Pasture Management
for
Horses

Electric Fencing

Electric fencing being used in a strip grazing situation to control the grass intake of horses and ponies that would otherwise become too fat. It can also be useful in many other situations.
The fencing system will have an energiser, that may run from a battery or mains electricity, that produces a high voltage at a controlled current. The result is an electric pulse at the rate of about one per second, which will give an animal (or person) a shock, but is entirely safe. The energiser is then connected to a fencing material that conducts electricity but is insulated from the ground.
A pair of greedy cob types being strip grazed with electric fencing. Here two strands of 20mm tape are being used on plastic stakes.

Types of elctric fence

There is a choice of materials that can be used for electric fencing. Obviously plain wire could be used if supported on insulators instead of being stapled onto the fencing stakes, but is not very visible to the horse and should not normally be used. There are also various electric fencing tapes available that consist of woven plastic with a number of conducting metal strands woven in. These are light and easy to handle, and are suitable for temporary or semi-permanent fencing.
A close up of a 40mm wide elctric tape showing the metal conducting strands woven into the tough plastic tape.

Some examples of electric fencing tape photographed against a cm rule,
with widths of 2-3mm, 20mm, and 40mm.

The 2-3mm electric fencing material is commonly used for farm livestock and often coloured orange. This would have low visibility for a horse and therefor should not be used unless it is used against some other visible barrier.
Tape 10mm is available, often coloured white, and although the visibility would be greater than that above, it is in my opinion still best suited to use against some other visible barrier, as below. Here the horses paddock has a boundary hedge that is not quite horse proof. A single strand of 10mm tape on plastic stakes is sufficient to stop the horses eating the hedge and finding a way out.

20 or 40mm tape is much more visible and suitable for use across a paddock, with the latter being very strong and possibly usable as fencing material without being electrified.
The cost of the various tapes increases with width.