Horse fencing done in wire and steel
We build wire and steel horse fencing across Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and out through the Hunter Valley stud country, including Scone, Muswellbrook and the Upper Hunter. This is metal-and-wire work: steel posts, horse-safe mesh, tensioned line wire and a top sighter that a horse can see. We do this every day.
What we do not do is timber post-and-rail. That is a different trade with different tools and different people, and we would rather point you to someone who lives in it than do it half as well. If your heart is set on a timber rail look, we are not your fencer. If you want a safe, long-lasting wire or steel system that keeps horses in and keeps them sound, keep reading.
What makes a fence safe for horses
Horses are big, fast, and prone to panic, and they push, lean and paw at fences. A fence that is fine for cattle can injure a horse. A few principles guide everything we build for equine clients:
- No barbed wire around horses. Barbed wire and horses are a bad mix. A spooked horse hitting barb can do serious damage to itself. For horse paddocks we use plain, mesh or coated systems, not barb. If you have cattle on the same property we will talk through where barb is and is not appropriate.
- A visible top line. Horses run into what they cannot see. A sighter wire, a top rail or a run of visible tape or coated wire along the top of the fence gives the horse a clear line to read and slow down for.
- Small enough mesh. Where mesh is used, the aperture matters. A horse can put a hoof through a large square, so horse-rated mesh uses a spacing that a hoof will not pass through, which protects legs at the fence line.
- No sharp protrusions. Clean fixings, capped posts and no wire tails at horse height.
Systems we build
- Horse-rated mesh with a top sighter the safest all-round paddock fence. Woven or welded mesh sized so a hoof cannot pass, on steel posts, finished with a clearly visible top wire or rail.
- Plain wire and sighter systems tensioned line wires with a visible top, for larger paddocks and lower-pressure areas.
- Steel yards and enclosures stronger fabricated steel for stables, holding yards and high-traffic corners where horses concentrate.
Because we fabricate in our own workshop, we can also build steel gates, corner assemblies and yard panels to match the paddock fencing, so gateways and handling areas are as safe as the runs between them.
Stud country experience
The Upper Hunter is horse country and we already work through it. We know the difference between a boundary fence on the road frontage and the internal fencing around a foaling paddock or a laneway, and we will build each to suit rather than running the same fence everywhere.
Tell us your paddock layout, how many horses and whether you have other stock, and we will recommend a safe system and quote it.