Fencing for Horse Pastures

Horses are a one of the more common livestock animals kept by landowners. Their beauty, strength, and usability are highly sought after and showing, training, and breeding horses can provide a lucrative business. Knowing how to properly house them is key, as these large animals can be quite destructive on fencing.

  1. Significance

    • Horse fencing serves the basic purpose of containing the horses within a controlled space. In most instances, the space is a pasture or paddock. This can vary greatly in size from hundreds and even thousands of acres, to a small area only measuring by feet. Horses need to be contained to keep them from wandering into neighboring properties, harming other livestock or people or causing auto accidents.

    Types

    • Horse fencing varies from single strands of hi-tensile electric wire or multi-strands of barbed, smooth or mesh wire to wooden, vinyl or cable fencing. Most landowners choose fencing according to their budget, with wire being the least expensive and vinyl and cable being the more expensive options.

    Features

    • All horse fencing features some basic common elements. Corner posts maintain the tension of the fence line. Fence posts are needed to attach the fence material to a sturdy anchor at set intervals. Gates provide access to the pastures. Clips or nails attach the fence to the posts.

    Identification

    • Identify horse fencing by its construction. Wire with sharp barbs on it is barbed-wire fencing. Identical to this but without the barbs, or knots, is the smooth-wire fence. Wire shaped into small rectangles or "V" shapes is a mesh wire horse fence. Single or double strands of thick wire stretched for long distances is usually a hi-tensile electric wire. Wood or cable fencing is made from those materials. Vinyl fencing can be harder to identify without close inspection, as it mimics wood fencing from a distance.

    Considerations

    • When choosing a horse fence for your own property, consider the amount of acreage to be fenced as larger acreages will make the more expensive options less feasible. Buy the best quality fencing your budget allows, but reserve some funds for other horse expenses.