HORSEGUARDFENCE.com Topic of the Month

The Width of the Horse fence

For millions of years, chased by dinosaurs lions or wolves The survival reaction of horses was fleeing through bushes, branches or what ever was in front of them.

As DVM Robert M. Miller explains in his imprinting method: "The horse is a plains creature whose prime defense is flight. His width of vision is geared to seeing any movement over a wide angle. However there is a partial blind angle directly in front of his head so when a danger threatens such as thunder, shots, aircraft noise or any other danger (imagined or real) his reflex is to bolt. "

Horses are also curious of new things and coupled to the reflex action of flight this has to be countered in any fencing system.

So as a natural selection, The horses lines that did not act so... have simply disappeared and the one we have to deal with are the one that are " flighting " straight in the front!!!

Of course, this situation seldom happen, but a real horse person should consider that it can happen...

When fleeing (spooking) he still react the same way and so at this moment when facing a fence should this represent a cross proof obstacle. A barrier as wide as branch, an obstacle that his conservative instinct during the split second when he has to chose...will force him to go around and not through ( going around his fence as he is himself inside will be impossible, but by curbing right or left this will give him the time to cool down and stop).

The solution is to install 2, 3 or 4 strands of 1 1/2 inch large tape. This is the answer to the problem.

But there is another problem... the respect of the fence. To be on the safe side (you and your horse) he should never touch his fence ! and there are several good reasons for that:

During summer just imagine how he suffers from the flies and how tempting it is to scratch himself on to the fence... and from leaning, justpush it dawn!
If he can nibble the neighbor horse in the next pasture, very soon will the fence be no more an obstacle. A horse even just pushing a fence can gently apply 400 pounds pressure to it. Is your fence strong enough to take that pressure?
Galloping along side of his fence he knows where are all the tops of the posts ...except may be once, when he banged this terrible Tee post top, we all know how delicate and fragile is the skin of our friends, so why all posts protrude on top the fences...for decoration purpose I gess, not for safety of the horse...
The grass is greener on the other side of the fence ...but for him this is permanently true as he keep punching his grass with his four drastically efficient hooves... So in summer how can he resist to this gorgeous wisp of ray grass that he could reach through his fence ?

The answer is the Zap that he knows he will get each time he "flirts" with the tape. Pretty soon he will give-up trying.

We have been asking ourselves for quite a long while if we should show this terrible photograph. Being aware of our role as "fence doctors",
it would be wrong not to inform you of this terrible danger

Several companies are currently marketing a 0.39 inch rope and several accidents have been reported so far. The explanation is simple, the horses had seen the rope alright, but decided they could break it as a twig !!! in fact this rope is 4 tons breaking point and they severely hurt themselves or even like this exceptional stud of the Dutch National stud farm...cut his throat himself.

I asked myself if I had the right to show you this horrible picture...but a fence doctor is a fence doctor isn’t he?

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