Electric Fencing For Horses – About ElectroBraid®

ElectroBraid® is a permanent electric horse fence designed especially for horses. It is both a physical barrier and a psychological deterrent. It is highly visible to horses, strong, durable and resilient.

ElectroBraid® looks like high quality braided yachting rope. A double helix of copper wire conductors is braided into the outer jacket of the electric fence rope. 3 or 4 strands of Braid™ of ¼ inch diameter are mounted on insulators on fence posts. Horse fence posts can be wood, vinyl or steel, spaced 30 to 50 feet apart. The Braid™ comes in white, checkered, or black.

Traditional electric horse fence uses small diameter steel wires, which are hard for horses to see. The ropes of ElectroBraid® are highly visible. ElectroBraid® can absorb the energy of a panicked horse and will typically bounce the horse back into its pasture with no harm to horse or fence.

There are no impact injuries. There are no sharp points or hard edges. There are no boards to break or splinter. There are no wires to cut or puncture. Horses crib on board fences and rub against it. Even minor cuts can become seriously infected. The worst potential injury with ElectroBraid® is if a horse is able to wrap a strand of Braid™ completely around a rear leg and struggles. The prospect of such an accident can be virtually eliminated by wiring and grounding the fence correctly and by keeping the Braid™ taut. Horse Safety Page

“Horses love ElectroBraid® !” our customers tell us. Horses are herd animals, born to roam free in wide-open spaces. With ElectroBraid® fence, all the horses can see each other and stallions can see their mares. There are no places for predators to hide. Horses don’t pace up and down their fence line. Owners say horses are more relaxed. They can see you and you can see them!

The electric shock from a UL or CSA approved fence energizer is completely harmless. The shock is extremely low amperage for 3/10,000 of a second, once a second, but it is an immediate, unpleasant psychological deterrent. Once shocked, neither you, nor your horse, want to touch the fence again.

ElectroBraid® horse fencing is both a physical barrier and a psychological deterrent. Once a horse receives a shock, the horse will not go near the fence again. It won’t rub against the fence. It won’t crib on it. And it won’t try to jump over it or go through it or go under. It doesn’t want to get shocked again.

Yes! Spacing does depend on your weather and terrain. The standard spacing we recommend is 50 feet. This means fewer fence posts, less work, less cost and less maintenance! If you have rolling terrain or high snowfall you may want to reduce spacing to 25-30 feet.

Please ensure your energizer is low impedance and certified safe by UL or CSA. It is vital the energizer you choose be powerful enough to meet your needs. In the competitive market of energizers, manufactures considerably overstate the length of fence each energizer is capable of electrifying. A simple rule of thumb is to match your length of fence to 1/10th the energizer’s rating. Certified ElectroBraid® Chargers.

WARNING: NEVER use an Energizer labeled “WEED BURNER” or “WEED CHOPPER”; they are unsafe and will damage ElectroBraid®”. NOTE: ElectroBraid® uses pure copper, which is the third best electrical conductor next to silver and gold. Copper is 70 times more conductive than stainless steel.

Yes. ElectroBraid® is not significantly affected by grass growing up around it. The copper conductor is only a small percentage of the ElectroBraid® surface area. Therefore, you don’t have to spend a lot of time mowing under the ElectroBraid® fence. However, heavy, wet tuffs of grass, bushes or branches pressing against ElectroBraid® can drain power and cause a loss of voltage. At least once a year, weeds, bushes and tree branches should be cleared from the immediate fence area.

Note: Routine voltage testing of the electric horse fence is a good indicator as to when to mow.

You can use any type of fence post that you want, as long as the Braid™ is insulated. Most customers choose wooden fence posts – 6″ diameter for ends and corners, and 3-4″ for line posts. Fiberglass fence posts do not require insulators. T-posts can also be used.

ElectroBraid® can be self-installed with hand-tools, by almost anyone… like stringing clothesline. A professional fence installer is not required. ElectroBraid® costs 17.5 cents a foot, which is among the cheapest options of horse fencing cost. Fence posts can be set 30 to 50 feet apart depending on terrain and local snow conditions. By contrast, conventional horse fences require a post every 8 or 10 feet. To relocate your ElectroBraid® fence, you don’t need a contractor.

If you properly install your corner and end posts, they won’t move. Brass and copper components won’t corrode. Occasionally an insulator might break and need replacement. Little else will need repair. ElectroBraid® stands up to lightning strikes remarkably well. The double helix of copper in the Braid™ functions in the same manner as a lightning arrestor, often preventing damage to the energizer. Typically, only a few hundred feet of Braid™ may need to be replaced. If a tree falls on the fence, cut it off and the ElectroBraid® should spring right back. Horses don’t crib on ElectroBraid® or rub against it. The fence is seldom if ever damaged by storms, including ice storms and tornadoes. Fence repairs are quick and easily done by hand.

Article: What are the best horse fence options?

Stranded electric rope “unravels” under tension and needs constant tightening. By contrast, ElectroBraid® is dimensionally stable because of its braided-over-inner-core construction. Provided the Braid™ is properly tensioned when installed, the Braid™ will maintain its tautness with only occasional re-tensioning.

Woven electrical horse tape contains parallel electrical conductors. These fence wires take much of the strain and tension. The wires tend to break under windy conditions. By contrast the copper wire conductors in ElectroBraid® are formed in helical coils like springs. This allows bend and stretch. All tension is taken by the fiber strands. The copper wires won’t break under tension. Electric polywire is lightweight and small diameter. It breaks easily and can cut horseflesh like a knife.

Conventional high tensile wire (HTW) electric fence is good for cattle but not for horses. Unlike cattle, horses are excitable, high-strung animals. Horses often don’t see the steel fence wires. The wires can break under impact and wrap, cut and puncture flesh.

Certain electric fence rail systems are especially made for horses. These are worth considering but tend to be expensive to install and may not be as safe as ElectroBraid®.

Walk the fence line to confirm your fence has not been damaged. Check the voltage regularly. Mow weeds from under your fence as needed. In the spring, make sure no fence posts have been heaved by frost.

Quality… Quality… Quality… It costs a little more but saves a fortune in performance and durability. Brass is an alloy of copper. Glass filled nylon is the strongest available commercial plastic material for insulator construction. Copper and brass are compatible metals. Brass is an alloy of copper. They don’t suffer the natural electrolytic corrosion that occurs when dissimilar metals come in contact with each other. Copper does not rust. It develops an oxidized protective coating called a “patina”. Next to gold and silver, copper is the best natural conductor of electricity. Copper is 70 times more conductive than steel. Telephone and power companies use only copper wiring.

No. A copper wire on its own will break, but ElectroBraid® is engineered to braid copper wires into a cushion of polyester fiber. The copper is braided into the outer jacket in two opposing directions that cross three times per inch. The copper wires form two helical coils like springs. This construction allows bend and stretch, without putting strain on the copper itself. In fact, under extreme tension, ElectroBraid® itself will break before the copper wires.

Pure copper oxidizes but only on the surface in the form of a dark green patina. Like paint, this thin coating of oxidization prevents any further oxidization. Surface oxidation does not weaken the copper nor does it reduce electrical conductivity. Pure copper, as used in ElectroBraid®, has been known to last hundreds of years, such as copper roofs on buildings. Copper is, of course, the metal used in household electrical wiring.

ElectroBraid® has the resilience and the strength to resist the impact of a stallion – it just stretches, and then springs back. It is secure because, unlike conventional board horse fencing, ElectroBraid® shocks a horse. The horse doesn’t understand what happened – it just knows it wants to stay clear in future. A horse has never voluntarily jumped any ElectroBraid® Fence, to our knowledge.

The high-grade polyester fiber is the same fiber used in automotive seat belts and parachute harnesses. Polyester resists attack by ultra-violet light, salt, manure and most farm chemicals. The copper develops an oxidized outer layer or ‘patina’ that protects the copper wire from corrosion. The Braid™ carries a 25 year warranty.

No. The high-grade polyester we use is virtually unaffected by sunlight. That is why it is used for seat belts, cargo straps, parachute harness and other safety applications. Over time, the white Braid will yellow slightly but this will not reduce its strength. An independent laboratory subjected ElectroBraid® to a standard ASTM test for extreme ultra violet (UV) radiation and there was no product deterioration.

Based on independent laboratory tests, we confidently provide a 25 year performance warranty that ElectroBraid® will not rust, rot, lose strength due to sunlight or weathering, or break in a normal permanent fence installation.

ElectroBraid® is versatile. ElectroBraid® can stand alone as a permanent perimeter fence or it can be used as a portable, temporary electric horse fence; added to protect a board or wire mesh fence; or combined with vinyl or pipe.

Mount ElectroBraid® as a single strand on top of almost any fence. The psychological deterrence to horses is dramatic. Dell Hendricks, Top 10 Reigning Champion, had a stallion that regularly jumped his pipe and cable fence, to impregnate a neighbor’s mares. When a single strand of ElectroBraid® was added, the stallion never jumped the fence again (Don’t use cheap high tensile wire or polywire fence options – they are both unsafe to horses).

A 2006 independent study from the University of Nebraska and the United States Department of Agriculture/Wildlife Services, found that ElectroBraid is a safe and effective electric fence for deer control. ElectroBraid is an effective deer fence to keep deer out of cornfields, and it is even being used as a deer control method to keep deer off airport runways.

Yes! In addition to serving as America’s safest horse fence, ElectroBraid can also be used as:

• Electric fence for goats
• Sheep fencing
• Livestock and cattle fencing
• Moose and Elk fencing
• Llama and Alpaca fencing
• Other specialty animal fencing