Fergie likes being in the field and she likes being in her stable. She enjoys company but is happy turned out for small periods of time on her own. Fergie can also be left in the stable while her companion is out riding. She has no stable vices nor any field vices.
The problem
Fergie does not like cold, wet weather and in the past told me so by migrating to the nearest field to her warm stable. What a big baby. Now to start with, I assumed Fergie had “up and over” escapee tendencies. The internal electric fences has permanent wooden posts at regular intervals with two strands of taught rope stretched across. When ever she escaped the fence post took a bit of hammering, but I never saw my crafty escapee in action.
Butter wouldn’t melt in Fergie’s mouth now don’t you believe it
Mid-May and looking more mature. The previous winter Fergie had illustrated just how clever she could be.
Putting things in context
For about 6 months Fergie wears a very thick and warm turn out rug. This keeps her perfectly dry. She is not left on the “playground” too long if the weather is very inclement, and come in for hay and a warm bed after a few hours.
Touch wood, Fergie no longer escapes and this is due to her turn out rug. Well more specifically it’s to do with the neck hood or rather lack of neck hood.
Finding the escape strategy
One afternoon I took a close look at an escape site. It dawned on me just how clever this horse could be. From the stretching of the electric rope, to the up earthing and rotating of a wooden post, Fergie’s escape technique became evident.
Fergie used an under and wriggle escape technique extremely effectively. She realised that her hood could dull the effect of the electric fence so long as the first contact had the rope over the hood and half way up her neck. Fergie dropped to her knees until her neck could be pushed under the lowest strand. From that point she could wriggle the strand down her turn out rug and stand up. This upended the nearest post and she push through. What a sneaky horse!
Finding the solution
The solution became clear. From that day to this, Fergie is well rugged in cold and wet conditions but without a neck hood. On several occasions I have seen Fergie eying the bottom strand, but she is far to sensitive to pursue things further.
At a later date while in conversation with our friendly postman I gained a first hand report into what Fergie’s little antics had been. So the cause found and no more escape rascal.
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