Temporary Tape, Rope, and Braid Fences
These are longer movable and semi-permanent horse fences that may be around a while but that are not intended to serve as permanent stand-alone electric horse fences. Besides simply keeping horses in restricted areas, such fences are commonly installed to prevent undergrazing or overgrazing, to subdivide existing pastures, to separate horses from one another, and to keep the animals away from assorted hazards.
Kits and the Fiberglass Options: We offer two families of fence kits in this class. One emphasizes mobility and uses step-in posts (see Movable Pasture Fence Kits), while the other emphasizes strength and uses a combination of fiberglass posts and steel T-posts (see Strong Inner Fence Kits). You may also wish to consider fences that use only fiberglass posts, fences that may be a little more expensive but that provide a unique combination of elegance, mobility, and strength (see Complete Fiberglass Fences).
Component Parts:
Corner, End and Gate Posts: If mobility is the principal aim, use step-in posts that stand up to 5 feet above the ground (product 09-106), and use tent pegs (product 09-105) on the corners, ends, and gate approaches.
In cases where greater robustness is desired, the end, corner, and gate posts of many inner fences are made of fiberglass, wood, or steel. Wood posts (which should be pressure-treated or otherwise rot resistant) should measure at least 4 inches x 4 inches (or 6 inches across if they are round) and should be sunk into the ground at least three feet. Steel T-posts (a lighter and more portable option, see products 09-20 thru 09-23 and 09-20A thru 09-24A) may weigh either 1.25 or 1.33 pounds per foot and should be inserted at least 18 inches into the ground (2 feet if the soil is light). Fiberglass corner, end, and gate posts, as explained in the Complete Fiberglass Fences section, should be secured with built-in earth anchors. Depending upon the tension and wind-pressure on the fence, all of these corner/end/gate posts will be stressed, and if not braced all may tilt in the direction of the stress. The ways commonly used to counter this in a substantial semi-permanent fence, if the affected posts do not come with built-in earth anchors, is with a supplemental earth anchor such as 16-11, or with a T-post bracing system or with the heavy wooden H-braces familiar to installers of wooden fences.
Line Posts: Space these posts 25 to 35 feet apart if you are using polyrope/braid or half-inch polytape. Line posts for temporary horse fences can be plastic or metal step-in posts (like products 09-14 and 09-106), but flexible fiberglass posts (products 09-04 thru 09-08) are equally effective, tougher, and longer-lasting. Fiberglass posts are also less costly and far lighter than the steel T-posts that provide another alternative; and unlike the T-posts they need no cap or insulator at the top–because their tops are not sharp, and their flexibility greatly reduces the possibility of animal injury. If you want your fence to resist significant impacts, consider using heftier fiberglass posts that are 5/8-inch to 7/8-inch in diameter (see products 09-08D thru 09-08H, 09-10A, and 09-33 thru 09-39C).
Chargers: Choose a charger suited to the size of the enclosure, the nature and number of animals to be contained, and circumstances like the potential for significant weed or brush contacts draining power from the fence. If the enclosed area is small you may want to stick with a very low-key charger like 01-24A, 01-26, or 01-12. However, in most cases (especially where weeds may sometimes contact the fence) using a more powerful charger–anything from the modest 01-27 or 01-15 to the more imposing 01-06A, 01-28, or 01-29, makes a lot of sense. In other words, choose your charger to fit your circumstances–and don’t forget to apply a tester like 04-04 or 04-07 periodically to ensure that you have 2,000 volts on all parts of the line.
Insulators: The products section of this website offers a multitude of insulators made for all sorts of posts. Simply decide what sort of posts to use, go to the part of the insulators section dealing with those posts, choose one or more conductors, and select an insulator that will handle that conductor. In most cases there will be no need for extender insulators with little arms, so choose a type of insulator that will hold the conductor securely. If you have chosen polytape, use end or corner tensioners for tape at the end, corner, and gate posts; if you have chosen polyrope or polybraid, use corner knobs and rope clamps at the end, corner, and gate posts.
Conductors: Even more than your posts, the conductors that you choose should fit your circumstances. For electric fencing that needs to be mobile and does not need to present a physical barrier to your horses, choose a couple of runs of half-inch polytape (see products 02-49 thru 02-55). For large semi-permanent electric fences that don’t need to move much but do need to present an imposing barrier, put in several runs of stong, durable, 1.5-inch polytape (see products 02-20 and 02-37 thru 02-41), 2-inch polytape (see products 02-33 thru 02-36), quarter-inch polyrope (products 02-56 thru 02-60), or quarter-inch to three-eighths-inch polybraid (products 02-61 thru 02-64). Where visibility is a big issue put at least one run of wide polytape at the top of the fence. Note that as your conductors get heavier and more prone to wind stress, and as the desired amount of tension on the fence rises, the ideal spacing between posts will shorten (from 35 down to 15 feet) and the ideal heftiness of those posts will rise (from plastic step-in or thin fiberglass posts to thick fiberglass, steel T, or massive wooden posts), and also that anchoring and bracing needs will rise accordingly.
Grounding: Short portable fences with good grounding conditions can get away with using a little two-foot ground rod like product 06-01C. However, longer fences (especially where the grounding conditions are not so good) should use at least one six-foot ground rod (see products 06-02 and 06-04) if not multiple ground rods, and if the fence is over a quarter-mile long a new ground rod should be added along the fence line about every quarter mile. If poor grounding conditions (dry or frozen soil) are anticipated, insert a new run of grounded conductor on the fence about 6 inches away from each run of active charged conductor, Or else, put multiple conductor runs on the fence that are spaced a foot or so apart, and alternate actively charged runs (tied into the charger’s positive terminal) with grounded runs (tied into the grounding system and the charger’s ground terminal). REMEMBER THAT NO PART OF ANY GROUNDED CONDUCTOR, GROUND ROD, OR GROUND ROD WIRE CAN TOUCH ANY PART OF THE CHARGED SYSTEM (positive terminal on the charger, hookup wire leading to the fence conductor, or the charged conductors) because that will short out the system. That won't hurt the system, but an animal that should be shocked by touching an active and grounded conductor simultaneously will receive no shock.
