Educate me on electric fencing

[EddieWalker]

I'm nearly done with my front pasture fence that will hold a few horses. The fence is a three rail white vinyl that I really like the look of. The horses are my wife's idea and something she has always dreamed of. From all I've read, I need to add a hot wire to the top of the fence to keep them off of it.

My experience with hot wire fencing is to buy a $40 unit and run a wire around an area to keep Oscar in. He hates the wire, but if he wants out, he goes right through it. Then after he's done what he wanted to do, he goes back in. With the horses, I don't want to take the chance that they will decide to go through the fence one day and what might happen if they get out.

I've been looking around and it seems that AC chargers range in power from .5 joules to 6 joules. My fence is about 1,800 feet long and I need to run a line at the top for the horses and at the bottom for Oscar and maybe predators. Would 2 joules be enough to stop horses?

While reading the ratings on the packages I saw on one that it gives a different rating for how many weeds it's going through, and also if it's wire or rope, with wire having about twice the power over rope. Which has me wondering which is better and why? this will be permanent. Is the rope and tape just for temporary fences so you can move it around easily? I like the look of rope a lot better then wire, but if the wire is better, then that's what I'll use.

Is there a brand that you recommend and is there one to avoid?

Thank you,
Eddie

 

[CowboyRon]

I'm nearly done with my front pasture fence that will hold a few horses. The fence is a three rail white vinyl that I really like the look of. The horses are my wife's idea and something she has always dreamed of. From all I've read, I need to add a hot wire to the top of the fence to keep them off of it.

My experience with hot wire fencing is to buy a $40 unit and run a wire around an area to keep Oscar in. He hates the wire, but if he wants out, he goes right through it. Then after he's done what he wanted to do, he goes back in. With the horses, I don't want to take the chance that they will decide to go through the fence one day and what might happen if they get out.

I've been looking around and it seems that AC chargers range in power from .5 joules to 6 joules. My fence is about 1,800 feet long and I need to run a line at the top for the horses and at the bottom for Oscar and maybe predators. Would 2 joules be enough to stop horses?

While reading the ratings on the packages I saw on one that it gives a different rating for how many weeds it's going through, and also if it's wire or rope, with wire having about twice the power over rope. Which has me wondering which is better and why? this will be permanent. Is the rope and tape just for temporary fences so you can move it around easily? I like the look of rope a lot better then wire, but if the wire is better, then that's what I'll use.

Is there a brand that you recommend and is there one to avoid?

Thank you,
Eddie

If I were you Eddie, I would just get the best available solar one at TSC. They will probably have a lower rated one that will work fine, but there's a good chance you will have a stubborn animal that needs all the shock power you can give him.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

You want a charger that will knock anything that touches it back. It's only a psychological barrier, you want your animals to be terrified of it. You want a charger that makes you subsconsciously afraid of it, where your arm twitches back involuntarily at the memory if you stray too close. I've been using a Patriot P20, 2.0 Joules, and I can still remember vividly the time and place the last time I touched it, and I was wearing rubber sole boots.

A good ground is important, it won't work well without it.

Horses have poor vision. I don't know a lot about horses, but my understanding is the benefit of tape is the horses can see it. Wire should not be used with horses, they can cut themselves. The general rule is the electric fence should be positioned so that animals make contact in front of their eyes so their impulse is to retreat. If the contact is behind their eyes the instinct is to run forward and into the fence. So if possible the fence should touch their noses and not their chests.

 

[MikePA]

I've used Parmak solar chargers for as long as we've had horses, almost 15 years. I started with the 6v model and replaced it with the 12v model about 7 years ago. The 6v was more than adequate. They both charge the horseguardfence electric fence. One pasture has 4" x 4" x 8' posts with three strands of white horseguardfence tape. The other pasture is a wooden fence, with four 1" x 6" rails. The horses pushed on this fence, not to get out but to scratch, until I put 1 strand of horseguardfence tape at the top, inside of the top wooden rail and hooked it to the solar charger. No more pushing on the fence. In both pastures, the posts are in the ground 3' with 5' above ground.

Click Here for the 12v model. I've never had a problem with the solar charger nor wished I had a 120v model. Finally, ditto to what quicksandfarmer said, do not use wire, barbed or otherwise, with horses. Horses are not cattle, once they know the fence shocks, they stay away from it, even though they could push through it, they don't.

 

[RobA]

We have 2 pastures - 1 with 3 board oak fence with no electric and another with 3 strand HorseGuard Bi-Polar electric fencing. The horses don't test either fence. The nice thing about the Bi-Polar fencing is a ground rod is not necessary and tall grass won't short it out. I installed it myself and am about to fence in another 2 acre pasture with it. I highly recommend it. And it looks nice too. I believe horses do not see white very well so we chose the green/brown fencing.

HorseguardFence.com : the best electric fence for Horse

 

[Jimbrown]

For horses you need to run rope. They can see it and once shocked a few times will not get close to it. I have several areas that I just rope off with the electric rope and no charger connected and the horses don't get close to it. Tape works but much harder to work with and the wind tears it up. You really do not need a super hot AC charger unless you have really stubborn animals like wild range cows are the like.

 

[RobA]

Tape works but much harder to work with and the wind tears it up.

I have seen some of the more narrow basic white tape flapping and twisting in the wind. The HorseGuard tape isn't bothered at all by the wind.

 

[MikePA]

Not to sound like a horseguardfence commercial, but it really is a great product. I've had limbs fall on it and while the stand offs on the posts might break, the tape does not. You can splice it if you, um, say, accidentally hit it with a chain saw. I used McFeely ss square drive screws to attach the stand offs to the posts. I also have a corridor that connects 2 pastures with T posts and horseguardfence tape. When I installed mine initially 15 years ago, and 7 years ago, they didn't have the bipolar version. If I was starting over, I'd use the bipolar.

Ditto to RobA, wind doesn't bother the tape. My posts are 8' apart, but some of the 'tape gates' are double that. No issue with wind, snow or ice.

The horseguardfence site has a lot of information about horses and fences. And no offense, but in my opinion, high tensile wire fences are for cattle, not horses.

 

[RedNeckRacin]

We run 5 strand high tensile fence with three hot wires for our horses. Never had one caught in it. I think we have the 50 mile fencer from tractor supply.

 

[JimRB]

We use aluminum wire for our hot wire. If the horses get tangled in it they can break loose. With tape there is a greater risk of getting tangled and cut. Of course every horse person has their own opinion and most are valid. Stafix 120 volt charger with I think two ground stakes. 17 years old and still zapping. I have backed in to it with a wet t-shirt. I do not want to do that again.

 

[Marveltone]

The typical mistake most people make with fencing is too little of a charger. Most solar chargers just can't deliver like 120v. My main pasture is high tensile wire with a Patriot P20. Really packs a whollop! The additional pasture has a Red Snap'r solar charger, but it's only used once the animals have been trained to respect the wire in the primary pasture. I like Patriot, because they are even warranted against lightning!

I guess my point is, get the strongest zapper you can afford.

Joe

 

[EddieWalker]

I have power there, so it will be plugged into an outlet. Those seem to have the most power from the labels I've read. I'll also put in three ground rods ten feet apart like they all suggest for dry conditions and the best results. That's easy.

If I go with rope, how long does it last? Will it zap the animals as good as bare aluminum wire? The rope or wire will be attached to my three rail fence about five inches away, so I'm not worried about the animals seeing it. They will see the fence, and that's really what I want them to be afraid of.

Thank you,
Eddie

 

[rmk700]

You can just get some colored plastic clothes pins and clip them on the wire so far apart.

Like other said once your horses get zapped once, it's usually lesson learned and you almost don't even need to plug your hotwire fence in any more.

Speaking of hotwire fence, I have a daughter that can grab a hold and not even be phased by the shock. iIf I touch the same wire I flop like a fish and think I'm dying. I hate getting shocked. Lol. Mine is plugged in 110 outlet BTW.

 

[MossRoad]

I had a solar fencer for about 5-10 years on my garden. The groundhog would just wince and force his way under it. Heck, I could grab it if I had shoes on and it would just give me a tingle. Last year I bought an AC unit. No more ground hogs and it blasted me through my shoes. It kills any weeds or grass that leans up against it pretty quick, too.

Here's a link to Zareba fence Co. and how to choose an electric fence charger.
Expert Charger Tips < About Electric Fencing | Zareba

 

[randy41]

the rope will last for many years as will the tape. get you a fence tester.

 

[Larro Darro]

If you wet the area around your ground rods that helps it shock better. How we could always tell when it was too dry, the charger's beeps would show up on the radio.

Larro

 

[Ken45101]

Let's hold on a moment here folks! Eddie is putting this along board fence. Visibility is not an issue, if the horses can't see the board fence, they are blind and aren't going to see ANY electric fence (and yes, we have had a blind horse.)

Any wire will work just fine along the wood fence. The purpose of it is to stop the horses from leaning over to graze "the greener grass on the other side of the fence", or to stop the horses from using the fence as a scratching post.

For pasture fence by itself, I've been happy with either barbless wire, or electrified rope . The rope is easier to install but requires more maintenance work keep the grass and weeds trimmed away. We have bought ours from Electric Fencing, Ear Tags, Sheep Supplies, Clippers and Shearers, Netting, and more! - Premier1Supplies We have been using it for about 8 years now. Normally I put up two strands. I've only had them break it one time, a new, temporary single strand last year. Not sure what happened there. But I've also had them go through 3 wire electrified fence too, one time, many years ago. With enough panic, I guess a horse can go through just about anything unless it's strong enough to slice them up (stay away from the high tensile wire.)

For what Eddie is doing, I would just run galvanized or aluminum wire along the inside of the top board. A 1 or 2 joule charger will be enough to discourage pushing on the board fence.

Ken

 

[EddieWalker]

Thank you, it's starting to make sense to me now. I read last night that aluminum wire will conduct four times as much electricity as the same sized galvanized steel wire. I also read that the rope is guaranteed for five years, while aluminum should last 20 to 40 years.

From what I've seen pricing, all the brands are pretty competitive with each other and you are paying for the amount of power you get. None of the brands jump out as being a lot better then the other either. Nor have I found one to avoid.

Eddie

 

[WM75Guy]

Most horses learn quick and won't challenge a hot wire after a few tries. I am switching all my tape over to rope. The tape breaks down after a couple of years from UV. The rope looks better and lasts longer. If all you plan to run is a single strand around the top wire would work. I have seen two strands run where the lower one is a ground with rods at each end. Over a long run that eliminates some of the loss. Touch both at the same time and you know it.

 

[Ken45101]

Thank you, it's starting to make sense to me now. I read last night that aluminum wire will conduct four times as much electricity as the same sized galvanized steel wire. I also read that the rope is guaranteed for five years, while aluminum should last 20 to 40 years.

There are different types of rope. Some rated 5 years, some rated 10 or 20. I've had both types up 8 years and no problems.

Aluminum is soft, stretches and breaks easy. While it will last a long time in a perfect environment, in reality (falling trees or branches, animals, deer especially), I wouldn't expect it to last long. But with decent rope, a falling tree can force it to the ground but clear the tree and it will snap right back. We tried aluminum one time, it just didn't last. It was the shortest lived of anything.

From what I've seen pricing, all the brands are pretty competitive with each other and you are paying for the amount of power you get. None of the brands jump out as being a lot better then the other either. Nor have I found one to avoid.

Eddie

Assume you are speaking of chargers? As for rope, I feel that sometimes you are paying for the recognized name brand, which may be twice the cost but no better than a lesser known brand. YMMV

Ken