Escape artist pony, help me!?

Question

My shetland pony is an escape artist, and for the last few days I have been doing some serious changes to the pasture he is kept in. there is now 6 wire, barb-ed wire, and boards all around the pasture and the other horses are fine. I don't want to keep him locked up in the small 10x10 corral which keeps him fine and he cannot escape. just this morning he escaped out of the pasture I just put barb wire in. He just walks right through it, literally, he sticks his head through and lifts his knees up and jumps throught it unscathed. I also don't want to tie him up because my nana has had horses choke themselves to death while being tied up.

Electric is not an option, the field is way to big, and my father will not want the electric bill coming from it in the next month. there are 3 other horses with him and I play with him every day, he has barrels, balls and toys. The other horses respect the barb wire, altho I do fear it for them but because of the size of the land we cannot replace such fencing without having to sell our house!

Answer 1

I have mini horses and let me tell you, they can escape from anywhere and they are not afraid of anything. At my barn, escape artisits have to be turned out in the arena which has been renamed pony jail. Ground tieing is bad because they gat tangled and break legs and choke. Your wire has to be as tighlty tentioned as possible for safety. Barbed wire generally is not good for horses, but is acceptable in heavier breeds like shetlands, but it HAS to be taught or your pony will be able to wiggle right through and will one day get tangled and rip his flesh open. If he can get out of wire fence, it is much too loose. You need to install fence that is stationary as your pony will simply crawl through anything flexible. Wood rail is the best because it does not give to pressure, but b/c it is costly, wire mesh is good too becuase horses cannot crawl through it, but it has to be tightly tentioned and supported by lost of posts or your pony will lean against it, bend it down and jump over. Electric wire works for some, but in this case it sounds like he will just walk through it, no matter how strong, unless you hang like 12 strands of wire or thin tape, 0r 6 strands of wide tape and charge them all, your pony will probably just craw through as it is hard to keep electric fence tight enough. Electric is the cheapest way to go, but in your pony's case you will need a post about every 8 feet and you will need re enforced corner posts for tension in order to kep him in, and make sure what ever you install, it is as tight as can be. good luck.

Answer 2

It sounds like your fence is too loose if he can just walk right through it, or you don't have enough strands on it. We've had horses on barb wire for years and had no problem.
Defiantly don't tie him up, though! The corral is a better alternative to tying him.
Try to tighten the fence or add some strands, and see if that helps.

Answer 3

Please remove the barbed wire. He is jumping OVER it right now, but one of these days he could get tangled in it, and tear himself up.

Electrical tape is probably your best option short of building a 6 foot tall fence. Get some regular fence posts and some plastic insulators, and run electrical tape (at every 6-10 inches of height) along the fence posts, and set the electrical current to 2-4. Your pony will not like the shock.

He may also be bored. Get him some toys to occupy him - they make great treat balls - he rolls it around, and the treats can fall out of the ball. Great fun for ponies.

Answer 4

Your solution is HOT WIRE. Electric fencing. You can even get a solar charger if you do not have electricity, and you can get the electric tape instead of wire, which horses can see better and looks good.
You're right not to leave a horse tied. They can get tangled and break a leg, too.
Escape artists are aggravating, aren't they? We have some, but the hot wire works.

Answer 5

i knew some who used bared wire and one of the horses tryied to escape and got all tangled in the wire he got a few of use to get the horse free.

they had now put up post and rail fence, and that hasn`t happen since, the horse was fine but he was covered with straches and cuts.


i use page wire for my horses it keeps them in and my niebours cows out.

i also put eletric wire on top, the horses learned to stay away from the fence.

pls remove the bare wire thats a accident waiting to happen, i have seen many horses get tangled in it.

hope this helped and good luck.

Answer 6

Never use barbed wire for horse...this is intended for cattle. If you want to go the cheaper route..try the electrical tape or rope. They say the tape is better then the rope. Look into it. Place the strands closer together since the pony is smaller then the others and they are little boogers about getting their way.

Answer 7

Ponies are generally much smarter than horses, and as a result can be more ornery.
He may see the fences as simply an interesting challenge. Maybe he needs something to occupy his mind, like certain toys. If he doesn't hang with the other horses, maybe get him a companion animal, like a goat or even a dog. That might keep him in place.
Maybe.

Answer 8

Electric fence is the way to go. You can start of at a normal voltage (touch it if you really want, it'll give you a shock, but wont kill you) If that doesnt deter him, up it so when he goes back he really gets a good shock. It might sound mean but he needs to learn his bounderies somehow and he isnt going to want to go near whatever it was that shocked him.

we had an excape pony and police found her in the middle of the night on the highway. We were lucky she was ok but it could have been a lot worse.

Answer 9

Well first off, please remove the barbed wire, please! Second install a solid fence like mesh. A 2x4 or 4x4 mesh is fine, 2x4 is better, they can't get their feet through it if they roll by the fence. I know ponies LOVE escaping, we had one that would undo the latch and chain and walk right out! But, electrified mesh is also an alternative, and it's way more humane than barbed wire. I really hope this helps you, best wishes!

Answer 10

Barbed wire fences are no good. You need to put up good horse fences. Until you get 6 foot real horse fence up, you will have to keep him in his 10 x 10 corral.