Woven Wire Horse Fences Suit Most Needs

We appreciate the traditional look of wood-board horse fences as much as the next person. They provide a solid barrier that most horses won't challenge. Wood horse fences, however, cost plenty at the outset and require expensive maintenance for their lifetimes. That's why mesh and vinyl horse fencing are becoming such popular choices. Both require far less care and, while costlier at the outset than budget fencing, are often cheaper over the long run.

Wood
If properly cared for, wood fence has a life expectancy of about 25 years. The planks used for horse fencing are typically oak, poplar, or pine. Oak has a rustic look and can be tough to come by. But it's a hard, durable wood, and horses don't always like its taste. Green oak may warp, though, so be sure it's fully cured.

Pine boards, which are softer and cheaper than oak, need to be treated with chemicals to be hard enough for horse fencing, but when treatment starts to wear off, equine beavers will hit tasty pine hard. Like pine, poplar is a softer and less expensive wood. Wood fences are often painted with paint or a preservative, which are fairly messy, time-consuming processes.

If you're considering a wood three- or four-board fence, your best bet is to consult your area Yellow Pages for local fence companies.

PVC and Vinyl Flexboard
PVC (polyvinyl chloride) planking looks like wood-from a distance. You can tell the difference once you're close up, although the industry is working hard to have its products resemble wood. But the difference in maintenance and lifetime is huge-vinyl will pretty much last forever. You won't need to repaint as you would with wood, although vinyl does need to be cleaned, usually with a bleach solution, as it's prone to gathering dirt and gray mildew, especially in muggy climates.

We would only buy PVC fencing with a UV inhibitor, or protectant, which at this point are pretty standard. Without a protectant, vinyl will get brittle and worn.

Recent trends for PVC fencing include more colors, often chosen to match a barn or other outbuildings, and textured materials, which look even more like wood.

Be sure your vinyl is for horses. Hollow-plank PVC may be all right for the fencing around the house, but to keep horses in, it needs an internal structure, called ribs. We would skip the polymer-coated wood and just go straight for the PVC itself.

Flexible vinyl looks less like wood fencing than vinyl planking, but it's even cheaper. The vinyl bands stretch between posts like planks. We like how flex boards are electrifiable, which adds an element of security.

A vinyl plank board will run approximage $5 to $6 per foot, which means $15 to $18 a foot for a three-board fence. You then need to add on costs of posts and installation.

Flex-board fencing at four- to five-inch widths is a little less expensive, ranging from $2 to $4.50 per foot. If you can get away with a thinner rail, your cost may be as low as 44¢ per foot, however, you need to factor in visibility and the psychological element of a true barrier to the horses you're going to keep enclosed in it.