Paint filly running through fence

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I have a nine month old paint filly and a 17 year old mule mare. The filly seems to like to run through my four strand electric fence. I have introduced her to it, put flags all over it, but I still wake up to find her calmly grazing in the backyard. She never goes anywhere, and since my mule wont leave the pasture whether there is a fence or not, I am not worried about her straying off, (she wont leave her)but what if some animal or dog chased her to the road? I have a fence box that charges up to 6 miles, and i have less than a half-mile up, so I know the box is enough. Also, she only does this at night, and ducks to only take down the two ,lower strands. Do you think I will ever be able to keep her in an electric fence? Or has she figured out that it only shocks for a second?

-- Angela (Daizy_73@hotmail.com), February 11, 2002

Answers

Have you used a fence tester to see it the fence is really working? What about ground rods? I know if your fence is not properly grounded you wont get much of a jolt form it. I have never had a problem teaching horses to stay in electric. What kind of fencer is it, low impendence[sp?] I would be worried about her getting cut also. I really like the electric fence ropes. They look like clothesline but have wire running through them. Way more visible.

-- tracy (murfette@stargate.net), February 11, 2002.

Ditto to what Tracy said. If the fence is not properly grounded, the animals just laugh at it. This horse KNOWS it's supposed to stay inside the wire. But when your back is turned (night time) it's a different story. Another thing to look for - is there long grass touching the fence that might be sapping your power? The horse tapes or ropes that Tracy referred to work great, but again you have to have enough power running through them. So we're right back to the fence tester and checking the ground.

-- Bernie from Northern Ontario (bernadette_kerr@hotmail.com), February 11, 2002.

Pour a lot of water on the ground at your ground rods. Let it seep down to get it really wet. If those are too dry, the fence won't bite hardly at all. Keep it really wet. You can also ground out along the fence at intervals if you need to. You can also run ground- hot-ground-hot wires (your 4 wires), so if she touches both at the same time, she'll get bit more.

-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@msn.com), February 11, 2002.

I have a fence tester, and it says the fence is working properly. It is grounded properly with a four foot pole. I am moving the horses to a friends to stay in stalls and I am going to buy the electric fence tape. I think I might also need a stronger box, one that says it will shock through wet weeds and brush. I have checked the fence, and it has shocked the @#$%^^&!! out of me before...I think maybe in the dark she doesn't see and goes right through, because in the day she will go no where near it. I saw a fence today with the rope...it looked really good, and worked wonderfully. I am going to have to spend more, but it is worth it to not have to worry about her.

-- Angela (Daizy_73@hotmail.com), February 11, 2002.

oh, and we have had so much rain the ground is sopping wet everywhere, no chance of the ground being dry. Do you think I should do the new fence with the ground wire in between?

-- Angela (Daizy_73@hotmail.com), February 11, 2002.


We grounded our with three 10 foot poles, 10 feet apart. If you got a good shock, I doubt that is the problem. I like using additional ground wires between the hot.

If my horse knew the fence wasn't on, she would hook her foot on it and pull until it broke. And I've had deer's horns hook on the fence and break a few strands.

My goat kept getting out so I finally had to put up a woven wire with a hot wire in front to keep her in. Haven't had a problem since.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), February 11, 2002.


Making sure the fence is grounded is certainly the first step -- it has to hurt when they touch it. If you aren't getting a strong enough shock, you may need a stronger box. If it does give a good zap, my next step would be to make sure the filly knows it hurts. This may sound harsh, but it usually works -- hose her down and walk her right into it. She needs to fear the fence. It doesn't "hold" a horse in; a horse must be unwilling to touch it. Also, be sure your wires are low enough to the ground (bottom one maybe 6 inches from ground) and close together. She's young and therefore small. Use a heavy gauge wire that is tight on the insulators and don't use those thin fiberglass rods with the insulators that slide on. Use T- or U-posts or wood. Check all splices and be sure they are done properly. My three year old paint colt was recently doing the same thing; I had to restring my entire fence. With such a young filly, you might consider setting up a smaller paddock for her with tightly strung electric and a run of heavy chicken wire or sheep fencing on the outside of the posts as a visual barrier. Good luck!

-- Mayleen Farrington (mayleen@gwi.net), February 11, 2002.

Angela, I am no expert like some are, but I know that our electric fence is only powered by a little solar cell and it gives a terrific zap if you(or the cows and horses)touch it. It also contains a stallion just fine. You mentioned something that I have a question about. You mentioned an electric fence that will shock through weeds and grass? I may have mis understood but with ours if even a little daisy stem touches that wire it goes kaput and no longer works. I have to keep that whole area underneath that fence absolutely clear. I spray it with Roundup a couple of times a year all the way around. Don't know if all electric fences are like this or not, maybe just this design? Hope this helps a little. Now I'll leave it to the experts.. LOL LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), February 12, 2002.

I have a large solar box, and 3 ground rods, about 3 feet apart, 10 foot from the box. Ground wire goes from box to rod to rod to rod. You should not get shocked touching the ground wire, if you do, something is not right. Mine is so powerfull, if it is touching something, you can see the spark at night, and hear the popping. I can walk the fence and just listen, and hear where the problem is. I can hear the ticking of the box from along ways away. I have been shocked a few times, and every time it made me cry real tears. You can hear a big pop, and then a goat scream.

I love this solar box, it was 200.00 at the feed store. We got the biggest wire, and we made our own insulators from electrical wire and black water hose and garden hose around T-posts when needed. I don't like the look of the bright yellow plastic holders everywhere.

We nailed a 10" piece of #12 elect. wire to the wood posts, then bent at a right angle, and slid a 8" piece of black water hose over that, and bent the end of the wire to hold it. Then we just wrap the elect. wire around these, and crimp. They stick out away from the wood posts and the field fence a good ways and aren't ugly.

-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@msn.com), February 12, 2002.


Angela, check the fence yourself with the "piece of grass test", find a piece of fescue grass at least six inches long and at the farthest end of the grass piece, touch the fence, if you don't "feel" anything at all, slide the grass closer. You should feel a tingling even at the farthest distance, if there is nothing at all, that explains your filly getting out.

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), February 12, 2002.


Thank you all for your awnsers! I am going to buy new ground rods...what is the best conductor metal for these? I also was reading the manual for the fence box and I belive that thier is a special way the wire should be set up...which it's not set up that way...so it may not be delivering the shock it needs to because of that. I did walk her up to the fence, and touched her nose to it...it shocked her, but not with the results I want...she got out again last night. (It is too cold to wet her down though)She is put up in the small pen I built when she first got here again. I am going to completely re-do my fence, with the electric fence tape. I have a friend who has some extra fence boxes with higher power than mine, so if she gets out after I fix it, I am going to use one of those. I was thinking about useing woven wire, but it is hard without a fence stretcher or tractor to tighten it and make it withstand what it should. I am also going to make the fence 5 strands...and as I hope to one day put my goat in with them...how low should the lowest strand be to keep a pygmy goat in? Thank you all so much again!

-- Angela (Daizy_73@hotmail.com), February 12, 2002.

Years ago we had a horse that wanted to "bull" the woven wire fence. (Walk or push it down) He was constantly getting out and letting the cows out. My brother installed a double strand electric fence inside the woven fence, tied an ear of corn to the electric fence, and waited until he got his mouth and teeth wrapped around it. Then plugged it in. He never did any "bulling" again. Wouldn't touch ANYTHING that even vaguely looked like a wire. I really didn't know "tame" horses could go straight up in the air like that. Sounds cruel, but it sure saved on fences. If he ever DID come across a wire he would skirt around it very carefully. Made an excellent trail horse. He was very respectful after that. GL! Maybe your paint just likes the grass and flowers in your back yard better than you do. :.> Edible landscaping is a wonderful thing...

-- Gailann Schrader (gtschrader@aol.com), February 13, 2002.

There are some horses that are apparantly not as affected by electric shocks as others ... I have two ... one appaloosa pony mare and one yearling Connemara filly. I suspect the pony mare is both stubborn and touch-insensitive ... the filly has a very heavy coat and particularly mane and has learned to "duck under" ...

The only solution I've found is to put those two in a separate paddock that is "hard wired" ... four wires, two hot and two heavy smooth wire.

-- SFM (sportpony@yahoo.com), February 14, 2002.


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