I write this to gain perspective and insight with people who have used different kinds of fencing since I'm completely redoing ours... because it is TIME! Actually it's past time but I digress.
We have large horses and miniature, the smallest being around 26" and even smaller when we have a baby or two. I do NOT want to use wire fencing, that's what was up when we bought the place and it has been more of a headache than a convenience. The headaches it has caused outweigh it's affordability, with the trees falling over on it, the horses pushing it over, those great times that they've kicked it and gotten a little scratched up, the minis using it to rub out their itchies -AND- the great time that someone cut the fence to our front paddock. NOT. WORTH. IT.
I was considering electric rope, but our power is really shoddy, it would end up being an expense on the electric bill, and not to mention with all of the weeds and trees surrounding our property line, it would be very easy for it to short out. We also can get ice storms and our power has gone out for up to 6 days, and I don't want to have to worry about keeping them in that long with a limited source of water.
I was also considering wood... it would be expensive but in my experiences it seems to be one of the better options. You only have to replace one board or one section if something happens, no electric costs, it's easy to replace boards. To keep in the miniature babies and keep things out, and to keep the horses from nomming away at the top board, I would run a thin line of electric on the inside that had enough bite to keep them off of it, but not enough to significantly raise the power bill. I could also switch it off when horses weren't in the pasture.
Has anyone used anything different? Thoughts, opinions, advice all welcome!
We have large horses and miniature, the smallest being around 26" and even smaller when we have a baby or two. I do NOT want to use wire fencing, that's what was up when we bought the place and it has been more of a headache than a convenience. The headaches it has caused outweigh it's affordability, with the trees falling over on it, the horses pushing it over, those great times that they've kicked it and gotten a little scratched up, the minis using it to rub out their itchies -AND- the great time that someone cut the fence to our front paddock. NOT. WORTH. IT.
I was considering electric rope, but our power is really shoddy, it would end up being an expense on the electric bill, and not to mention with all of the weeds and trees surrounding our property line, it would be very easy for it to short out. We also can get ice storms and our power has gone out for up to 6 days, and I don't want to have to worry about keeping them in that long with a limited source of water.
I was also considering wood... it would be expensive but in my experiences it seems to be one of the better options. You only have to replace one board or one section if something happens, no electric costs, it's easy to replace boards. To keep in the miniature babies and keep things out, and to keep the horses from nomming away at the top board, I would run a thin line of electric on the inside that had enough bite to keep them off of it, but not enough to significantly raise the power bill. I could also switch it off when horses weren't in the pasture.
Has anyone used anything different? Thoughts, opinions, advice all welcome!