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Discuss horse riding and ownership on our Horse forum.

The tack room

Fencing / stables at home on a budget :-)

15 replies

SimLondon · 03/08/2013 22:10

Hoping for some advice please on fencing in a 2 acre rectangular field at home its flat and has just been cut for hay. The plan would be to get 2/3 ponies on it (DD is only 2.5 so one would just be a very small shetland/welsh a type.)

I need to do it as cheaply as possible but we live close to a fairly busy road (hedge and ditch in between) so I want it to be more secure than just tape/plastic fence posts.

These are the quotes I've had for firms to supply/fit.

equifence with electric top rail £8.75 ex vat
round posts with two lines of 40mm tape £4.50 ex vat
round posts with three lines of rope: £3.35
square posts with tape £8.50 ex vat
post and rail £10.75 + vat

I was thinking that the cheapest option might be to buy the posts, find a local contractor to bang them in mechanically and fit the electric robe/tape ourselves?

But... my neighbour say's its essential to have a good mechanical fence e. g post/rail. OH is thinking that if we had square posts and robe/tape then we could add rails later but that would cost almost as much as post/rail.

Stable wise I was looking at Redmire's DIY kits, I was thinking of a double field shelter with one half kitted up as a stable and the other half having matts down and a gate across but very much open to suggestIons and ideas :-)

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newfavouritething · 03/08/2013 23:38

Are you absolutely sure that you're only ever going to put ponies on it? I would go for pignet and two rails, so if you ever get the urge to put sheep/goats in there or whatever, you're covered. It also makes your field more dog-proof (am making assumption that dog-walkers might use the adjoining road). Fencing really isn't that difficult - if you could hire a post knocker or ask a friendly farmer (though probably right now isn't the best time!) you could bang a few rails on and staple on the wire quite easily. I don't think that rope and/or tape is suitable for perimeter fencing - who is your neighbour? How much experience do they have? How thick is the hedge? Is it stock-proof? Or would it only need a couple of rails woven in through the weak patches? Although obviously need to check whose hedge it is first!

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SimLondon · 03/08/2013 23:53

thank-you newfavouritething - hhmmm we could well want to have the option of sheep/goats one day. Not sure about pignet - there seems to be a lot of horror stories about wire.

The hedge is only along the one end with the road and i wouldn't rely on it.

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SimLondon · 03/08/2013 23:59

Now looking at Paddock wire mesh fencing to go on posts - is that safe i wonder?

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Pixel · 04/08/2013 00:00

By pignet do you mean the same as sheep netting? If I had that I would want to put some electric fencing inside it to stop the ponies pulling their shoes off, it's terrible stuff for hooking underneath shoes if they can reach to paw at it. If our ponies lost shoes they were usually to be found hanging in the sheep netting! Other than that you make good points about making the field dog-proof and it being easy to install.

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Pixel · 04/08/2013 00:03

Wire is ok if it is taut and well-maintained (not barbed-wire obviously that's lethal).

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DSRoborovskiCyberCrimeDivision · 04/08/2013 03:58

I would maybe use pig netting, but it MUST be tight. Louise found a horse caught in this wire. It had a massive degloving injury to its leg, right down to the bone, and was eventually PTS. The poor thing had been there for at least a day!
Check out CWG. You can get rough sawn posts for around £2 each, and their rectangular 12 ft rails are £3 ish. I would then string one strand of electric wire round about, at buttock scratching height and get a mains energiser. Check out Ebay, Farmcare UK and Mole Valley online, (which is what CWG is now officially) for best prices for electric fencing supplies. Do not get insulators from Priory Farm, theirs are shite and break off within weeks!

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SimLondon · 04/08/2013 09:03

I've heard of a few injuries / shoes lost through pig netting and wire.

So 'horse safe' stock fencing on posts with a single strand of electric wire - probably get a dual energiser.

I saw cwg had become (and was momentarily confused as it was the first time i'd been there)

Off to find out prices - thanks folks.

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Loshad · 04/08/2013 22:40

please don't use pignetting, seen too many horrendous (life ending ) injuries through it.
Plain taut wire or post and rail. would not rely on electric fencing for roadside.
I would have a go at doing the roadside element of it yourselves. buy/hire a post borer and away you go
PS wait until after a day or so's rain.

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SaggyOldClothCatPuss · 04/08/2013 22:46

Agree. Your road is a bad one. You need a solid boundary along that edge. The rest, with mains electric I wouldn't be so concerned about.

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SimLondon · 04/08/2013 23:28

Well the end on the road has the hedge, ditch and will have the post/equestrian friendly mesh and a single strand of electric just to be on the safe side - Im just trying to figure out what size posts will be best and will hopefully order this week - thanks for the advice folks :-)

Saggy - im hopeful that they will be shortly lowering the speed limit on our road! Oh and I think i had the pleasure of riding with your DD and OH last weekend? Where were you?? :-)

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SaggyOldClothCatPuss · 04/08/2013 23:31

Nooo! That was Louise's husband and a teen who is friends with my DD who has a pony their too. My DP doesn't do horses, and all of us were in Cumbria! We will meet one day!
Did you have fun? I assume you rode Podge? He is a proper character!

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SimLondon · 05/08/2013 18:40

Yes was fun thank-you I was a bit at first at the combination of a character and a bitless bridle having never used one before but he was very well behaved, not phased by anything.

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SaggyOldClothCatPuss · 05/08/2013 21:14

He's a peach! When we got him, he was in a huge jointed Pelham! grrr. He hated it so much, he would just close his eyes and charge. A bit like he was in a blind trance! poxy pony club we put him in a bitless and he was instantly happy! Like a new pony! we have had little ones ride him since, and even my aged mother had a go!

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bishboschone · 05/08/2013 21:21

We had post and wire fencing put in a paddock when I was young for my ponies . It was apparently strong enough for horses but my beastly donkey and pony got through it and although it was fixed it wasn't strong enough and was always falling apart ..By contrast we had post and rail put around another paddock 30 years ago and it's still standing and in great condition.

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SimLondon · 10/08/2013 20:26

Things from 30 years ago were built to last :-) I think the installers tell you to expect 15 years now (at least the one i spoke to).

Have weighed up the options/prices and we're going to go with posts with a single top rail and equifence (x-fence) wire underneath and probably a single strand of electric, that's still cheaper than two lots of rails. OH has offered to do the labour so I will be checking my measurements this week and hopefully ordering some fencing :-)