From: Sherry
Hi! I'm a brand new subscriber & I've searched your archives, but didn't find the answer to my question.
We bought a 2-yr old filly 3 weeks ago. She's in a paddock with other yearlings & 2-yr-olds and is gradually becoming accepted as one of the group. She appears relaxed & confident in the herd. BUT, yesterday she jumped a 4.5 foot high board fence to get in with a mare & foal. No-one saw her do it, but there isn't a mark on her or the fence. And the gate was untampered with. I don't think that the other horses 'forced' her over - I think it was her own 'idea'. The day after we got her, she was in a paddock with our other horse, but wanted to be with the youngsters, so she jumped the fence (only about 3.5 feet high). Luckily, the area she jumped into did not get her to where she wanted to be (thus, no gratification), so I thought it was just a one-time occurance. Ha!
The farm we bought her from also had a weanling that looked very much like the youngster she jumped in with. We board her & can't take the chance that she'll jump in with the stallion or worse, out into the road. How, other than putting up a much higher fence, can we keep her from doing this? I don't believe that a horse should be stalled all the time - she needs to be outside where she can play & socialize. But she also can't be supervised every minute of the day where we currently board. I can't believe that she's doing this - and she's so little; only about 13.2 HH. What can we do?
Thanks, in advance, for your advice!
Sherry
The bad news is that most horses never even think of jumping out of a paddock or field, which is why we can get away with keeping most horses behind low fences. SOME horses think of it, and try it, and do it -- and these horses are best off behind higher fences that aren't so easy to pop over. I do understand what you are going through; I have two such horses, one of which jumped a low fence (4 or 4.5 feet) to join another weanling when she was just six months old! The only solution that worked for these horses was the five-and-a-half foot woven V-mesh fence with a board on top.
The day came, however, when I had to move both mares to another farm, and at the new farm the fences were only four and a half feet high. The old mare jumped in and out a few times; the younger one didn't even bother to try, and they've both stayed in the field for the last several years. I think that what changed their attitude wwas that it's a very NICE field, large enough to move around in, and with a good deal of grass to eat -- they simply don't have any REASON to jump out. However, I also know that both mares know perfectly well that they can pop over the fence whenever they are inspired to do so, and someday, something may inspire them again. Because of the way this farm is set up, I'm willing to exchange the nice field for the risk of them jumping out of it. If they were still jumping in and out, though, I would need to put them behind a fence that would make the jumping option less appealing.
What I'm saying is that you are going to have to weigh your options. Your filly may settle in with her new companions and become a douce citizen, staying in her field until someone comes to take her out of it -- or she may NOT. If the field borders the road, or if the stallion is behind an equally low fence, you might have to board her somewhere else, where the fencing is more suitable to your needs. If this particular facility is the best one available, and you'll be trading better fencing for not-as-good management, you'll have to think very hard indeed.
Sometimes people in your situation try to deal with this problem by adding a single strand of electric wire ("hot-wire") above and inside the top of the existing fence, and this -- once the horse has "met" the wire -- can sometimes discourage jumping.
It's a real problem, and I don't have a definitive answer for you. Hobbling a young horse isn't a valid option; neither is confining her to a stall. You may be able to keep her outdoors and active if there is an extra stallion paddock with stallion fencing, but she would be alone unless you put another youngster in with her, and that may not be practical even if an extra stallion enclosure IS available.
She's probably best off in her current surroundings: turned out in a large field with a few companions of her own age. But having said that, you WILL need to be careful now that you know how easily she jumps out. You may need to turn her out for half-days while she is still adjusting to her new surroundings, and keep an eye on her until you are reasonably certain that she's settling in and making friends; at that point, she may lose interest in jumping out of her field. But it's a possibility that will always exist, and that you'll have to keep in mind for as long as you own her. Being little and young just means that she'll get bigger and stronger as she grows older -- she won't forget how to jump, although she may not choose to exercise that option. :-(
This will have one good effect for YOU: just in case you ever start your own farm, you'll know precisely why it's wise to put up fences that are stallion-safe, foal-safe, and silly-jumping-horse safe; just as it's wise to buy a trailer that will accomodate the largest horse you might ever have occasion to haul in it. If you begin with low fences and small trailers, you can't ADD to their height a few years later when you see a reason for it -- instead, you have to do it all over again, which is much more expensive (and very annoying).
Jessica
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