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 Off the Wall Wacky
Posts: 2981
   
Location: Louisiana | I would really like to purchase some portable panels since I have many overnight rodeos this year, and most are at older arenas with no stalls.
However, they kinda scare me! I can just see my horse sticking his head through and lifting up, taking the whole thing with him!
II was just looking at some and had a thought...
What if I attached chain link to the panels so he can't get his head through? That would also keep any stray dogs and children out. Has anyone done this? It wouldn't be a hard project, and wouldn't make them much heavier.
Or can you think why it wouldn't be a good idea? |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
 
| I have seen people just tarp the panels.
Chain link will be heavy, and if you are by yourself the panels become a pain to put up and take down.
I have also seen people zip tie snow fence on them. Snow fence is usually orange plastic with small holes in it.
I also tether my panels down at the corners |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 989
| I run a strand of electric around the inside of them.. I have 5 10 foot panels though, so he has lots of room. The only ones I wouldnt buy are the aluminum ones with the squares. Friends horse got his head stuck through them while trying to eat... they ended up having a mess and taking the panels apart to get him out (as disassembling each panel) could have been a lot worse, he was lucky |
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boon
Posts: 1
| Hi, you could always have someone weld more tubing to the panels so they can't put the head through and walk away!!!! Mine would do that. I did find panels at priefert , 8 foot long so they can be carried in slant stall, $10.00 more than a lot, but my horses safety is worth that and more. Plus, if someone else horse gets out and messes with mine, I know mine will be safe. Just a thought. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 956
Location: Washington | You can put up electric on the inside, or we stake ours down. Usually hammer in metal rod and then on the less pushy horse we just set the bottoms over the rod (ours our open bottom panels), or bungy the panel to the metal rod for the pushy one. And my one gelding who is pushy, once he realizes he can't really move the panels around he leaves them alone and munches on his hay. |
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Expert
Posts: 1586
Location: west of East Texas | We had a nice visit at last night's barrel race from a horse that had picked his panel up and turned himself out. We had seen him earlier in the day so we knew where to return him. I knocked on the trailer and let the owner know her horse was home now. :) Her panels were real lightweight, not connected to anything sturdy and not tied together. I think I would I definitely secure them in some way. |
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  Texas Lone Star
Posts: 5318
Location: where ever my L/Q trl is parked | you could attach that plactic webbing in place to the chain link and it's pretty strong. The type that the highway repair guys' use around holes and such. I bought a roll out of Farmtec Inc and used it on my runs/panels to keep the horses from putting their heads thru. It's not that expensive either. |
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Rad Dork
Posts: 5218
Location: Oklahoma | Would chicken wire be effective? It shouldn't add too much weight to panels and I would think that it would be hard for a horse to nudge his way thru it! |
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| A grown horse should not be able to get out of a 5 ft panel that only has 4 rails on it to make it lighter. That is 27 inches from top to bottom rail ... leaves 33 inches to the ground which prevents horse from getting hoof over the bottom panels or rolling under the panel. Also lighter and easier to handle ...
Rails 9 inches center to center which does not allow enough room even for babies to poke head thru. Use a panel as a gate with chain and snap attached....
and where they join should be square shouldered with no gap at the top joint to get a leg between the panels if it rears up ........ round tubing has a gap at top which has broken many a leg ...... ...
square tubing material is stronger than round tubing ... |
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Off the Wall Wacky
Posts: 2981
Location: Louisiana | Longneck - 2014-03-30 5:32 PM Would chicken wire be effective? It shouldn't add too much weight to panels and I would think that it would be hard for a horse to nudge his way thru it!
Yes, my mom suggested this after I told her my genius idea. Would be cheaper and lighter than chain link.
Thank you everyone for your input!! I would for sure find a way to anchor them, my horse isn't crazy but he also isn't the calmest one at the rodeo for sure. Which is why I'm hesitant to just leave him tied to the trailer like everyone else.
The tarp idea, I don't think he'd agree with that one... although he certainly wouldn't get too close to the edge LOL. The orange plastic stuff might be an option, but would probably need to be redone often, I don't see it lasting several uses.
The chicken wire would be a long term solution, I think. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 600
Location: Oklahoma & Texas | You should check into getting custom ones made..its cheaper then you may think...I found a guy near me that does all sorts of pipe welding and he made me some with extra cross bars in the panels so I dont worry about them sticking a head through plus the part that links them together - he made the bolts longer so they wont just slide out ...they are still aluminum so they are light but he made me 10 ft panels for 65 bucks and a gate panel for 85 and coated them so they'd stay nice....it was cheaper then buying them from a store and are made exactly to my specs for height and number of bars and all... |
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Off the Wall Wacky
Posts: 2981
Location: Louisiana | BBrewster - 2014-03-30 10:12 PM You should check into getting custom ones made..its cheaper then you may think...I found a guy near me that does all sorts of pipe welding and he made me some with extra cross bars in the panels so I dont worry about them sticking a head through plus the part that links them together - he made the bolts longer so they wont just slide out ...they are still aluminum so they are light but he made me 10 ft panels for 65 bucks and a gate panel for 85 and coated them so they'd stay nice....it was cheaper then buying them from a store and are made exactly to my specs for height and number of bars and all...
I know so many welders...Why didn't I think of that???
We often forget the added price of convenience, don't we? Thanks! |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 356
| BBrewster - 2014-03-30 10:12 PM
You should check into getting custom ones made..its cheaper then you may think...I found a guy near me that does all sorts of pipe welding and he made me some with extra cross bars in the panels so I dont worry about them sticking a head through plus the part that links them together - he made the bolts longer so they wont just slide out ...they are still aluminum so they are light but he made me 10 ft panels for 65 bucks and a gate panel for 85 and coated them so they'd stay nice....it was cheaper then buying them from a store and are made exactly to my specs for height and number of bars and all...
^^This! My brother took welding classes in college, and needed to come up with a project toward the end of the semester. I gave him the measurements I wanted and he built them! I wanted short (length wise) ones I could lay in the pickup box, as I only have a 3 horse trailer. He did use steel, so they're stout little suckers. I don't know if I would want them any longer due to the weight, but the short ones are so nice! We just used a good spray paint to coat them and I haven't had any trouble with them rusting! |
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Expert
Posts: 1543
Location: MI | I, personally, wouldn't use chicken wire. I'm more familiar with the cheap chicken wire (hexagon shaped squares), but it very easily gets snagged on things and tears, for wire it seems. I thought I'd reinforce one of our dog fences with it, but the dogs pretty easily found a way to tear through it. I would be paranoid that my horse would catch itself on it, but that's just my experience with cheap chicken wire. The no climb wire fencing with square holes I would possibly consider, but haven't used it myself. Honestly, custom welded ones would be a whole lot easier in the long run to manage, there isn't anything to get caught or torn. |
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