Horse Fencing: Board, No-Climb and Flex Rail Built So a Horse Can See It

Equine Fence Options and Where Each One Fits

There is no single right answer. Most properties end up with two types: one for the perimeter and one for paddocks or the area near the barn.

• Wood board fence, three or four rails. Highly visible and traditional. Boards go on the inside of the posts so a horse leaning on them pushes the board into the post instead of off its nails.
• No-climb horse mesh. Woven wire with 2 inch by 4 inch openings, too small for a hoof. Usually finished with a top board or rail for visibility and to stop horses from pushing the wire down.
• Flex rail. A polymer rail with high-tensile wire molded inside. It looks like a board fence from a distance but flexes on impact and returns to shape.
• Electric tape or coated wire, used alone for interior divisions or as an offset strand to keep horses from chewing and leaning on a board fence.

Barbed Wire Does Not Belong on a Horse Property

We get asked to price barbed wire for horses because it is cheap and it is what the old fence was. We advise against it every time. Barbed wire is thin and hard for a horse to see, and horse skin tears easily. A horse that gets a leg over a strand will pull back hard, and the barbs do the rest. The resulting wire cuts are among the most common serious pasture injuries horse owners deal with.

Plain high-tensile wire with nothing to make it visible has a similar problem, and so does large-opening field fence that a hoof can pass through. If an existing barbed wire fence has to stay for now, a visible offset electric line on the horse side keeps animals off it until it can be replaced.

Installing Horse Fence: Height, Posts and Gates

We build most horse fence between 4.5 and 5 feet tall, and taller for stallions or for horses known to jump. Posts are pressure-treated and set on 8 foot centers for board fence. Flex rail and mesh can run on wider spacing because they are tensioned, which means the corner and end bracing has to be right. We brace every corner, end and gate opening before any rail or wire is pulled.

Small details matter more here than on other farm fence. Mesh is hung close to the ground so a hoof cannot slide under. Fasteners and wire ends are kept on the outside, away from the horses. Tight corners in a paddock can be rounded or angled so a horse at the bottom of the pecking order cannot be trapped. Gates are hung to match the fence height with no gap at the latch side wide enough to catch a head or a leg, and they are sized for a tractor and a trailer.

When a Horse Fence Should Be Replaced

Board fence shows its age plainly. Boards cup, split and get chewed thin along the top edge. Nails back out and leave points exposed. Posts rot at the ground line and rock when pushed. One broken board is a repair. A fence line where you are replacing boards every month has reached the end, and a horse will find the weak section before you do.

Replacement starts with removing the old fence completely, including every nail, staple and scrap of wire. Stray metal in a pasture is its own hazard. Many owners use the replacement to change fence type, for example moving from boards to no-climb mesh with a single top board to cut down on upkeep. We can phase the work one pasture at a time so the horses always have a secure turnout.

Horse Properties in Union, Cabarrus, Gaston and York Counties

Most of the horse properties we see sit on the edges of the Charlotte metro, where lot sizes open up. The ground is red clay, which holds a post firmly but turns slick and stays wet in a paddock that gets heavy traffic. Posts near gates and water troughs take the worst of it, so we set those with extra care and use lumber rated for ground contact.

Humidity is hard on wood here. Untreated boards mildew and decay quickly, which is one reason flex rail and mesh have become popular with owners who do not want to maintain long runs of wood. If your property is in a neighborhood with equestrian covenants, the fence style may already be specified, so bring the covenant language to the estimate.