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Why our horse fences work…


The systems and products suggested on the next few pages are designed by the "horse folks" at Premier with the needs of both horse and horse owner in mind.

While cost is a consideration in Premier's choices for horse fences, it is not our first concern. More important is safety to horse and rider, ease of installation and reliability of the components.

Our horse fences are easily seen by horses (and people)…


Because their eyes are on the sides of their heads, horses are less able than cattle or people to see small objects directly in front of them when running.

That's why they occasionally run into steel electric fences--and in so doing risk injury and/or escape. Also, escaped horses are serious road hazards both to themselves and to vehicles.

Knowing this, we design our ropes and tapes to have a horse's needs in mind. That's why they have contrasting colors--to be visible against all backgrounds. (We were the first in the world to offer black and white tapes and ropes.) That also why they're large and flexible enough that direct contact by horses rarely results in an injury.

Why electric fences from other sources may not work as well…

  1. Single-color conductors often aren't visible enough for young and/or "hot-blooded" horses to see (because of their eyesight abilities) in time to avoid them.

  2. Most electrifiable tape sold today for use has too little built-in elasticity to maintain its tension through daily and seasonal temperature changes. That's why most wide and narrow tapes so frequently sag between posts. In addition to being unattractive, it's a bit more hazardous to horses and requires constant maintenance.

  3. Many fence chargers provide very high voltage or high joule outputs. While these chargers are fine for livestock, they can cause spirited horses (and foals) to panic when they touch an energized fence.

  4. Many insulators and plastic clips on portable posts are not able to hold tape securely in high winds (even though they are recommended for tape).

Two common sense reminders:


  1. Horses are powerful "athletes" that respond to alarming situations by fleeing with speed. The shorter, weaker and less visible a barrier is, the more chance exists that an agitated horse may crash into (or through) it. And, in turn, the taller, stronger and more visible a horse barrier is, the less likely this will occur.
  2. Most fences (other than a padded brick wall) inherently involve both a degree of injury risk and a possibility of escape if a horse panics. That, regrettably, is inherent in the nature of horses and horse barriers/fences. So electrified fences, like most barriers, do offer a degree of risk to any and all horses.

A warning: Do not use high-tensile smooth wire fences for horses!
Though this type of fence looks nice, is inexpensive and contractors are skilled at installing them, Premier advises against such horse fences (though we promote this wire for other purposes). Why? Because HT smooth wire frequently produces terrible injuries. The wire is very strong yet small. So it behaves like a cheese-cutter on horse flesh when accidently kicked or impacted at speed. Because it's difficult for horses to see HT smooth wires, they're not as able to see and stay clear of the fence. If you already have such fences installed, you have a potential accident in waiting. While replacing the fence may not be practical, we urge you to install an offset strand of energized rope to enable the horses to see and be much more likely to avoid the fence.