| Deciding to build a horse fence is the easy part. | | | | for less than half that! But, it was what she |
| The next step is putting it on paper, then buying | | | | wanted. |
| and installing the best fence you can afford. | | | | Many people get along just fine with electric rope |
| Someone recently requested help in designing and | | | | or tape. You decide whether you need it or not. |
| choosing a horse fence. This is how we did it. | | | | Had she gone with just four strands of electric |
| Put it on paper | | | | rope, her total rail cost for the whole pasture |
| Sit down and draw the pasture you will be fencing | | | | would only be (4 X 880 X.09 =) $316.80. She |
| on paper. It may or may not be square. One | | | | would save over $500 by using four strands of |
| important thing to keep in mind when laying out | | | | electric horse fence and not buying the flex fence. |
| your fencing is that any corner that is less than | | | | Again, that extra $500 was a bargain if it made |
| 90 degrees should be rounded or cross-fenced. | | | | her feel safe. |
| You do not want a corner that your horse could | | | | Since her fence was going to be 55" high, the |
| get trapped in. | | | | space between the wires was about a foot (with |
| Also mark your gates. Make sure you take into | | | | the first one a foot off the ground). Experts will |
| consideration your future needs when you plan | | | | tell you that the spacing should be about 10 |
| gates. Have at least one gate big enough to get | | | | inches. Most of my horse fence uses between 10 |
| equipment through. Mark them on your drawing. | | | | and 12 inches of space. |
| If you think you may want additional gates later, | | | | What about the fence posts? |
| mark them now so that you can add the extra | | | | The closer the spacing, the stronger the fence will |
| posts needed. You don't have to put the gates in | | | | be. Since she wanted to use the flex fence, we |
| now, you can simply fence over them - and add | | | | decided to go with 10 foot spacing between the |
| a gate later. | | | | posts. Had she been using only electric rope, I |
| Add the total of all four sides to get the total | | | | would have suggested 12 - 15 foot spacing. I |
| lineal feet. If your horse pasture is perfectly | | | | have seen people use 20 - 25 foot spacing when |
| square, you will have 840 feet - but I don't know | | | | using electric rope. ElectroBraid claims you can |
| anyone with perfectly square horse pastures. Our | | | | space your posts up to 50 feet apart using their |
| new one acre horse pasture came to 880 lineal | | | | brand. I would still recommend a smaller spacing. |
| feet. | | | | Because she was using the flex fence, t-posts |
| Now that you have the lineal feet, multiply that | | | | were not an option. We decided that she needed |
| by the number of rails or strands you will be | | | | 98 posts. (880 feet divided by 10 foot spacing) |
| using. | | | | PLUS 10 posts for corner bracing and gates. |
| She didn't have a lot of money for this project, | | | | She got a really good deal on 4" round wooden |
| so we decided to use 3 strands of electric rope | | | | posts. She bought 110 posts for $300. Had she |
| at .09 cents per foot and one rail of 4.25 inch | | | | gone to a lumber yard, she might have paid up to |
| flex-fence at .70 cents per foot. We designed it | | | | $7 (or more) each for them. |
| so that the top strand was electric rope to | | | | Typically posts should be set at least 36 inches |
| discourage the horse from leaning on the top of | | | | deep. Corner posts and gates should be set |
| the fence. Under that came the 4.25 flex rail to | | | | deeper because of the extra stress they are |
| strengthen the fence and make it more visible to | | | | subjected to. |
| her horse. The bottom two strands were electric | | | | Extra notes: |
| rope. The discourages pests from outside and | | | | - End, corner and gate posts need to be longer |
| keeps her horse from pushing on the bottom rail | | | | than the other posts as they need to be set |
| to get to "greener grass" under the fence (and | | | | deeper. |
| ending up breaking the fence). | | | | - Corners and ends should be braced. |
| What's it gonna cost? | | | | - If you use t-posts with horse fence, buy t-post |
| To get the total cost for the rails, we multiply 3 | | | | toppers. They cost under a dollar each, but help |
| (strands) times 880 (feet/electric rope) times.09 | | | | protect your horse from injury. |
| (cost of the rope per foot) | | | | - Never use t-posts in small areas. They should |
| (3 X 880 X.09 = 237.60). She spent $237.60 for | | | | only be used in large areas (if at all). |
| the three strands of electric rope. | | | | - For very active horses, space your posts closer |
| Add to that the length of one rail of flex fence. | | | | to make the fence stronger. |
| (.70 x 880 = 616). She spent $616 for the one rail | | | | - Do not put gates in a corner. |
| of flex fence. Whew! Kind of expensive | | | | - If you have only one gate, make sure it is wide |
| considering she got three strands of electric rope | | | | enough that your equipment will fit through. |