Electric fence without the electric?

Remi

New Member
Dec 16, 2007
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Amazingstoke
NOTE: Yeh, dodgy title - I couldn't think of anything that would fit...

Anyway, could you use fence posts and electric tape without leccifying it? I'm guessing, horses would knock over the cheap plastic ones but what about timber stakes?

Chestnut-mare, in your pic of your new field shelter, you had a rope fence around it. Does it work?

xx
 
we have electric rope at the yard with timber posts, Pickle checks to see if its on? and has been known to climb between the two strands if not electrified? :eek:
 
I've tried this and generally it doesn't work for long. My big cob mare always checks to see if it's on - she goes up close and appears to sniff the air close to the tape - so I don't know if she can hear something or not, but she always knows.

I now have a cob gelding, and he just walks through anything that's not on - there again, it's OK for a few days, and then he knows he's not going to get a zap and just walks through, breaking some tape as he goes.
 
Even with wood posts I think it is risky, as horses think of the tape as something they can have a go at unless they smell/hear/feel the electric current. I wouldnt risk it.
 
If your going to go to the bother of putting up fencing id electrify it as they will just plough through it when they realise its not going to hurt them. One of my mares is great she wont go near the white tape elctricfied or not but another one goes through it when the electric is off!! Im lucky if they get out of the padocks they cant get out of our land as the other 25 aches is well fenced off. If you do go ahead and put it up without electric make sure they cant wonder off or get to a road etc!
 
I had both my horses in paddocks with out electric in, until....... Charlie pony arrived from the ILPH now it has to be electrified all the time. It depends on how your horse respects the fencing. Also if they do get out do they have acces to the rosd etc.
 
It depends on the horse, it didnt work when we tried it, solo's mum's horse walked straight through it and got completely tangled. When i tried to help she cantered off and i got pushed to the ground :mad: But i know some horses which would respect it without the electric
 
my horse will not go anywhere near electric fencing on or off as it is going to eat him dont you know :) however there is other pony's and horse's on the yard that will limbo under it when they realise it is not on.
 
Mine are kept in with wooden posts and electric tape which is turned on, however sometimes i have left it off and they dont go anywhere near it. I also had to put them in a tempoary field for a month with plastic posts and no electric and again they never tried to get through.( and one of mine is a shetland too) I think it must depend on the horse. But if youre unsure then dont risk it.
 
Mine aren't even slightly tempted to escape from their electric fenced paddock (electric not on) but the two next door are through it as soon as the battery loses its initial kick - little boogars! :mad:
 
Depends on the horse.

When I didn't have my energiser switched on Joy and the colt knew.

Joy kept jumping out and the colt just ploughed on through which either snapped the 40mm tape, got him snagged so he'd have to wait for me to rescue him or ended up pinging the insulators or lossening the posts.

I now always make sure my fence is electrified with a decent charge :)
 
We have wooden posts with tape - if there's no electricity, they just walk through it like it isn't there :rolleyes: Like the posters above, they seem to test by sniffing. I have pictures somewhere of my horse pinging the tape in his mouth...
 
she goes up close and appears to sniff the air close to the tape

we couldnt work out why Pickle was out the field all the time? fence was on a mains unit? till we worke dout the mains unit, although it was flashing and clicking? wasnt actually working lol
here he is the day we bought the new unit and put it on the fence :rolleyes:
"ahhhh ****** they have a new unit"
vcutepickle.jpg
 
my two are pretty good - electric fence means no going passed it whether its on or not.. however they do know when its on and when its off - as others said, they smell it :eek:
 
Mine go through it if there is no battery on or a break in the connection. We spent ages making a wooden fence up at the field shelter cause mine kept getting stuck in the electric tape as he would see his next door neighbour eating hay and wanted to nick it. I watched him one day pushing so hard that he broke the tape :eek: The coral type fencing we built is great but i still have electric round the rest of the field i have miles of the stuff and run with 2 energisers.
 
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