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The mkiv Supra Owners Club

Who knows about horses?


Chris Wilson

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How come you can keep several racehorses in a field with relatively low fencing yet the beasts don't try to jump it, which they obviously could easily do should they so wish, to get to better pasture on the other side? Just curious... The fence is normal post and rail, not electric tape or anything that would use fear to keep them away from it.

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All the fields with horses around here have electric tape fences; although they are not always turned on. My Lab sniffed one that was definitely turned on and got quite a shock! he now gives them a very wide berth. Perhaps the horses have previously been in fields with electric fences and have learnt the same lesson??

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Entirly depends on the horse. Some are born escape artists, others wouldn't move from their paddocks if you let a lion loose in there with them. Some respect electric fences, some don't (depends a lot on the quality of the fence and how much they have been zapped in the past). I've seen horses lean on a live electric fence until it falls over just to get a few mouthfulls of grass from the other side. Presumably the amount of current going to it at the time was quite low. My boy used to need a good zap about once every three months to refresh his memory :)

 

When grazing gets low in their own feild, a horse will reach over or through a fence to nibble a bit further if they can. What sometimes happens in these situations is that the fence gives way and the horse wanders through and gorges itself, unaware that they have done anything wrong. Horses and ponies who will actually leap a fence specifically to get to grazing are relatively rare in my experience. Much more common to do it to get to another horse for company. Leaping out of a paddock with company means leaving the security of the herd and horses usually put safety before everything else. Horses that do escape are easily spotted by the Stalag Luft IV grade fences and wire that their owners have erected around their fields in a desparate attempt to keep them in :)

 

Short version: If you see a horse in a field with a low fence, then the owner already knows it won't jump out (or there were two horses in there originally and one has already scarpered). :)

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Like digsy said, all depends on the horse and its mood. They are more respectful of electric fencing and won't tend to go near it if they know it'll zap them! But yes if they're in a herd they will stick together normally even if they are in post and rail fields.

We've had our horses clear a few 5 bar gates in the past. Just came home to find they weren't where you left them a few hours ago haha

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