On 9/22/2011 9:58 AM, JC Dill wrote:
On 20/09/11 7:15 AM, Jason Baugher wrote:
Horses are okay, but you have to tie things to the wire so they can
see it. They're too dumb to remember where it is, apparently.
This has nothing to do with the horse's ability to see or remember
where the fence it. It has to do with the value (both financial and
emotional) the owner places on the animal, and the ensuing costs if it
breaks the fence. Horses can get hurt quite easily, vet bills can run
into hundreds or thousands of dollars quite quickly. Most horse
owners will spend far more than the replacement cost of the animal in
vet bills and husbandry to heal it when it gets injured, because the
animal has a "member of the household" status in their lives and can't
easily be replaced by a similar animal. So they flag wire fences to
help the horse avoid getting hurt. Then there's liability. In many
states, if a horse gets out on the road and gets hit, the horse owner
is liable for the damages to the car and occupants. If someone in the
car is injured or killed (likely if the horse is hit head-on and comes
thru the windshield) the liability costs can be significant, run into
millions of dollars. For this reason, many equestrian insurance
policies require that electric fencing be flagged.
Other livestock aren't as likely to cause fatal injuries to car
occupants if they are hit, because the animal's body is lower to the
road, less likely to come over the hood.
jc
That's interesting to know. It's also interesting to note that other
animals, with the possible exception of sheep, will not run through an
electric fence once they know that it is there. Sheep do it intentionally.
