charley

I am not sure if this is the right spot but I have a question. I am going to be boarding a friends horse for a few months. I have two horses of my own and they have no problem staying in our standard fencing. I am wondering if I should run the electric fence while my friends horse is here for fear of them escaping while I am at work. It would not take that long to re run the wire tape and I am thinking it may be a good idea. Any thoughts?

Sugar89

You could certainly add an electric fence, horses learn very quickly to avoid it. However, I'm not sure if it would be strictly necessary. If your own horses aren't likely to try to escape, then your friend's horse will probably follow herd instinct and stay with them.

beauty

I would say better safe than sorry. And, you'd only have to do it this time, bc if he learned it was there, any other time he came back, he'd remember it and not go near it. The memory horses have for those is remarkable!

aplslch

What type of fence does he have at his normal place? Lots of horses will stay with the herd, providing they are not the alpha horse and lead your horses astray. If he's used to normal fencing and not a leader he may be just fine with a regular fence.

alexis

What would happen if the horse decided to jump the fence? Thats the first thing that comes to mind for me.

charley

I checked and the horse has white wire tape. I was thinking about it and I think that I will run the wire and not hook it up. I will see because I have had horses that would see the wire tape and not even think about crossing the line. I think that I will try that at first and if there are any troubles then I will hook it all the way up.

beauty

You mean- what happens if they try to jump an electric fence? Well, if they touch it, then it gives them an electric jolt. It is not enough to cause any damage, just something that is noticable. However, what's best, is if you can somehow get them to touch it without jumping, so they know it will sting if they touch it. Most won't try to jump it then.