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Fencing

By Peggy Miller, Iowa State University

Fences are a major investment for a horse farm. The fence should keep horses on the property. Properly designed paddocks/pasture

fences allowing for controlled grazing and segregating groups of horses. Fencing decisions should be based on the age of the animal,

breed and temperament of the animal, production system, and situation. There are two types of fences - - physical barriers, such as

woven wire, high tensile, and wood, and

physiological barriers, such as poly wire, poly tape, low-tension smooth wire, and electric wire.Understand the purpose of a fence. It is not when horses are peacefully grazing. Horses are notorious for being harder on fences then

other livestock. What happens when an excited horse hits a fence or horses are romping and accidently hit a fence? Because they are

faster and stronger they hit a fence with more force than other livestock. Horses also fight harder when caught in a fence compared to

other livestock. So the purpose of the fence is how it stands up to the horse hitting it, running into it, or getting caught in it.

Horse fences should be 54 to 60 inches above the ground. A rule of thumb is to have the fence at least shoulder height. There should

be an 8-inch clearance on the bottom to allow animals such as rabbits to escape but this is to small for horses to get their head under.

The openings in fences should be either small enough where foals or small horses cannot get their hooves through or large enough

where there is little chance of sticking a leg or head through. Small, safe openings are less than 3-inches square.

Open spaces between rails or strands should be 12 inches or less. The open space can be increased to 18 inches because horses avoid

touching the fence.

To discourage horses who reach over, scratch or lean on fences place a single strand of electric wire 4 to 6 inches above or just insidethe top rail.

A large variety of fencing materials exist and all of them have advantages and disadvantages. Plan the fence and especially the

foundation or posts. The post spacings are as follows: woven wire - 14- to 16-foot spacing, high tensile wire - 16- to 90-foot spacing,

and electric wire - 20- to 90-foot spacing.. Listed below are web sites for determining the price of fences.

Useful Web-Sites for Fences

Estimated Costs for Livestock Fencinghttp://www.extension.iastate.edu/publications/fm1855.pdf

Constructing High-Tensile Wire Fenceshttp://pubs.ext.vt.edu/442/442-132/442-132.pdf

Virginia Cooperative Extension Fence Budgets - Fence cost calculators for a variety of fenceshttp://pubs.ext.vt.edu/446/446-048/446-

048.html#FenceBudgets

University of Kentucky Fence Budget Calculator - Fence cost calculator for woven wire

http://www.bae.uky.edu/ext/Livestock/Calculators/LivestockCalculator_FenceWovenBarbed.htm

University of Kentucky Fence Budget Calculator - Fence cost calculator for High Tensile Wire

http://www.bae.uky.edu/ext/livestock/Calculators/LivestockCalculators_FenceHighTensile.htm

Helpful Hint - Calculating Acreage Length for Fencing Mile = 1,320 ft. or 80 rods Mile = 2,640 ft. or 160 rods

1 mile = 5,280 ft. or 320 rods

43,560 square feet = 1 Acre

Example: The square root of 43,560 is 208.47062 so one possibility is a square that is 208 .5 feet long and 208.5 feet wide 43,560 =

208.47 x 208.47

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/publications/fm1855.pdfhttp://www.extension.iastate.edu/publications/fm1855.pdfhttp://www.extension.iastate.edu/publications/fm1855.pdfhttp://pubs.ext.vt.edu/442/442-132/442-132.pdfhttp://pubs.ext.vt.edu/442/442-132/442-132.pdfhttp://pubs.ext.vt.edu/442/442-132/442-132.pdfhttp://pubs.ext.vt.edu/446/446-048/446-048.html#FenceBudgetshttp://pubs.ext.vt.edu/446/446-048/446-048.html#FenceBudgetshttp://pubs.ext.vt.edu/446/446-048/446-048.html#FenceBudgetshttp://pubs.ext.vt.edu/446/446-048/446-048.html#FenceBudgetshttp://www.bae.uky.edu/ext/Livestock/Calculators/LivestockCalculator_FenceWovenBarbed.htmhttp://www.bae.uky.edu/ext/Livestock/Calculators/LivestockCalculator_FenceWovenBarbed.htmhttp://www.bae.uky.edu/ext/livestock/Calculators/LivestockCalculators_FenceHighTensile.htmhttp://www.bae.uky.edu/ext/livestock/Calculators/LivestockCalculators_FenceHighTensile.htmhttp://www.bae.uky.edu/ext/livestock/Calculators/LivestockCalculators_FenceHighTensile.htmhttp://www.bae.uky.edu/ext/Livestock/Calculators/LivestockCalculator_FenceWovenBarbed.htmhttp://pubs.ext.vt.edu/446/446-048/446-048.html#FenceBudgetshttp://pubs.ext.vt.edu/446/446-048/446-048.html#FenceBudgetshttp://pubs.ext.vt.edu/442/442-132/442-132.pdfhttp://www.extension.iastate.edu/publications/fm1855.pdf