Is this mean - what do you think??

[lavendersun]

My pony is an escape artist and has a post and rail pen. She has got through 6 strands of electric rope repeatedly in the past ... with a bullock energiser.

Escaping has a massively high risk of laminitis as she gets out onto my 10 acres of rich, lush grass.

So, she is permanently penned at the minute/in during the day and I am feeding hay which is slightly mad considering how much grass I have.

I had a thought last night - sewing rings (like the ones on a headcollar) onto webbing loops, sliding them onto her leather headcollar here and there (probably 4) and trying turning her out in that - to increase contact with the electric rope!

Mean or worth a go? I am going away in just over a week and would love her to be on a bigger piece of land, well I would generally like her to be on a bigger piece of land tbh but don't want to fork out on more post and three rail fencing as it is so expensive and we are planning on moving.

I can't imagine that would make any difference to be honest, I'd imagine she has a way of getting her head through pretty damned fast. Have you thought about trying a muzzle, so she can go out, at least some of the time on the good grass? I have never used one, but I have seen them used on ponies prone to laminitis before, and they seem to work well.

I use a muzzle, 24/7 at times Velo but it isn't enough sadly so I have to restrict her most of the time. Shetland pony and 10 acres of lush grass, just doesn't mix!

I am open to suggestions for different muzzles though! Have tried Best Friend and Greenguard which didn't suit her, I can't remember why the BF didn't work as it was some years ago, the GG was simply too big (suits my ID/TB very well though).

I have used Dinky Rugs muzzles on her for the last three years, one usually lasts 9 months and they fit well/don't rub.

Any other muzzles highly recommended - I would like to reduce her grazing massively - like to 10% of life without one.

Must add, not the same sized Greenguard! Their smallest one was still massive on her.

Sorry, that is me out of ideas then! Hopefully someone more useful will be along soon with some suggestions.

Don't know if this is worth a thought or just to dangerous to consider! A friend of mine has sheep and uses electric sheep netting to fence,so is like stock wire,complete with posts,I've always thought how easy it was to move and put up! She wouldn't be able to get through it,but my concern would be whether it would break,if she tried and got stuck in it you want it to break!?

Thank you gillyn, but I am much too much of a wimp to take any risks!

A friend uses actual sheep hurdles. My little pony, 9.5 hands, jumped out of a proper stable several times last year when I had to keep her in! We had to put a rail up 6" above the door last year .

I would find her dead in a tangle of netting if I did that.

Blimey! Yes I agree,I would be too scared to use it in case and I guess she isn't respecting electric anyway. You saying about the hurdles and how high she can jump,made me think of needing a cage! What sprung to mind is those big metal barriers they use round building sites,like making a round pen?? I managed to scrounge a couple ( to make a temporary wind break one winter!)but someone told me they could buy them for around £15 each?

- I did think about a round pen at one point but they are very expensive. No idea where I would get those barriers from tbh.

Will carry on with thinking.

Might have to resort to just a couple of hours muzzled out a few times a week which is sort of what I have been doing until the recent sun and rain made my grass grow even more!

My summer grazing is almost six miles from home so it isn't as easy as when they are here.

I feel your pain! My horse was a ninja when he was a youngster and I only ever saw him do it once, he was so fast, still to this day I cannot understand how he did it.

Have you tried weaving the strand fencing so it's more like a basket weave? This is the only thing I can think of. What a little toad!

Those panels are called Heras panels, like these:

www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/heras-fence-panels

CatchIt, she is 19! Only started doing it 18 months ago, had been angelic before then forever .

Weaving would take forever though - the fence starts 6" above the ground and has a strand virtually every six inches, bullock energiser on the highest setting. Her coat is as thin as my tb x this time of year, I can understand it in the winter when she looks like a sheep ... but the grass is ok enough for a day's escape in the winter.

I use my big horse to keep the grass down in there so she actually has quite a big area roped off for her size, keep something in with or next to her so she has no excuse at all.

Thank you incog, I will look at those next to see if I think she might amputate a limb on anything metal!

What is it with these old ponies? Ours has been perfectly content to stay in her paddock until now. At the age of 31 she has turned into Houdini and we've tried everything to keep her in. She too has 6 strands of electric tape atm but she's still getting through. I'm starting to think she's dug a secret tunnel behind the shelter!

Heras fencing can be hired from such outlets as " speedy hire" or " Deborah services" for around a pound a panel a week . Not stupidly costly to try an experimental 2 meter high pen.

I really hate tethering. With a passion. But in this case I think I would seriously consider it. Or permanently making a really sturdy post and rail paddock for her.

We have lami prone ponies that mostly respect post and rail but have been known to duck through electric fences. In the spring they are all behind a 5 rail fence with 2 strands of electric to stop them rubbing or pushing their heads through and popping the rails off.

I did see a picture on fb a while ago of pallets that you can get foc or pretty cheap fastened to post and rail fencing to reinforce it. Obviously if she has Milton tenancies you might have to go higher but it would probably work for my lazy arse welshys.

Also fleece glued into the inside of muzzles or that fake fur works well to stop rubbing.

pixel, I do realise that this could go on for a while!

She has a post and rail pen that she stays in, with electric rope on the top and midway between each rail. I just wanted an easier solution to a bigger area so that I can feed less hay.

I think that the heras things would cost the same as post and rail -I was trying to avoid spending a lot of money as we will be moving in 2016. Being picky , because I am! I wouldn't want to look at them in a lovely green landscape, esp not at the house. Dh would moan big time if his view included metal panels.

Thank you bim, I would ever tether, ever. Her fenced section sounds similar to yours, with the insulators for the rope screwed into the top of the posts it is fairly high.

The dinky muzzles are really well designed, don't rub at all, just don't restrict enough, not sure if anything would given my grass situation and the size of her.

Sadly with electric fence you have to teach them to respect it - once they have leaned that motoring through it as quickly as possible stops the zap - you are doomed :(

I always introduce them to it by backing them into it so when they run forwards they are running away from it, not through it.

Mine is 9000V 6 joules, on the mains.

If you want more zap - get higher joules and add multiple earths so it doesn't lose charge along the fence line.

Also thoroughly soak the ground around the earth spike.
Is she wearing a rug at the moment? You can thread a loop of electric tape through the chest and surcingles to amplify the shock.