Escape Artist Horse Keep Getting Out!

[horseheart]

A few weeks ago we moved into our new home on 20 acres. Before this we had a wood fence. The horse and I are all new to electric fences.

There was a 1-2 acre track with wire fencing put up by previous owners for sheep. It was about 3.5 feet high but not hot.

I bought a solar box and made it hot.

Let me explain what I mean by hot. When I have sneaker on the fence does nothing so to test it I hold on to the metal part of a screwdriver in the ground and the fence. At first nothing but after about 2 sec I get a unpleasant shock. I assume this was enough.

When we let my minis out they ran right into the fence because they could not see it. So I bought white electric tape and white plastic poles and ran another fence about 4 ft inside the old fence (which was falling apart anyway).

Every day since one horse has gotten out. We could not figure out how. Today we watched Comanche lift the lower part of the fence and put it over his head and walk out!

Is the fence not hot enough? How can I get more voltage?

Here is a photo to help.

Any help appreciated,

Robin

 

[Marty]

Sounds like you have a couple of seconds delay. Many chargers do have a delay instead of a steady shock and the horses know this. I don't advocate shocking him more......but I would also say that due to his probably very hairy hair coat this time of year he is not feeling the full force.

Personally I would not have a horse in just hot wire alone for this and other reasons. I do use hot wire but only as back up for the other fencing. People have successfully used three and four strands for years without any trouble but I'd rather just put up fencing and be done worrying with it.

 

[eagles ring farm]

are you sure all the wires are hot?

 

[Shari]

I think it might be more than one issue with your fence.

I found that Solar chargers do not have enough in them to keep animals in the fence.

Another problem you might be having, is the fence is not ground properly. With the fence I am running right now, I need 5 grounding rods 8' into the Earth. As I add more to my system I will have to add more rods. My Charger is heavy duty and rated for Predators.

You also need to have the wire or tape tight. What I do is use a heavy duty T post for the corners, that way the fence stays tight. The step in posts will not do that for you.

 

[kaykay]

we use solar powered fencing and it works great! you do have to watch it though if you have continuous cloudy days. We have a recharger just for that during the winter to charge it back up. Ours does not have a delay and it is not a huge charge but the horses really respect it. But we use the thicker rope (not wire) and I do think that makes a difference

We had way more trouble when we had field fence at our old farm.

 

[Miniv]

You'll always find at least ONE (often more) very bright horses that are willing to test the waters.........

The one thing I'd like to comment on with your fence is that it is only TWO stranded.......Sorry, but you need at least four. And with your new wires, he may not SEE them and plow through -- get shocked -- and possibly hurt. Larry runs at least four, preferably five strands across with the white tape. Of course, this means investing into a charger that's strong enough to handle the extra "miles" of tape!

MA

 

[Jetiki]

I have a two strand tape fence for my largest pasture, its probably 3 acres, I also have 1 1.5 acre paddock with hot wire inside the field fence, and another 2-2.5 acre pasture with hot tape on top and middle of field fence, with another tiny paddock behind my house for the dogs/horse in solitary, I have a 20 mile fence charger, they don't test my fence. My guess is that your fence charger isn't doing its job or that its grounding out on something, ie grass etc. Check your fence to see if in the wind its blowing on to something, check your ground rods to see how tight the connection is. Someone I know in Fl tried the solar charger and it didn't work very well, my guess is that it doesn't have a big enough charge for your horse to feel it through the winter hair.

Karen

 

[HGFarm]

When I had just electric fencing I tore up an old white sheet or used an old t shirt and used strips about an inch wide and six inches long or so and tied these onto the hot wire. This worked well to keep it visible.

I also ran the wires close enough together that the horses could not get their head through between them to 'duck under' and get out. The mane hair keeps them from really getting 'zapped' by it. HOWEVER, I have one smarty pants, that has figured out how to 'test it' with her nostril hairs or her tail. If you barely touch it with one of those and it sparks, she knew it was on. Then I caught her one day STEPPING on the bottom one, which shorted out the whole thing, and out she would go. Got to where I couldnt keep her in it at all any more and had to put up real fencing, LOL

 

[runamuk]

Here is my rundown of things to check.

First did you get a box big enough for the number of feet/miles of fencing?

Second do you have a backup battery?

Third ground rods, very very important, you need good ground or else your fence will not work properly.

A proper electric fence will hit you hard.....think kicked in chest by a full sized horse, or nailed hard with a lunge whip. Modern fencer's are pulsating not continuous so no worry about electrocution (the old timey ones could potentially do this).

Wet grass needs to be kept trimmed back off of the bottom lines or it will affect your power........

Electric fences work great but do require a bit of attention to keep them performing well.

 

[coopermini]

I have never been a fan of electric fence for horses but we use miles of it for cattle with rarely a problem.

As mention check the ground rods and we always use a tester to read voltage all the way around especially the furthest points from the charger. We try for 5000 volts everywhere, settle for 3000 if heavy weed contact and it is wet. 1000 volts will only keep in the ones that were going to stay in even when the power is off.

The one thing we always do with our electric cattle fence (most is single strand smooth wire on fiberglass post) is use lots of surveyers tape either bright pink or orange. Partly so the cattle see it and equally so the deer see it as well. We usually tie foot long strips every 10' or so and closer in trouble spots. The deer running thru the fence is 90% of of fence issues, 5% young calves walking right under 5% the one stupid heifer that won't follow the herd.

Mark

 

[hahler]

I gave up on an electric fence

i have 2 horses that know if they go threw it fast enough it doesnt hurt lol

sometimes i hate smart horses

i would try to get some hog panels if it is a small area

i use them for dog runs and that works good

it started out as our mini pen which worked awesome

at the new place we are going to make a bigger pen from little Hammer

dawn

 

[Mercysmom]

I think it might be more than one issue with your fence.

I found that Solar chargers do not have enough in them to keep animals in the fence.

Another problem you might be having, is the fence is not ground properly. With the fence I am running right now, I need 5 grounding rods 8' into the Earth. As I add more to my system I will have to add more rods. My Charger is heavy duty and rated for Predators.

You also need to have the wire or tape tight. What I do is use a heavy duty T post for the corners, that way the fence stays tight. The step in posts will not do that for you.

Had the same experience with the solar chargers at farms I worked at so I have the plug in kind.

Grounding the fence properly as Shari said, is important.

You can get inexpensive testers at most farm supply stores - I know I need more ground rods as I do not get the sharp "snap" on the tester currently but it was enough to shock Enterprise when she thought the grass looked greener on the other side of the fence.

My fence has kept a Belgian draft mare in place (she liked to plow through fences) and a stallion who was wanting the phone numbers of all the mares in the adjacent pen....

Denise

Silversong Farm

 

[horseheart]

It is hot I checked each fence today but there is also a delay. I strung the original wire above and below the tape so there are 5 strands.

I think its too weak. I have a small solar and can get a bigger one.

We want a wood fence but the move cost thousands and we can't afford it right now.

QUESTION

My dh is handicaped and I do all the work (lost his leg in the war). How hard is it to use a post hole digger? Can a woman alone do it?

Thanks,

Robin

 

[Shortpig]

I have hot wire running all over my place, chain link for dogs and hot wire to keep them away from the

chain link. Horse fencing and chain link for horses and hot wire to keep them off the chain link. My problem

has always been the gate which isn't hot wired. Ariel has always figured out how to remove the locking

mechanism, too much free time on her hoofs. However, I'm not a fan of solar chargers. I like to have

them plugged in so with a gauge so I know they are working properly for the safety and security of the

animals. Some horses are just way to smart for their tails and will test the fence constantly because

they just want to test you. Good luck with that. I have always threatened to put my girl on a 38 step program. I take a couple steps and drop her with my 38. My daughter finds this hilarious and of course

I would never do such a thing, doesn't scare Ariel at all. By the way the threat hasn't worked with my

dogs either.

 

[Shari]

Is just 8' tall T- posts and 6 or 7 lines of hot wire... lets just say, nothing is going to go through that. Is pretty easy to put up. Just need T-post pounder, T-posts of course, hot wire and insulators.

You can sort'a see it in the back ground here. I have fence flags on it so the Elk and Deer can see it.

For a plug in charger.. my fence is to far from my garage, so DH & DS made a housing for it. Will have to take a picture of it later today.

 

[dangerranger]

We have had all kinds of animals in hot wire fences. Ive only had two horses that would constantly get out. one would just blow through as fast as she could and the other would pick it up with her teeth and go out under. the one that would pick it up would find a place where the ground was dry and would get the least shock. the way I fixed it was to add a deeper ground rod and make the lowest wire a ground. this way the horse was well grounded where ever she tryed to go under. with in a very short time she stoped even testing to see if she could find a place to get out. for most of our animals I can just run one single wire around and expect them to stay in. but they are still inside the perimeter fence if the did escape. DR.