horse fence for boarding facility

[CesumPec]

This is a cross posting but I wanted to get the opinions of horsey people. What I stupidly failed to mention in the original is that we will be operating a horse boarding facility so we need to have something functional as well as attractive. I love white wood fences on horse pastures, but the white and the wood doesn't last long enough in florida sun to make it practical. It is also too expensive for my budget. BTW - the existing barbed wire is nowhere near where the horses will be.

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Best fencing type?
I need to erect 3+ miles of border fence and probably a couple of miles of cross fencing. I've put in about 1 mile of border fence already in some of the remote parts of the farm to control trespassers. On those I used PT wood posts and 3 strands of barbed wire.

Now I need to put up the border fence. What do you suggest I use for each of the areas below?

Part A - about 40 acres for horses.
Part B - about 80 acres for cattle mostly but will also keep a small number of sheep, goats, pigs, chickens for family and friends
Part C - 5 acres for gardens, veggies, berries, and fruit trees. I am considering getting this area organic certified so I'm not sure if I can use PT wood posts.

Issues to consider -
1. sandy soil - this is central Florida so posts don't hold well when using an auger to dig holes. However, I have a hydraulic post driver that sets posts pretty solid.
2. local predators and competitors include coyotes, feral dogs, bears, lots of deer and wild hogs, wild turkeys. To slow the deer I'm considering a double fence line around the garden area.
3. The cattle will be on a rotational grazing plan and I'll probably run the sheep/goats behind them.
4. the chix have a mobile coop which I'll probably surround with an electronet and move them through the cattle pastures. They free range half the day but I'm afraid that once I bring in the other critters, more predators will be attracted.
5. on the southern side of the property there is about a mile of very old welded wire fence. To remove it would be very time consuming and labor intensive. My goal is to have two layers of fence so that if any critters get thru the first layer there is another fence to slow them down. The old welded wire will have to serve as the secondary fence for the next few years.
6. Terrain - from high spot to low there is only a 50 ft drop, almost all gentle slopes, and only an occasional depression that requires some sort of non standard set up. There is only one area where the property line is choppy. Mostly I can run straight lines about 1300 ft long.

what else do you need to know to help me decide what types of fence to use in each area? and do you have a preferred brand/supplier that is significantly better or different than the rest?

Your assistance is HUGELY appreciated

[Teej]

Since you need to keep out predators I would use no climb horse fence with a wood rail going across the top to keep it stabilized because of the deer jumping it (an electric wire going across the top does not discourage the deer). It would look nice and be sturdy for your border fence. Then you could use an electric fence for your cross fencing if cost is an issue since it would be cheaper although if you're going to be boarding horses I would do all their areas in the no climb fence. Reason being that it would be likely that you will be introducing strange horses on a fairly regular basis and in a state of high excitement a horse will run through an electric fence.

[Joshie]

Originally Posted by Teej

Since you need to keep out predators I would use no climb horse fence with a wood rail going across the top to keep it stabilized because of the deer jumping it (an electric wire going across the top does not discourage the deer). It would look nice and be sturdy for your border fence. Then you could use an electric fence for your cross fencing if cost is an issue since it would be cheaper although if you're going to be boarding horses I would do all their areas in the no climb fence. Reason being that it would be likely that you will be introducing strange horses on a fairly regular basis and in a state of high excitement a horse will run through an electric fence.

This is what we have but I don't like it. I'd pull it in a minute and replace with electric. We have tons of deer but see no reason to keep them out. Heck, a determined deer is impossible to keep out. A nearby wildlife park keeps either six or eight (pretty sure it's eight) foot fencing that has prison-looking barbed wire at the top around their bison. The deer jump freely over that fence. I often see babies in that enclosure. I asked the park if they'd put the deer in the enclosure and they said no.

We have coyotes galore but haven't found anything that will keep them out. We have a good deal of woods and the coyotes seem to like them and the creek that runs through it. Across the road there are quite a few lakes that were created by strip mining. Our neighbors across the road also have tons of coyotes. They have three strand electric and have. Ever had a problem with their horses. Coyotes really don't bother horses around here --- and we have a lot of them. We've even had them within a few feet of the house. I would suspect you'd have more problems with dogs and dog-coyote crosses.

I forget who it is but somebody here has pictures of their predator proof fencing. It is quite impressive but I am sure it cost a pretty penny.

As far as the fencing goes, the horse fence with deep, wooden posts, cross posting, and boards across the top are a pain to maintain. If you choose this type of fencing I would paint the boards. Our top boards want to pop every year or two even though they are screwed in with deep screws.

Our horses seem to better respect the areas that have electric wire at the top. Oh, our horses think the grass is better on the other side so do their best to move the bottom over to get to the grass. We have had some issues with them cutting themselves by kicking the fencing. Once one got stuck in the fencing.

The areas where we have three strands of electric do the best for us. They require little maintaince and ate the most respected fencing we have.

[fols]

A friend of mine opened a boarding facility here in Ohio last year. She used Kencove hi-tensile fence for exterior and cross-fencing. It is coated in white plastic, so it is highly visible to the horses but still has the qualities of hi-tensile and electric fences.
An added benefit to doing hi-tensile is less line posts required and if a tree falls on it, it is so easy to fix. As others have said, your corner posts and brace posts must be well set or the tension will lift them out.

[CesumPec]

I have some telephone poles that are sea water grade PT to use for corners, ends, and gate posts. My supply is limited but hopefully I'll come up with more before I have to finish the job.

[Teej]

Joshie, the reasoning behind the top rail was to keep the deer from making the top of the fence sag from when they jump it and their hooves, legs scrape across the top. Like you said nothing will keep them out. OP also needs to keep sheep & goats in as well as cattle & horses. Paint or spray the boards with kreosote & let them be natural. They don't have to pretty white.

We have 4-strand high-tensile fencing and it still requires constant maintainance. Like your screws & nails pop out so do ones holding the insulators. If you use the insulating tubes with staples they wear out over time & start making your fence short out. Lightning hits the fence and blows out the charger even plugging into lightning protectors. You also have to keep the fence free of grass, weeds, & limbs (big & little) that blow down.

Fence + animals = work no matter which route you take.

[CesumPec]

just to be clear, the area for the horses is just horses, except maybe some chickens to scratch the manure. So the fencing for that area doesn't have to be the same as the cattle etc area. And I'm not worried about deer in with the horses. In fact, I will welcome them there and occasionally invite one to dinner. The only place I really need to keep deer out is the orchard/garden area.

[CesumPec]

Originally Posted by fols

A friend of mine opened a boarding facility here in Ohio last year. She used Kencove hi-tensile fence for exterior and cross-fencing. It is coated in white plastic, so it is highly visible to the horses but still has the qualities of hi-tensile and electric fences.
An added benefit to doing hi-tensile is less line posts required and if a tree falls on it, it is so easy to fix. As others have said, your corner posts and brace posts must be well set or the tension will lift them out.

I like the look of the white HT electric for horse fencing with maybe a top row of the 2 inch polytape. Any downsides for the horses?

[CesumPec]

Originally Posted by Teej

Joshie, the reasoning behind the top rail was to keep the deer from making the top of the fence sag from when they jump it and their hooves, legs scrape across the top. Like you said nothing will keep them out. OP also needs to keep sheep & goats in as well as cattle & horses. Paint or spray the boards with kreosote & let them be natural. They don't have to pretty white.

We have 4-strand high-tensile fencing and it still requires constant maintainance. Like your screws & nails pop out so do ones holding the insulators. If you use the insulating tubes with staples they wear out over time & start making your fence short out. Lightning hits the fence and blows out the charger even plugging into lightning protectors. You also have to keep the fence free of grass, weeds, & limbs (big & little) that blow down.

Fence + animals = work no matter which route you take.

What kind of posts did you use with the HT? have you ever used those plastic predrilled line posts? No insulators or staples at least on the line posts.

[Teej]

Pressure treated posts. Have not used the predrilled line posts but at our old place the fence guy used some kind of plastic posts for spacers (they did not go into the ground) so therefore didn't have to use as many wooden posts. Our ground here is very hilly and and the fence guy recommended all wood posts.

We did fence in another pasture using 2 t-posts between the wood posts. The deer really like to take that fence out since the insulators that go on the t-posts are easier to break.

Don't get me wrong, the high tensile fencing works very well for us. It looks nice and other than the few issues I mentioned earlier it has held up very well. BUT, I don't board any other horses here and if you are going to I think you might lose some possible boarders if you use high tensile. I can't tell you how many times I've had people tell me they think electric fencing makes their horse spooky (mine aren't) or that they don't like high tensile because it will cut their horses legs all up, etc... etc... Part of that problem (cutting up the legs) comes when folks only electrify the top wire or at least the ones I know that has been the case. We did have one horse who peeled all the skin off the front of his cannon bone one time, but he was the type that would have found a way hurt himself in a padded stall.

The coated high tensile that fols was talking about would take care of the people that are worried about injuries but not the ones who don't like to keep their horses inside electric fences. Of course no matter which way you go, you'd probably never please everyone.

[dkrabec]

We just redid our fencing with high tensile we electrified it and I love it. The horses respect it and like a previous poster said it is easy to maintain if say a tree or a horse push against it. In my opinion you would not have a problem at a boarding facility especially if its electric, horses have a respect for electricity, and since it is a much higher gauge then regular electric fence they cannot run through it, and if they hit it they bounce off of it. It used a lot fewer fence posts then no climb, and the plastic spacers are useful in on the longer runs between fence posts. We followed the little booklet, from TSC, for installation instructions we did five strands, on our perimeter and with cross fencing. I would also imagine that it keep predators out, and cattle in. Ranchers in other countries have been using this stuff for years, with good results. It was also a lot cheaper then no climb.