>>> Except when you get one that learns how to pick step-in plastic posts out >>> of the >>> ground and spit them out so the electric shorts out...
Those electric fence step-in posts can be handy for some applications, but they can also be dangerous. If the horse can take the fence down - and most can move step-in posts if they are motivated - the wire or rope is left loose and presents a hazzard. Those posts will also break fairly easily, leaving a metal spike that can impale a horse - same if they get pulled up out of the ground, exposing the metal stake. I use a good bit of electric fencing, and I think it's a fine fence choice, but it has to be done correctly, or it's dangerous...just like any fencing. That's why the so-called Paddock Paradise Track System fad confuses me - how on earth can one safely house more than one or two horses in a 15-foot wide track of fencing that can easily and quickly be moved...? Sorry to get off topic, but that fad just scares the heebie-jeebies out of me... I've seen some nasty injuries due to horses getting wire wrapped around their legs. And worse: just last year, a friend of mine had a horse get a piece of electric wire wrapped around her horse's NECK. He was down when she found him, his tongue blue, but she was able to get the wire cutters and cut the wire before it was too late, but it took him about 30 minutes to get up afterwards - she was afraid she was losing him. She immediately removed all the electric wire from her fence and replaced it with rope, more securely fastened. Even the electric rope can be dangerous if it's not securely fastened. She also bought a new fence charger to give sufficient jolt. Accidents will happen, no matter what we do, but that so-called Track System just sounds like begging for an accident... Fencing 101: the smaller (or narrower) the enclosure, the more secure and otherwise safer the fence needs to be. There has to be better ways to watch the weight of our horses. Karen Thomas, NC
