High-Tensile Fencing

[SampleMM]

Hi everyone.

I'm desperate to get my last big pasture done and my husband and I have decided to hire it done. I guess we're too old and too tired.

My other pastures are the woven wire; therefore, I have no knowledge of high-tensile. I have picked the wire that is coated but now I have to let them know

how many strands, how many inches I want the strands to be apart, at what point do I want the first strand to start. I'm so confused. I need your help. So, if you can give me any info/pointers, I'd really appreciate it!!

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

I can't really offer much advice on how to build the fence. The one fence line we have done in hi-tensile wire we went 5 strands with the first 1ft above the ground and each following wire 8" apart. If it slacks off at all I still have a couple of youngsters who will climb thro. What i really wanted to say was that my farrier and I were discussing fencing and he had recently read a study that rated the risks of different fencing materials. It was based on which ones caused the most career ending damage and hi-tensile topped the list. Followed at some distance by barbed wire and next was (surprise to me) wooden boards. These studies of course were conducted based on stats from large horses not minis but the point was that the hi tensile won't give and cuts through muscle like a knife if they hit it hard or tangle in it and fight.

Anyway, just thought I'd pass it on , its always good to be as informed as possible when making decisions IMO.

Good luck getting your fence (whatever material you choose) finished.

 

[SampleMM]

Thank you for your information. So it sounds like the strands should be closer than eight inches!!

I do know that high-t is like a cheese slicer. I've seen many big horses ruined from that type of fencing. Although, that was the uncoated wire so hopefully this type would not be as bad. I wouldn't even consider this type of fencing but the pasture is 15 acres with only four or five miniatures in it at a time.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

If I were building my fence again and chose to go with the Hi-T I would add another strand and set them more in the area of 6" apart, itho thats a bit of overkill perhaps and it still might not help stop these particular horses since they've been climbing through even my rail fences since they were babies. They consider all fencing a challenge no matter which side they're on. I've even had them out and by the time I get there to return them to 'in' they have put themselves back. grrrrr. I usually just stick with fencing them behind the woven wire. They haven't figured out a way to shrink down small enough to slide thro that yet. lol. I have never had any of my horses hurt using Hi-T but thought it was an interesting study. I'm considering trying the barbless double twisted wire they have now for my bigger pastures, haven't seen coated Hi-T here yet but I can see it might be better.

 

[mad for mini's]

I used to work at a Standardbred farm and saw some of the injuries that came from kicking through or running into a Hi T fence. The wounds were big gashes that laid open flesh down to the bone and seemed to nearly amputate a limb, it was sickening. I decided that I would never use that type of fencing with any of my horses after that, big or little. Although with mini's any type of fencing is hazardous. Mini's seem to set out intent on self injury and mutilation.

I'm with you Marty ! I use non climb woven horse fencing. It is the only type that I would consider using, besides the cattle fence if I had to.

 

[Billy G]

We put up four strand of high tensil with the second from the bottom hot. No problems, would recommend it for any livestock...

 

[Marty]

I don't care what anyone says that stuff is just not fencing to me. Those that use all kinds of hot wire for years without problem are very lucky but I can't take those chances. Give me a roll of field fencing anyday.

 

[Coventry Lane Farm]

I have seen many horse injuries from our friends horses from using high tensile fence, I don't have it for my horses and I use woven wire. I have beef cattle as well and still don't use high tensile fencing. I wouldn't recommend using that type of fencing after seeing the stitching of the poor animals severe cuts and talking to the vet.

 

[stormy]

I have had two very serious injuries and several minis get hung up in woven wire fence, I have ten acres fenced with five strand high tensile with 2 hot and have had no injuries with this fence. I do wish I had used coated wire for the not hot strands and would not recommend tensile fence without at least one strand hot. Guess it just depends, no fence is entirely safe for horses of any size!

i also wonder if the stats on injuries are more related to number of people using that type of fence...if you had the same number of acres of each type with the same density of horses those stats might change considerably.

 

[Billy G]

We had a quarter horse stallion ruin a front leg with woven wire fence. Much prefer the high tensile. Accidents will happen regardless..........

 

[Jean_B]

Had used high-tensile for many years when up north. 3 strands - top 2 strands were hot. Knock 'em on their butt hot (was rated for 25 miles - had maybe 8 miles with 2 strands and all the different pasture sections).

Because it IS hard to see if a horse is running full tilt - I would take duct tape and put a piece on the top strand maybe every 8 to 10 feet. I would take approx. 8 inches and fold it over so that the 2 sticky sides stuck together - was long enough that it would flap a little in the wind. Never had any problems.

Once the herd knew where the fence lines were - I never replaced the duct tape if it wore out and never had a horse run into it.

The biggest problem I had was deer - they would still sometimes hit it because....well....deer are DUMB. But at least with high-tensile and tensioners, you can easily pull it tight if they stretched it a bit.

 

[Riverdance]

My paddocks are PVC fencing but my pastures are high Tensile fencing. I went with 6 strand fencing to keep the little ones from getting under or out, and to keep the mares from reaching their heads through for something better on the other side.. The bottom two wires are hot, then the 4th one up and the top one. Dogs will not go under or through either because of the number of hot wires.

 

[~Dan]

Well, considering the dangers that come with the high tensile, I would buy the step in posts form TSC, and then use elctric tape, a lot easier to see, wont cut the horse as bad should he hit it, and hey, when you wanna move it for whatever resaon, shut of the charger, and pull up the posts and move them elsewhere, plus, you could divide it into many different sections.

Watever choice you make, it will be int eh best interests of the horses and their saftey, best of luck with your decision

-Dan

 

[MinisOutWest]

well, this is why I got out of big horses. my $365k show gelding went thru a High Tensil 5 strand fence, all I can say is he literally laid his entire forearm down over his knee. Good thing he was insured. after 8 months of pure torture, he was healed up and sold, it was hard keeping it a secret from the horse world but we did. this was about 3 months into the ordeal.

I will see if I can find more photos.

But my opinion of High T fencing- I cannot say those words on this family rated website.

here is 5mos down the road

 

[h2t99]

We have had H.T. for years, the key to sucess with it, I have found is put posts no more than 10 ft apart and space the wire no more than 6"!! That has worked to keep the minis in!! We also have the bottom wire at 6 inches from the ground!! Any more and they will get out. We have not had any problems with cuts and injuries, but we do have springs in ours, so we tighten about twice a year.

Since we moved we have more barb wire and we actually have had the same results with that with the minis, but more problems with the big horses!!

Good Luck!!!

 

[JWC sr.]

Over the years we have had all of the problems that everyone has described using field fencing and add to that list the horses seem to delight in rubbing butts etc. on it till it was basically a shambles after about 3 - 5 years.

The high tensile we tried and took it out after 4 years of various problems. As we had problems with babies getting caught in it, stallions fighting thru it, hot wire up keep was a pain and basically requiring a lot more work to keep it up it than we were prepared to do.

Replacing fence is expensive and a real pain in the rear for us, so we bit the bullet and have the majority of our pastures done with 4" X4" wooden post concreted in every 100' and metal heavy duty T posts every 10'. Then we added the 52" tall X 20' long tall 2"x4" metal panels. That was 8 years ago and so far have not had one fail, cause an injury or require anything other than occasional weed eating to remove the weeds and stuff that grow along it.

Expensive at the beginning yes, but cheaper in the long run from a maintenance standpoint and cheaper we think in the long run from a replacement standpoint. That is our two cents worth, good luck with the new fence. Whichever way you go I bet your horses will love the new pasture. LOL

 

[WhiteTailsMinis]

Hi Debbie -

This was a topic last year and same responses then too with dozens of pages. Cheese slicer, running through, injuries, etc and I felt somewhat as though I was not a good mini owner for using high tinsel.

But again I will say that we have never (never) had any issues whatsoever. We have cattle, big horses and minis in high tensile and don't use anything else.

We follow the installion for goats/sheep by using 5 strands with the first three low and close, then a 4th and 5th top wires spaced further apart.

We have the top, middle and bottom HOT.

I have no idea why a horse would "run through it" unless they just can't see it. We use plastic orange spacers inbetween our wooden posts. They have grooves cut in them to clip each strand to the spacer. they not only keep the fence taught and inline but they are a VISUAL aid for humans, 4 wheelers, lawn mowers, horseback riders and the horses within the pastures. Perhaps large gaps of high tinsel just isn't visible enough - but we've never had a problem with heads through it, injuries, etc. Our foals are turned out at 2 weeks of age and never an issue as the bottom three wires are close and low. They too learn quick with just one zap.

We actually have stallions on each side of tinsel and never an issue. They'll run up/down the fenceline but go to gates if they want to mess with eachother.

One zap is usually all an animal needs to respect it and stay the safe distance.

Even new horses or rotating pastures hasn't been an issue - even unfamiliar with boundary lines - with the spacers and the 5 strands, we've (knock on wood - and this post better not jinx me) never had a problem.

Our Amish feedmill makes the spacers - they are made of fiberglass and sturdy. Tractor supply makes black ones but they are more flimsy and don't hold up as well. But even those will solve the problem of visibility in the wires.

We often times have the fence off. We're lazy and like to climb through wires rather than walk the distance to gates so we'll turn it off during feeding times or we turn it off for frequent visitors who want to mess with horses. The animals respect it so much that they don't test it - so even off, they won't go but so close.

I am the minority probably for using it - but its been great for us if installed correctly.

Good luck with whatever fencing you choose -

 

[Willow Tree Miniatures]

I HAVE A COMBO OF HIGH-T AND WOOD BOARD AND STEP IN POST WITH ELECTIRC TO KEEP MY HORSES OFF THE BARB WIRE LINE FENCE THAT DIVIDES ME AND MY NEIGHBOR (HE HAS CATTLE). I HAVE 6 SIX STRANDS WITH THE MIDDLE RUN ELECTRIC. KNOCK ON WOOD I HAVE NOT HAD A PROBLEM. I THINK YOU CAN HAVE A PROBLEM WITH ANY TYPE OF FENCING.

I WORK AT A VET'S OFFICE AND WE SEE ALL TYPES OF LEG INJURIES ON HORSES... THEY GET HURT ON ANY TYPE OF FENCING, JUNK IN PASTURES, TRAILER LOADING AND UNLOADING, STALL HINGES ETC. SOMETIMES WE NEVER REALLY KNOW WHAT THE CAUSE WAS.

I GUESS IF I COULD AFFORD IT I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE THE WHITE VINYL FENCE... IT IS SO PRETTY AND I FEEL IT IS VERY SAFE.

 

[Gena]

For the large pastures we used the white tape and also the white rope - both are easy to see and fairly inexpensive (the poly covers for the t-posts is what made the fence more costly) We also would make three strand temporary fences within the pastures with the white rope when the grass was rich - easy to move around and the horses wouldn't touch it and easy for them to see.

 

[SampleMM]

Thank you everyone for responding to my thread. I really appreciate everyone's input, ideas and suggestions. MinisoutWest--I am so sorry about your horse. That wound looks extremely painful and I sympathize with you. I had a dressage horse ruined from a gate/fence accident so I understand the pain.

Thanks again ----you guys/girls are the best.