A Regular Walk-Round Is the Best Insurance

Few things are more disheartening than discovering your horse has been leaning on a rail that finally gave way, or finding a mare with a fresh cut along her shoulder where a nail was quietly working its way out of the timber. Fencing rarely fails without warning. It gives you weeks of small signals — a wobbling post, a rail that flexes a little too much, a hoofprint in the soil where someone has been pressing against the boundary — before it lets you down properly.

Get into the habit of walking your paddock perimeter at least once a week, and always within a day or two of a gale, heavy rain or a hard frost. Walk with your eyes doing three jobs: looking down at the ground for holes, scuffs and hoof marks under the fence line, looking straight ahead at posts and rails, and looking up where an overhanging branch might be pressing on the wire. Carry a hammer, a handful of galvanised nails, a fencing tool and a pair of thick gloves in a bucket. Repairs done on the spot take five minutes; repairs discovered by a vet take far longer.

Checking Posts and Rails Properly

Timber post-and-rail remains the traditional choice for horse paddocks, and for good reason. It is visible, it gives slightly on impact, and horses seem to respect it. It also rots, splits and loosens, particularly where the post meets the soil. That joint is where nine out of ten failures begin.

• Test every post by hand. Grip the top and push firmly in all four directions. Any movement more than a centimetre or two means the post is loose or the base has rotted through.
• Tap with a hammer. A dull, hollow thud near ground level usually means decay inside the post, even when the outside looks sound.
• Check rail heights. Two or three rails set between roughly 1.1m and 1.4m suit most horses; ponies need closer spacing so they cannot get a leg through, and a strong top rail is worth more than any number of thin ones.
• Look for splits and splinters. Cracked rails should be replaced before they snap under pressure. Run a gloved hand along the underside where you cannot easily see.
• Check strainers and corners. Corner posts carry the most load and should be braced with a diagonal strut. If the bracing has rotted or pulled away, the whole run will slacken.

Nails, Staples and Sharp Edges

Protruding nails are the single most common cause of nasty field injuries, and they are entirely preventable. In most cases the nail has been worked loose by a horse rubbing against the rail, and it is sitting proud at exactly chest, shoulder or eye height. Draw it out with a claw hammer the moment you spot it, then re-nail with a fresh galvanised nail driven in at a slight angle and punched just below the surface.

Other metalwork deserves the same attention. Staples on stock netting can lift and catch manes and rugs; wire ends left twisted at the top of a strainer are a hazard; and old baler twine used as a temporary repair becomes a permanent one far too often. Remember, too, that a horse's eyes sit on the side of the head with excellent peripheral vision but poor depth perception in front of the nose. Anything sharp at head height is far more dangerous than it looks.

Electric Fencing and Energisers

Electric fencing is a useful second line of defence around a permanent boundary, and it works extremely well as a strip-grazing divider. It only works if the voltage actually reaches the far end of the line. Invest in a fence tester — a cheap and genuinely useful bit of kit.

• Test the voltage at the furthest point from the energiser, not just at the terminal. Aim for a strong, sharp pulse; a weak tick suggests shorts, poor earthing or damp insulators.
• Keep vegetation off the line. Long grass, nettles and brambles bleed current away. Strim a narrow strip beneath the fence a few times through the growing season.
• Check the earth. The earth stake should be driven into damp soil, ideally a good metre deep, and kept clear of dry ground or concrete.
• Use tape for visibility. Horses respect a wide, clearly visible tape far better than thin wire, which they simply do not see until they are through it.

Gates, Hedges and the Wider Boundary

A gate is only as good as its hang. Lift each one by the free end and check for sag, then look at the hinges, the latch and the clearance underneath. A sagging gate drags, wears its post and leaves a gap at the bottom that a determined pony will find. Adjust hinges and replace worn latches before winter, when frozen ground and muddy gateways make everything harder.

Hedgerows are excellent shelter and look lovely, but they hide things. Walk the hedge line from both sides at least twice a year, looking for gaps at the base, bramble-covered fencing and any sign of poisonous plants such as yew, ragwort or acorns dropped into the field from neighbouring oaks. Fallen branches after a storm should be cleared promptly.

A Simple Year-Round Routine

Fencing responds well to a bit of forward planning. In spring, walk every boundary and replace winter-damaged rails while the ground is still soft enough to drive new posts. In summer, keep electric lines strimmed and test voltage weekly. In autumn, check gateways for poaching and top up any hardcore before the mud arrives, and clear fallen leaves and acorns from field edges. In winter, check daily after frost and gales, and repair promptly rather than waiting for a dry day. Half an hour a week, a hammer in your hand and a bucket of spare nails will keep your horses safely where they belong — and keep you sleeping soundly through the storms.