Fencing

[bananaskin123]

Just like advice please. We have girls who have two horses each. They're in adjoining fields and their horses lean on the fences to talk to each other. Unfortunately one of the girls has said that some of the barbed wire and posts have almost given way and are very loose. I should add there was all new fencing when they first came here approx four years ago.

Am I responsible for fixing the fence or should it be the girls? I'm more than happy to do so if its my responsibility but just not sure where I stand. I like them both, they are good tenants and pay their rent regularly.

Thanks for reading.

What does your contract with them say? On the livery yards we’ve been on responsibility for maintenance including fencing lies with the yard owner. Personally I would never keep a horse anywhere near barbed wire - it can be absolutely lethal and most insurance policies wouldn’t cover any injuries caused by it. Loose wire and posts are incredibly dangerous and need to be fixed straight away. Proper horse-safe fencing isn’t cheap though 😬

Can't they use plastic posts and tape? It would be cheaper than post and rail.

I think it depends on your particular arrangement there is no standard practice. The capital costs of fencing are high so its quite a lot to expect a tenant to do on someone else's land and I agree the fencing sounds dangerous. On the other hand some tenants have an extremely low rent and long term stability of occupation to make up for taking on such costs. Even tape and plastic posts and battery/ energiser would cost quite a lot. Most landlords would I think very expected to have secure fencing unless the tenants have particularly been made aware they are expected to and agreed to it. Might be worth having a good think and open discussion about your expectations and the tenant's as paddocks do require maintenance which can be expensive.

Barbed wire is really dangerous for horses.

Could you use electric fencing as a temporary measure? If they literally lean on the fence posts then even if you replace them it will keep happening.

You should be getting rid of any barbed wire fencing , it’s really dangerous . I think as you have no agreement about who cares for the fences that on this occasion you should probably repair ( replace ) it , but have an agreement written up that any further damage is down to them . They can always put an electric tape inside the paddock to keep the horse away from the fence to protect it .

If it's your land and you don't have a contract in place to say that tenants are responsible for damage caused by their horses, then you need to pay on this occasion.

But please, please get rid of the barbed wire - it's so so dangerous around horses.