Electric fence use in horse pastures varies greatly across breeds, disciplines, and geographic locations. But regardless of where you are located or what you do with your horses, electric fence can be a valuable tool for improving your pasture management.
The key to successful electric fence use is proper installation and maintenance. When used properly, temporary electric fence is a safe and economical way for managers to encourage horses to utilize more of the available pastures. This reduces the need for stored forages such as hay, increases the farm's profitability, and reduces the operation's environmental impacts on the surrounding areas.
Benefits to Pastures
Horses are known as spot-grazers. They return to the same areas to graze and will leave other areas of pastures untouched. Grasses are more succulent in a short, leafy stage compared to the more mature, taller grasses nearby. Horses might also prefer one area of a pasture because it is closer to the gate, water, shade, or horses in a neighboring pasture. Heavily grazed areas will begin to deteriorate over time; you'll see large patches of weeds or bare soil where healthy grasses were once plentiful. Weeds can greatly reduce pasture productivity and quality; bare soil is likely to wash out during wet periods and might take with it nutrients or pesticides that will end up in surface and ground water. Often you can control spot-grazing by strategically setting up a temporary electric fence.