Why we LOVE Portable Electric Fencing

Healthy, biodiverse pasture.

Our domesticated horses no longer live in a free living environment as their wild ancestors did. Our grasslands evolved symbiotically with herbivores such as horses and other large grazers that bunched into herds and were continuously moved along by large, ferocious, carnivorous predators. Grass was grazed for short periods of time and then as the herds moved on, it allowed for the plant to replenish its reserves and re-grow.  We now have our horses and such, confined in pasture systems that are not often large enough to give the plants their required, adequate and extended rest periods. Horses unlike cattle and sheep tend to be spot grazers and will over graze the most palatable forages if confined to a pasture. 

Severly damaged pasture by overgrazing. Notice all the bare ground developing as the plants are beginning to die.

Unlike sheep and cattle, they have two sets of incisors and can crop the grass right to the ground. Sheep and cattle only have lower incisors, and use their tongue to tear the grass, so physically cannot graze plants right to the roots. This overgrazing behaviour stresses the plant immensely, and if left unchecked, will eventually kill this favored feed as it runs out of resources to re-grow. In general, our fenced pastures are best grazed between an average of 6 and 8 inches of natural standing height and horses should be removed when there are patches from 2-3 inches in height so that the grass can recover and re-grow more rapidly.

Using mobile electric fence to temporarily push horses through more unpalatable grasses that they would otherwise not eat in favor of the tastier, overgrazed plants.

Unlike permanent fencing, we can use electric fencing organically in combination with “reading the grass”, to mimic predators and keep the horses from overgrazing. When we learn to read our forage plants, we can use it to isolate overgrazed, tasty patches for longer rest periods and push horses to the less palatable, longer stands of food. We can use this “electric predator” to help mimic natural systems, benefiting both the pasture plants AND the grazing animals. Bonus… you will also end up with more forage and this will be directly reflected in your pocket book.