Ensuring that horses are properly secured at all times can help keep both humans and horses safe. The issue is that finding the ideal horse fencing solution for your horse farm typically requires more than just financial considerations. Horse fencing and gates need to be highly practical and durable in design in order to ensure that they can adequately secure horses in pens, paddocks, and stabling facilities.
So what characterises an effective horse fencing solution? We’ll be answering just that question today by outlining the top-rated fencing and gates for keeping and training horses.
Star Picket Fencing
A staple of country living here in Australia, star pickets are renowned for their strength, durability, and easy installation. Their simple, solid design and wiring allows for minimal visible obstructions without sacrificing on security. Star pickets made from durable materials like galvanised steel or composite mineral materials have also been lauded for their rust and UV resistance, making them suitable for installation in both alpine or arid climates.
When tested for strength, star pickets also perform surprisingly well, demonstrating tensile strength that’s rated for securing horses of all sizes. Using wire strainers attached to an inline crane scale to apply even sideways tension, modern star pickets have been recorded to withstand up to 110kg without loosening from the ground.
Star pickets can also be purchased in a range of different lengths, ensuring that you can secure even the most high-jumping escape artists.
Post & Rail Fencing
A classic rural fence type that’s been used to secure livestock, mark boundary lines for larger farm properties, and to generally add security for generations of farming families, post and rail fencing is naturally another great horse fencing option. Traditionally made using whitewashed timber, you can now purchase post and rail fence panels constructed using heavy-duty PVC for a more lightweight, durable fencing solution for your horse farm.
Much like star pickets, post and rail fencing provide optimal security for paddocks and training pens without obstructing views. This allows facility managers and trainers to keep watch over horses and riders and enter paddocks and pens quickly if need be.
And then there’s the aesthetic appeal of post and rail fencing, which certainly does deserve a mention. If you’re managing a commercial horse stable, providing horse agistment services, or riding school and are seeing visitors access your facilities on a daily basis, having highly presentable post and rail fencing installed can boost the aesthetic appeal of your horse farm and stables. Simply put, post and rail fencing is Instagram approved.
Horse Panels
Much like post and rail fences, horse panels are characterised by their bar design, allowing for effective horse securing in stables, paddocks, and pens. Typically made from galvanised steel with a balanced weight, horse panels are easy enough to handle and can withstand similar levels of force to fixed star picket fences.
The main difference between the aforementioned fence solutions and horse panels, however, is that horse panels are generally modular, and are designed to be set up and uninstalled with ease. This makes horse panels a vital investment for equestrians, racing stables, and any other facility that would feasibly need to travel with their horse floats regularly or set up makeshift pens promptly and efficiently.
Whilst these steel horse panels perform well under pressure, they have been known to hurt horses upon impact on occasion due to their hard-wearing construction. If you have horses that are still growing accustomed to occupying contained paddocks and pens, you may opt to secure them with fixed post and rail fencing instead before introducing them to modular horse panels.
Equine Gates
As the only moving component of your horse fencing essentials, equine gates are naturally quintessential to the practical design of your horse facilities. Gates that only swing one way, for instance, are guaranteed to become a logistical nightmare for your horse farm. Similarly, gates that are too heavy run the risk of placing unnecessary strain on your horse fencing, which means your fence posts may be more susceptible to bending or dislodging upon impact.
This is why it’s imperative that horse farmers invest only in equine-rated gates for their horse fencing. Equine gates generally don’t possess sharp edges or hinges, because these can seriously hurt horses if there’s a collision or if mane or tail hair gets caught in a turning gate hinge.
The best equine gates also have latches that cannot be opened by horses – this one’s particularly important! Horses are highly intelligent and can easily learn by observation. If your gate latches can be opened in one fluid motion and with one hand, then they’re unlikely to be horse-safe.
Secure the Right Horse Fencing for your Equine Facilities
Horse fencing is a vital investment for any horse training or keeping facility. Finding the right fencing for your facilities should naturally take place well in advance if you’re designing a brand new horse farm from the ground up.
Alongside doing your due diligence when purchasing horse fencing solutions, we also advise that you familiarise yourself with the operation of equine gates and the handling of modular horse fences before you use any of these fencing and gate products securing untrained or unbroken horses. Ensuring you have the right knowledge on-hand and can confidently handle fencing and gates will also play an essential role in supporting the performance and effectiveness of these horse security investments.