Electric fencing also makes an excellent secondary barrier across other types of fencing. Furthermore, it’s a good choice for small-scale horsekeeping, because it allows you to fence in a large area for relatively low cost compared to other types of fencing. But it’s difficult to maintain or safely use your electric fence if you don’t know how it actually works. To help out with that, let’s dig into some electric fencing details.

Electric Horse Fence ABCs

Some basic knowledge of electricity will help you better understand your fence. Don’t worry—it’s pretty easy, even if you know nothing in advance. This is because an electric fence is an example of a simple circuit.

All of the fence lines are positive, and all of the ground around the pasture is negative. It’s just like a flashlight with the switch off—the positive and negative aren’t touching each other, so the circuit is broken and nothing happens. To complete the circuit, we need something electrically conductive to touch both the fence and the ground at the same time and connect them.

When an electrically conductive body (remember, you’re about 60 percent water and your horse is about 70 percent), connects the fence (positive) to the ground (negative) and becomes the missing link between the two, it successfully completes the circuit. In a real sense, you’ve just become the on/off switch in the flashlight!

For your horse, that harmless-yet-attention-getting snap of electricity is hopefully enough to remind him that he shouldn’t graze too close to the fence or try to escape from it. For you, it’s a reminder that shortcuts across the pasture aren’t worth the trouble.

By the way, this is why birds can sit on top of electric fence wires with impunity—they’re not touching the ground, so they don’t complete the circuit and don’t get shocked.

Shorts

The positive electricity in your fence always “wants” to get back to the negative by th

e fastest route possible. This can be a problem if tall grass or weeds grow up along the fence—they conduct electricity somewhat and can provide a means for the positive electricity to escape to the negative ground and thus weaken the power of your fence.

This is called a short, because the electricity is taking a shorter route home than it was supposed to. If possible, keep weeds trimmed down along the fence line.

Ground, Ground, Ground

Is your electric fence not zapping strongly enough? It’s probably not grounded well enough. Those copper rods are a nuisance to drive into the ground (done with a T-post driver), but they’re really important for making your fence work.

The number you’ll need depends on a lot of things: the power of your charger, the type of soil you have, and the size of your pasture. There isn’t a perfect number of rods to use—the more you install (within reason), the better your fence should work.

Many problems with weak shocks can be solved this way. Your fence manual will give you a good indication of the number of rods to start with.

Or, Take the Ground Along

In dry locations (common in the western U.S.), there might not be enough moisture in the ground to carry the electricity, no matter how many rods are used. This can also occur in winter with deep snow, or in rocky soil.

In these instances, it’s common to connect one or more of the fence wires to the negative terminal rather than the positive. If a horse contacts multiple wires at once, he’ll likely touch a negative and positive fence strand at the same time and receive a shock that way. This is known as a “hot/ground” fence. You can also use a system like this to add more ground rods on the other side of the pasture.

Insulators

You don’t want the posts or gates of your electric horse fencing system to carry a charge. The posts are in the ground, so they would cause a short, and you obviously don’t want to get shocked when you touch a gate.

The solution is to use insulators, which are plastic or porcelain hooks or rollers that hold the fence wires in place. These materials don’t conduct electricity, so they keep the power on the fence where it belongs, and off of the posts and gates.

Insulators are one of the weaker links in your electric fence system and are prone to breakage. Keep an eye on them and replace as needed. Always keep a bag of new insulators on hand for this purpose.

Three Types of Electric ◆ Tape: Tape fencing is often used for temporary setups, such as a camping trip, or for rotational grazing. It makes a very visible boundary for horses, which is nice, but it’s perhaps less aesthetically beautiful than other types of fencing. Tape doesn’t hold up very well in rough weather like wind and snow, as it begins sagging quickly. ◆ Wire: Plain, bare-wire fencing is not as visible and may not break easily if a horse becomes tangled in it, so you’ll want to do your research to see if it makes sense for your farm. It can be used as the hot wire along a wooden fence, and it lasts a long time. ◆ Rope/braid: Various types of highly visible polymer or braided rope fencing are available, and these are quite popular with horse owners. The rope is durable enough to be used as a permanent setup, and visible enough to act as a visual boundary for your horse.

Power Sources

Electric horse fences must be powered only by safe fence energizers.

◆ The charger doesn’t put out electricity constantly—it does it in short pulses. This creates the audible “tick, tick” sound.

◆ Some chargers plug into an ordinary household AC outlet. These devices take the powerful current from your farm’s electric service and reduce it down to a mild shock that, while certainly attention-getting, causes no harmful or lasting effects.

◆ Other charges are solar-powered. A small solar panel collects electricity and stores it in a battery. While usually weaker than AC-powered chargers, solar chargers are perfect for remote pastures where the nearest electrical outlet is far away.

◆ A third variety of charger contains just a battery (no solar panel) that powers the fence and needs to be recharged periodically.

Lightning Protection

If lightning strikes near your electric fence, some of the power may ride along your fence wires, trying to get to the grounding rods. To get there, the lightning has to go through your fence charger—probably with damaging results.

To guard against this, you can install a lightning protector, kind of like a home surge protector, on your charger. You can also attach lightning arrestors to the corners of your pasture; these will help lightning get back to the ground before it reaches your charger. If there’s plenty of warning before the storm hits, you could always detach the charger from the fence, assuming there are no horses in it.

Tension

Follow the instructions for your particular type of electric horse fencing to achieve the proper tension. In general, rope and braided types of electric fence are intended to stretch and bounce to some extent, like a boxing ring.

Don’t put your fence posts too close together, or you’ll lose this effect. But you also don’t want the lines too loose, because sagging leads to decreased electric conductivity. (Plus, it looks bad!)

Testers

Finally, make sure your fence is working properly by using a fence tester. These devices not only show you how strong the charge is at various locations around the pasture, they are also invaluable in helping you track down problems with the fence.

Shorts and broken spots in the wire can be located easily with a tester. It’s one of the best tools for your fencing toolbox.

Ready to start building? With a bit of planning and the right tools, you can enclose a fairly large area with electric fencing in only a few days.

This article about electric fencing appeared in the September 2020 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post It’s Electric: All About Electric Horse Fencing appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Another task that falls into this routine chore category is fencing—specifically, fencing repair and maintenance.

As spring emerges, you’ll have the perfect opportunity to inspect your fencing for the season ahead when turnout time will increase. Get started now with our handy fencing checklist.

Top 3 Inspection Checkpoints For All Types of Fencing

Post Inspection

First thing to do when going around inspecting your fence when doing any sort of repairs is to walk around the pasture and check each post—is it still sturdy? Is there any rot forming right at ground level (the weakest point of a wooden post)? Has it been chewed beyond salvaging? Perhaps it’s time to grab the post-hole digger and replace it.

Gate Inspection

Second thing to do when going around inspecting your fence when doing any sort of repairs are to check your gates. Gates are heavy, and frost is likely to form around them, sometimes causing the gate posts to lean. Is your gate leaning heavily? Maybe it’s time to completely reinstall it. How about the latch system? Is it still functioning well or have you used baling twine to make a temporary fix?

Pasture Inspection

While you’re out there checking the fence, why not give the overall pasture a good look? Have any poisonous plants or weeds cropped up? Are there any fallen branches or other unwanted debris laying around?

Electric Fencing

Electric fencing should—in theory—require minimal maintenance, but there are still several key checklist items to look out for. Some of these include:

Insulators

Non-conducting insulators are used with electric fencing to attach the wires to fence posts while preventing shorts.

Whether your electric fence uses plastic or wooden insulators, it’s a good idea to look them over periodically for damage. Insulators can occasionally be pulled loose by animals such as deer attempting to cross the fence or by fallen tree limbs. UV rays from the sun can also break down plastic insulators over time, although UV-resistant varieties are available for some fence styles.

Fence Tension

Electric fencing is under constant tension, which can eventually cause it to stretch, so periodic tightening (per your fence system’s instructions) is sometimes needed. Proper tension also helps the electric current stay strong.

Voltage

Though you certainly tested your electric fence’s performance with a voltage tester when you installed it, it’s a good idea to make rechecking it part of your fence maintenance checklist. Voltage drops commonly occur from weed buildup, which can be remedied by preventing excessive weeds from touching and shorting out the fence.

Voltage drops can also occur from changes in the moisture content of the ground; if you have a dry season, the voltages may drop significantly. Rather than investing in a more powerful fence charger, a better solution might be to add more ground rods to your system, or to turn one of your fence wires into a ground line that will ensure a shock if a horse touches multiple fence wires at once (called a hot/ground system).

Wood Fencing

It’s hard to beat classic three- or four-board wood fencing for a timeless feel around your barn and property, but these fences may require more upkeep and repairs than others. Some steps include:

Check for Chewed-Up Boards

Remember that bored horses chew boards. Especially in winter, they will probably try to chew on any handy wooden surface—and they’ll thank you for installing a convenient fence just for that purpose! Make frequent checks of your wooden fencing and replace heavily chewed rails and posts before they become weak. Also, try to prevent this problem in the first place, if possible, by giving your horse other things to do (hay feeders, horse-safe toys, et cetera).

Discourage Wear

Horses that push, lean, or scratch on wooden fencing may wear out the rails and posts prematurely. One way to discourage this behavior is to run a single wire of electric fence along the inside of the wooden fence—it won’t detract visually from the look of it and will give your horses more respect for the barrier. It might even prevent some chewing.

Keep Painting

Protecting your wooden fence from the deteriorating effects of nature is just as important as protecting it from the horses themselves. In many cases, this means regular painting and repainting of the fence is necessary to prevent moisture from rotting the wood (and keeps it looking good). Fences made from pressure-treated wood may not have to be painted, although you might want to since it often has a greenish cast to it.

PVC/Vinyl Fencing

Horse owners seeking the aesthetics of wood fencing but who want a less labor-intensive product sometimes turn to PVC fencing. It’s true that there is less maintenance, but there are still some points to watch out for.

Keep it Clean

PVC fencing doesn’t need painting, and with a UV-resistant coating, its color shouldn’t fade in the sun. PVC fence is even resistant to dirt, but it does require a good washing now and then to keep it looking its best. It’s also possible for mildew or mold to form on PVC, causing unsightly stains, so treatment with a bleach solution is sometimes required.

Check for Damage

For all its advantages, PVC fencing is still essentially made of plastic. The rails on PVC fences for horses are designed to pop out somewhat easily under pressure, which can be a good safety feature. But it also means that you’ll have to be on a fairly constant lookout for areas of the fence where horses have pushed or kicked the rails and knocked them off. Some PVC fences may have a little “give” to them, but if the plastic actually breaks, it can be very sharp. As with wood fencing, running a hot wire along the fence can help deter horses from playing with it.

Stone Crib Fence Post

In cold regions, heavy ground frost during the winter can cause all kinds of problems with your fence posts, pushing them upward and making them unstable. This is particularly common around gate posts where frequent traffic drives the frost deeper into the ground. Likewise, certain low areas of your property that are often wet or muddy may make it challenging to install a traditional fence post.

For both of these situations, a stone crib post may be a simple solution. A stone crib is a large wooden or wire cage filled with stones that can be used to hold up a fence post above ground—no digging required. Stone cribs are more immune from the troubles of wet or frozen ground since they can simply “ride” on top of the soil, and they can be a good solution for a troublesome area on your horse property.

Fence maintenance doesn’t have to be a hard chore—it can actually be a rather nice way to spend a sunny afternoon. Take along a friend and some music and enjoy!

This article originally appeared in the April 2019 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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