Mountain Adventures: Fencing

This post has probably been the longest and most painful in coming. We’ve been waiting on several factors before we spoke up, but it’s time now.

One of the biggest changes we opted for when moving was focusing on fencing first. We had electric rope fencing in Raeford with a solid no-climb perimeter, and for the most part, it worked well. However, in Black Mountain, that was not practical, and we had learned from some negative experiences with electric rope fencing that we didn’t want to go that route for more than a short time (and some of our horses test it all the time, so if it’s ever not absolutely hot, those horses will escape…).

So, we placed an order with a company we thought was reputable for recycled HDPE fence with an electric line embedded in the rail. The brand was marketed as Equisafe Global, but unfortunately, things turned very dark with them.

When we moved, we installed temporary no-climb paddocks. However, that too ended up being a mess. I don’t want this post to turn into a bashing post, so I won’t go too deep into what happened, but sufficed to say, it was not properly installed by the person we hired. No problem; the other was supposed to come in within a few months, right? This is where we realized how wrong things could go.

Ultimately, we found some dark truths about Equisafe Global (not related to the legitimate company in Sweden), turned into Evo Equine Fencing (not to be confused with Evo Equine bridles and tack). Over a year after the fence was due, meaning that our fencing that we hoped would last a few months had to be made to last over a year, it turned out the manufacturer who was contracted to make the fence in the US has also been victimized, and we connected and settled. So we finally got our fence in Fall of 2023!

Installing this fence has been challenging, since we were in essence working off a prototype made by a company that totally guessed how to make it. They knocked it out of the park, but no one had instructions. However, we are gradually chipping away at it, and we have installed three pastures (out of 12, and we won’t talk about the perimeter fence…). Looking back, we definitely would have done things differently, but honestly, I’m so grateful to the US company who made the fence and worked with us despite both of us ending up being victimized.

I LOVE the fencing so far. It will never rot, it doesn’t need concrete, and it looks beautiful. It packs a punch when it comes to a charge, so even the most determined escape artists (ahem, Rey, Fi, and Inci) have failed to escape this fence. If the manufacturer decides to sell the product on their own or through anyone else, they’ll have perfected a few things on our suggestion to make it easier to install and even better. We’ve been able to recycle material from the paddocks that we’re now tearing down, and it’s working for other animals and for the horses that need restricted turnout.

What I’d recommend for others in a similar situation is to have a solid (even if smaller) temporary fence like we did, because you never know how long it may take to build the permanent stuff. Ours may not have held up in looks, but at least horses were confined safely. We also learned a lot about our land and pastures by taking it slow. Our fields had been used for tomatoes, which tend to require more fungicide and therefore are not great for the soil. So, we had a chance to experiment with temporary turnout to see how the land would respond to different animals grazing. Now, we are confident and comfortable with the layout for our pastures and don’t feel like we’ll look back and regret the choices we made in layout. For fencing material, if this fencing ever legitimately makes it to the US market, so far, I really think it will be amazing fencing. If it doesn’t, I think my second choice would be a tie between no-climb and Ramm flex-fence (maybe both), both fortified with electric. Wood looks so nice but is so much maintenance, and vinyl shatters (fun side note: we’ve run over one of the HDPE posts with a mower… it didn’t shatter. We’ve run over others with a tractor by accident… they bent a little but are fine).

Regarding being a victim of a scam, we looked long and hard at the company before committing, and unfortunately, they looked legit, and their reasons for delays made sense in light of COVID. Maybe we missed something, but I doubt it. Military intelligence friends have looked into it, and they can totally see how it happened. Anyone can become a victim of a scam, especially when the perpetrator has perfected their art. My biggest takeaway is as mad as I am that it happened, I’m that much more grateful that we got our material anyway without much more of a fight. While we still have to finish installing it, we’ve now gotten a rhythm that is making it a lot easier as we go.

Now that the fencing is going, we have a good (albeit small) arena, and we have solar power, it feels like we actually have started on our building journey. We have more challenges we’re working on right now, but at least this is a solid start. Stay tuned for more of our building story as it unfolds!

-Emily Wright