Im not teling you not to get vinyl you do what you want Im just telling you something I saw.a man had horses,his horse was running slipped,slammed into fence,(vinyl).....They found him dead with the fence in him.When it breaks it splinters.big time.It went through him..

My next door neighbors put up one of those white, three-rail vinyl fences two years ago. I weedeat under and alongside it on my side of the fence. It's tough; a weedeater will NOT cut it. OK, I guess if I took the string head off and put the metal sawblade on, it probably would, but the plastic weedeater line does nothing.
It's for looks - I would never expect vinyl fencing - or at least none that I've seen installed - contain any horse or cow. One good lean and the rails pop right out of the posts. Heck, our dogs come close to popping the bottom rail out of my neighbor's fence when they scoot underneath.

If you look on alot of horse books they show the vinyl fencing.I dont have it for reason above and that it doesnt go with my 1700 farm.I have horse board with electric strand.

I was thinking of using three rail vinyl fencing for horses and was planning on backing it up with electric fencing.

Any one have any experiance with these types of fencing and horses?

Just like any other materials...there are different grades. You have your typical "decoration" grade (cheapest) all the way up to your heavy duty stock fencing (probably most expensive).

I would venture to say that all those horse pictures you see with the pretty white vinyl fencing is the heavier stock grade.

I helped a friend of mine put up a stock grade vinyl fence about 10 - 12 years ago. It was the easiest fence I ever installed and schedule 40 or thicker material. He was pasturing cows and to my knowledge...he has never had an issue with it. It still looks great and his cows are never in the road.

I'm not saying the stuff is indestructible...but it is some pretty tough material...and virtually maintenance free.

Brian

Regarding the accident with the horse - the first vinyl fence products put out were brittle and tended to be moreso with age and UV exposure - the ones put out now are much better about shattering. Bulldinkie, I don't doubt your story, but I think the story is over 10-15 years old. Any fencing, if hit by a large horse running at full speed (for whatever reason) can break and splinter. I have heard of horses running through wooden post and rail or post and board fences and being staked like that.

The light-weight stuff could probably eventually be damaged by a weed whacker, but the heavy duty stuff, no.

Vancleaveterry, many people here use white vinyl fencing for horses. I would run a hot-wire along it, but then, I would do the same for almost all horse fencing - it saves on breakage and escapes. And for horses, you NEED the heavy duty, purpose made weight of vinyl, which you probably won't get at a big-box store - you need to go to a fencing company. If you look in most of the horse magazines, they will feature ads from fencing companies - I know EQUUS does.

Personally, I happen to like the look of weathered wooden fencing, but do admit that the posts will rot and will have to be replaced after 10-20 years, as will the boards and rails, depending on soil conditions and the wood used and how hard the horses are on fencing ( which is why I like a hot wire or even 2 strands of wire, one at the top to limit chewing and one halfway down to limit rubbing).

Mostly, the vinyl fencing is maintenance free, BUT, it will grow algae/mildew, and can turn greenish. A scrubbing or pressure spraying with a bleach solution will turn it back to white, but it is ongoing in humid climates - you either learn to live with it or deal with it. If you want white fences and don't want to paint them every few years, then vinyl is the way to go, although you may have to deal with green algae. Vinyl is also, I think, a bit less expensive, over the long run, than wood.

Brian and Dibbit, thank you for the responses. I think it's going to cost 10K or more to fence the front of my property. Thanks for letting me know about the different grades. It may be a while before I do this. We'll see how much money I have left after I dig my pond.

Terry

We have the white vynal fence and it has been there for two years now. Must say I like it and just have to use water and bleach cleaner to make it nice and white again. We have had some crazy winds and it still is standing fine!!! Happy with it REALLY!!!

Read the article that vinyl is just about everywhere here because everyone likes the no-maintenance attributed of the fencing. Thanks for the information.

Here is a link that might be useful: deck design

The person that wrote about vinyl fencing having improved since the past was right. We use uv inhibitors and and other additives in the mix that keep the vinyl from turning brittle or yellowing. There's a lifetime warranty on our fencing; and believe me, we wouldn't do that if we thought we would have to replace a lot of fence! Horse fence uses heavy duty posts and rails, and we haven't had any complaints about escaping horses yet.

Here is a link that might be useful: Horse fence from Nationwide Vinyl

If I had to put up a fence, I'd make it either roses, or maybe some sort of thuja, or some berry bushes.

My neighboor is a fence contractor so I asked him- he confirmed that he's seen older vinyl be cut right through because of idiotic landscapers who disregard the well being of the fence