a update this weekend. If what I am thinking will work it is going to look great and be totally different.

Mike