All about Horse Fencing

Horses are naturally flighty animals and rely heavily on their eyesight. That’s why it’s important to choose fencing that suits their behaviour. For horses, highly visible fencing is generally the best choice. If a horse is startled or feels threatened, its natural instinct is to run. A well-designed electric fence can help reduce the risk of serious injury, as the horse is less likely to become caught up in the fence. By comparison, running into a barbed wire fence can result in serious injuries. Choosing the right fencing for horses is therefore essential for keeping them safely contained while reducing the risk of injury. 

Installing a Horse Fence

There are a few important things to consider when setting up a horse fence. The fence needs to be high enough to prevent horses from jumping over it, as horses are capable jumpers and can easily clear a low fence. The spacing between the posts is also important. If the posts are too far apart, the conductors can sag, making the fence less effective and potentially less safe. With a mobile or temporary fence, the posts are usually pushed less deeply into the ground than permanent posts. To keep the fence stable, the posts should therefore be positioned closer together, as shown in the photo above.

Mobile electric horse fencing 

Mobile horse fencing is a handy way to create temporary paddocks and corrals without the need for permanent fencing. It makes it easy to move horses onto fresh grazing, give parts of the field time to recover and keep grass intake under control. You can also use it for strip grazing or simply divide a larger field into smaller paddocks as and when you need to.

What you’ll need to build this fence:

1. Solar energiser is the mobile power source of your fence
2. Earth stake connects to the green connection cable with crocodile clip with the energiser
3. Earth stake + mounting adapter or energiser stand 
4. Red connection cable with crocodile clip connects the energiser with the tape conductor
5. A tape connector will electrify both fence tape lines
6. Plastic fence posts (height up to 135 cm for horses and 115 cm for ponies)
7. Electric fence tape is ideal for horses due to its high visibility 

Permanent electric horse fencing 

Permanent fencing is a good option if you want a more fixed setup for your horses. Wooden posts with electric fencing can be used to create clear boundaries around fields and paddocks, giving you a sturdy fence that stays in place year-round. It also works well if you have set grazing areas that you don’t need to move or change regularly. Of course, you can still divide permanent grazing areas into smaller sections using gates.

What you’ll need to build this fence:

1. A mains energiser powers your fence
2. Lead out cables can be used to connect the energiser to a earth stake 
3. Earth stakes are required for grounding (check the energiser specs page for earth stakes per energiser)
4. A connection plate is attached to the tape insulator and connects through the lead out cable with the energiser. Another option is a tape connection cable between energiser and fence tape. 
5. Screw Horse tape insulators into the posts at recommended heights
6. A tape connector will electrify both fence tape lines
7. tape insulators can be screwed into wooden posts 
8. tape gate handles can create gate for your or your horses to pass through
9. gate handle insulators can easily be screwed into the posts

We're here to help

We hope we’ve given you plenty of useful tips to get you started. If you’ve got any questions, feedback or just want to chat through the best fencing setup for your horses or ponies, we’re always happy to help. Drop us a line at [email protected], we’d love to hear from you!