Fencing Safety

Bronzz poses in front of our coated electric wire fence

A sad post prompted me to share what I learned when I researched fencing safety: My vet said never electrify the bottom wire of a fence because the electric IS strong enough to kill a tangled horse. Slowly. Avoid fencing that is flexible enough to wrap around legs. Theoretically, electric keeps horses away from a fence. Realistically, horses run, play, chase, roll, slip on ice, snow, mud and grass. They make mistakes just as we do. Their night vision takes a long time to adjust after being in a lit barn or arena. A power outage can take out electric any time. My extension agent advised specifically against electro-braid (the subject of the sad post) because she had reports of horses becoming tangled, resulting in fatal injuries. I chose COATED electric wire that is too stiff to wrap and too thick to slice. Pasture post spacing is 22 - 25 feet. Internal runs can be 3 strand, top and second wire hot; external runs, 4 strand with top and 3rd wire hot. We don't even turn the fence on unless we have a visiting horse, because it is a reliable physical barrier. Ours is 21 years old, all wire still intact. The electric wire is called Hot Cote; the non-electric strands are Horse Cote. The company has branches world wide.