Fence Post Spacing

[wushaw]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I guess I can kind of understand horses getting into fences - haven't seen it and don't plan to change any of my fencing practices, but I'll take your educated word for it...

...but so far I have managed to keep tractors and trucks (never had an ATV or Motorcycle) out of fencelines, and I doubt it's good to run a motor vehicle (except maybe a dozer) into ANY kind of fence, right? I find five strands of barbed wire to be the most effective and cost-effective way to keep cows and horses home, and it works pretty good against trespassers. However, I do have some problems with deer tying the bottom strands down and lifting the middle strands up and tying them off...because I know the deer hunters wouldn't do it. )</font>

Them deer are some clever critters /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[SkyPup]

"Practically everyone around here used barbed wire, 3-5 strands or woven wire topped (and sometimes bottomed) with barbed wire. "

"For what it's worth, the horse farm i got 2 of my horses from also had 5- strand barbed wire fences.... other than some checking on the horses faces.. no other problems.. though.. as most state.. If I was putting up new fence.. i wouldn't go up with barb wire"

Yup there are allot of places like that, have done quite a few necropsies on disemboweled horses tangled up and snagged in barbed wire, they were the lucky ones though, they died within a couple of hours.... lotsa good dog food though.... /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[rtimgray]

Just curious - why would you perform a necropsy on a horse that was disemboweled in a fence? Do you look for some kind of ailment that makes them get tangled in fences or what? My only experiences with necropsies is usually only if an animal dies of a mysterious or undiagnosed condition that one fears might affect other animals in the herd or on the property?

 

[Soundguy]

Teaching?

I think he's up in g'ville.. I know they have an equine section at the college there.. that would be my only guess?

Soundguy

 

[SkyPup]

Insurance.

 

[JimMorrissey]

DT,

By saying "black dirt", you mean topsoil? I've never heard the term black dirt before. Sounds like it's some kind of basic description for native Texan soil unique to your area, so maybe it's not topsoil and it's some kind of very dark clay....Interested to know.

 

[MFL]

Even though this thread has veered from DTCOOPER'S original question, thought I'd post a graphical representation of what can happen when horse meets barb. This is about a week after the accident and looks much better then when we were fighting to control the arterial spray.

The other thing to consider about all this is that if an animal does sustain an injury like this (or worse) and doesn't die...and you're a conscientious owner, you're going to spend A LOT of time and money rehabbing your animal. This happened almost a year ago and we're just now starting a light riding program.

Like I said in my previous post, it's not a guarantee that something is going to happen, but the percentage that something will happen goes way up. Avoid the barbs if at all possible.

 

[SkyPup]

Very sorry to see that your horse contacted barbed wire, the proud flesh will be a problem. The granulation tissue tends to form below the knees and hocks where there is little soft tissue between the skin and bone. Have your veterinarian suture the wound as soon as possible an dbandage with a pressure wrap. Keep him as quiet as possible during the healing, stall rest would be a good idea.

Barbed wire fencing sure is a bad idea for horses.

 

[riptides]

Wow, yep.

I hope the recovery continues to go well for you all. Your doing the right thing by taking care of your animals. Good for you.

Seeing that will have renewed my efforts to remove more wire from my property this w/e and into the future.

Best regards.
-Mike Z. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[MFL]

Thanks guys!