Re: RC: Re: Houdini Horse - Help!

["Truman Prevatt, Ph.D." <truman.prevatt@netsrq.com>]

Electric fence chargers - especially low impedance types - need at least
two and better three ground rods at least 8 feet in length. The need to
be separated by 10 feet. Also a heavy gauge ground wire helps.

You can get away with just about any type of ground with wet ground. Dry
ground is very unforgiving.

Truman




>>  ----- Original Message -----
>>   From: Corti, Adrienne
>>   To: 'ridecamp@endurance.net'
>>   Sent: Monday, August 28, 2000 10:29 PM
>>   Subject: RC: Houdini Horse - Help!
>>
>>
>>   My 6 year old gelding has decided that electric fences are overrated and
>>   should be walked through whenever the urge strikes him.  As background,
>>   he has always been skilled at leaving a place that has become boring to
>>   him; gates taken off hinges or unlatched, door frames removed from stalls,
>>   halters slipped, safety knots untied - the list goes on.  All done in a calm
>>   and calculating manner.
>>
>>   At endurance rides he would walk "under" his metal fence panels and go
>>   visiting unless I staked the panels down in a zillion places.  I switched to
>>   three strands of 1 inch tape electric fence and that has worked.  But with
>>   this latest routine I'm especially worried about containing him at rides next
>>   year.
>>
>>   He is less creative with his "free time" when in hard training but being in
>>   fire swept Western Montana the only riding we're doing is in the arena and
>>   he's bored.  Our property (15 acres) is perimeter fenced with post and rails
>>   and an electric fence separates dry pasture (trees) from pasture (green grass).
>>   The horses are fed hay in the morning in "the trees" and let into the pasture for
>>   2-3 hours to graze in the evening.
>>
>>   Part of the problem with the fence is the dry, dry ground.  We were down to
>>   about 3 kv with the old charger and ground rod.  He would just put his head
>>   under the 1 inch wide electric tape and walk under.  For the past four days
>>   we have (1) gotten a new fencer and 7 foot ground rod driven in all 7 feet
>>   about a foot back from the creek (2) added a strand of electric braided wire
>>   (3) watered the ground where he's been going through (4) watered the horse
>>   before putting him back across and fixing the !@#**! fence.
>>
>>   This morning he got into the pasture and for some bizarre reason pulled the
>>   plug on the automatic water trough.  Thank goodness we found it before it
>>   drained the well and burned up the pump.
>>
>>   He's back in "the trees" again tonight.  We know the voltage is up to 6 kv and
>>   he now has to break the braided strand with his legs when trying to slip under the
>>   electric tape with his head.
>>
>>   If he's back in the pasture tomorrow morning I think my husband will shoot
>>   him - if I don't first.  He's been in this set-up for 3 summers now (they have
>>   free run of the entire place in the winter) but this is the first year its been so
>>   dry and the first summer he's not been working hard 3-4 days a week.
>>
>>   Any suggestions?  Sell him to the circus?
>>
>>   Adrienne - "Why did I buy a Morgan?"
>>
>>   Yeti - "What's a glue factory, Mom?"
>>   Harley - "How does he do that?"
>>   Splash - "Man, doesn't that hurt?"
>>   Rock - "Cool, show me how!"
>>
>>
>>
>>
--
Truman Prevatt
Brooksville, FL

Mystic "The Horse from Hell" Storm
Buck's Mystic Karma
Rocket a.k.a. Mr. Misty
Jordy a.k.a. Bridger (when he is good)
Danson Flame - Hot Dog I'm healed and ready to go.

http://www.mrsl.com