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[RC] Re-hashing E-dog collars - Long - Kristene Smuts

I'm going to run a huge risk here in re-hashing this subject, but I have no 
other choice.  I've gone through the archives and all the posts dealt with 
these collars on dogs, not horses.

Let me paint a picture .....
I have a 2.5 yo colt, stunningly beautiful, great bloodlines, extremely 
intelligent, is marked to be the next breeding stallion.  He's loved, cared 
for, receives the best nutrition, farrier every 5 weeks, mood changes are 
mostly ignored in these difficult times.

The problem is that he's an escape artist.  No fence, other than an 8ft solid 
concrete wall with solid steel sliding gate can hold him .... maybe.  He jumps 
or goes under anything you can possibly devise.  Solid poles?  No problem, he 
goes in-between the horizontal gaps (I've seen it with my own eyes!).  I have 
an electric fence which keeps in a stallion in full view of in-heat mares, but 
is merely an annoyance to the colt.  The greatest advantage to this horse is 
also the greatest disadvantage - his intelligence.  He works at a problem until 
he solves it and I've even tried giving him toys to play with during the day 
and night, but after playing for half an hour, his attention turns to the 
fence.  Once he's outside, he doesn't go running around, just has a look of 
achievement and carries on grazing.  I've increased the capacity of the 
energizer to a game fence strength - this held him for 24 hours until he 
figured that this fence is the same as the last - if you're 2 inches away, then 
you get shocked, but not if you're actually holding on.  He then worms his way 
out of the narrowest gap or runs straight through the fence, breaking the 
isolators as he goes.

He's my next endurance horse in addition to being the next breeding stallion, 
so I cannot afford for him NOT to have respect for an electric fence.  Also, I 
rent a piece of property and don't want to spend any unnecessary money on 
somebody else's property.  If this carries on, my vet bills are going to go 
through the roof as he starts finding out what those 2 round dangly things are 
for.  I have a transportable electric fence for rides which keeps Ibn right 
where he belongs, but it would not keep this young man inside.  I can't see 
myself transporting a concrete wall to rides ;-))

I have a three step plan :
1.  Hot wire the fence, and if that doesn't work
2.  Electric dog collar and take a few days of work, and if that doesn't work
3.  Get rid of him.

I've spent many hours fixing fences in addition to the cost of upgrading the 
energizer plus more tape to almost make a solid wall.  This has been going on 
for the past 1.5 years, so I don't think anybody can accuse me of not having 
patience with him.  Every time he manages to solve a problem, he learns another 
lesson - and it's not always the lesson I WANT him to learn!

Does anybody have a better solution?  And if you've used the collar on horses, 
what results have you been getting?

If this topic is too controversial, please e-mail me privately.

Thanks
"End-of-her-tether" Kristene
South Africa


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