shetland ponies and electric fencing, confused!

T

trooper baby

New Member
Aug 20, 2006
7
0
0
im thinking of getting a shetland pony that would be kept in a field with electric fencing, but have been told by someone you should not do this as they walk straight through it, i was then told by someone who keeps their shetlands in a paddock with electric fencing that they have never had a problem with this, :confused::confused::confused: i am know confused weather or not it will be safe to get one and wondered what other peoples experiences with electric fencing and shetlands are? :)
 
We have a shetland in with the rest of the mares and she has no problems with the electric fencing. Only problem we do have is that we have to put extra tape across the gateway as she just walks under the spring gate and wanders in to the geldings field :rolleyes:
 
you can't have enough strands of electric tape, as ponies can limbo :D

mine (12.3hh!) got under a normal sized (3ft posts or something) one stranded fence in the summer. and yes it WAS electrified ....

Julia
x
 
i was going to layer it and poss have another row layered around the ouside (hope that makes sense?:confused) but was told by first lady that would still be useless and they would walk straight through! :rolleyes:
 
Wally would be the expert on this but with some shetlands nothing sort of Colditz would be enough and even then they would still escape.

Donkeys are also bad with electric - if they are rugged like mine, Aimee occasionally just walks through it, limbos between 2 strands. I wouldn't like to rely on it as a boundary/external fence with shetlands.
 
Our shetland pony used to limbo under post and rail fencing (she must have done a SAS style roll - both in and out). She is now in a field with electric fencing and has stayed in the field. However, her shetland friend just runs through the electric fencing - so I do think it will depend on your shetland's character.
 
At my old yard we had a minature Shetland and a shetland x and they were both fine with it we just lowered the height of the tape and had it double/ triple taped including the gate becasue they would just walk out but it was the foals you had to watch one of them didn't even care it would just walk under it and it was the closest bit to the power supply or just barge through it!!
 
My Shettie doesn't walk through fence!
She goes under the part of the fence that keeps Katey out of the hedge but that's 3'6 high!
 
My shetty would have walked through a brick wall!!!:mad:
she had 4 strips of electric fencing and she STILL went through the whole lot!!!:mad:
I ended up having to teather her she was that bad
when i moved to my new yard they would not allow teathering or muzzleing,(as it is 15acres) so i had to sell her,luckily the friend i sold her to ,has his own land and she is teathered there and we see her often,she is now in foal.:D
 
If a horse wants to jump they will jump and its impossible to keep them in unless it is high enough.

However imo its not about the number of strands but the amount of current the fence is putting out.

We have a horse up at the yard currently and he has been ploughing through the tape and has stood chewing it as there wasn't much current going through it. So I got our energiser out which is more powerful and put it on the fence and boy you should have seen horsey run when he put his mouth straight on it.

I have a little digit tester and it tells you the current going through the fence. Lets put it this way I tested the two energizers and our puts out 2 & a 1/2 times the amount the little one was. I had it up for a couple of weeks and the horse never went through it at all.

I would say if your going to invest in one, pay out for one more expensive they usually put out more poke.
 
My shetland doesnt even notice the electric fencing. He now gets to wander where ever he wants. Fortuantely it is a safe yard and paddocks so not too much bother

Jenny and Tyler
x
 
My mini wanders where he likes and I don't leave the fence on as I don't want to get it nicked. I put it out at various times just to remind him to respect it. Unfortunately it works for a day or two and then he's back to his old tricks!!
 
not just shetties who have a complete lack of respect for fencing :mad: i have a delightful 11.2 native thing who will go through barb wire, sheep fencing, leccy tape, blackthorn hedges, stone walls, you name it he can escape from it, now he is tethered, but this week he is tethered to a tree on the boundary and yep , he managed to get through the hedge and barb wire into next doors field :rolleyes:
as far as leccy goes, he has worked out that if he runs fast enough at it, it will give somewhere,and the brief moment of leccy pain is not painful enough to stop him lol. i've seen him do it and he literally walks the fence looking for the best spot then turns and charges at it like a goat :mad:
 
i think it depends on the pony!

i no horses who will walk thorugh it, i no shetties who will walk through it, and i no ponies who will walk through it.
i also know horses, shetties and ponies who it will keep in!
 
We sometimes have to reinforce the wire so it's tight and they press hard against it to get a good zap. But they do respect it.
 
Our shettie is petrified of electric tape - wont go near it. My cob is not bothered about it though and does not mind being zapped in order to get a mouthful of the green stuff so leans on it and bends the posts! Daughters new pony can jump it! Yes even on top height (11 1 hh pony!!!!) Nevertheless, I use it x
 
There are two small ponies at my yard who just climb right through two layers or electric fencing, which is def. switched on! It seems getting a zap is worth being able to have the run around. Or maybe they're so fuzzy they don't even feel it.
 
Last edited:
Its not just Shetlands!

My Welshie feels nothing from standard electric fence energisers so we had to upgrade to the most powerfull one in the shop, its rated for to cover 4KM of strand to contain Buffalo and Wild Boar!!:eek: It has to have a heavy duty jeep or tractor battery to power it and drains it in 1 week!

He used to just walk up to the fence, drop his head so that he could lift it on his neck and then push under it. :mad:

I got such a laugh when he got zapped by the new energiser, he let out a massive squeel and charged off across the field bucking.:D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
newrider.com
Top Bottom