Frank J. Buchman

Cowboy • Horseman • Writer

Charge Must Have Power For Control

That hotwire doesn’t always work.

Yet, whenever we accidently touch it, there always seems to be a charge.

Still, our experience with electric fence to control livestock has not been all that positive; no pun intended.

Many stockmen, our son and his partners included, use hotwires to manage cattle on grassland, when permanent fencing is inadequate. Though it works economically-efficient, we’ve had little success with such systems.

More than 45 years ago, we seemingly-conveniently tapped-in posts and stretched smooth-wire around the lowlands at our two-acre miniature ranch, plugged the charger into the electrical outlook and turned the hogs out.

Those stinking, rooting boogers were constantly shorting the fence, getting out, and intruding where they weren’t supposed to be.

Being a slow learner then, too, we rented wasteland neighboring our “40,” north of town, as a horse pasture and decided to fence it with a hotwire powered by a car-battery.

No small chore was putting posts and stringing wire through that jungle timber, but it worked, at first.

Horses generally don’t require as tight fencing as other livestock, so once they felt the “jolt” of the electrically-charged pasture border, they stayed put.

That is until weeds grew thick everywhere and dowsed the power. Then one horse stretched under the wire, felt no shock and walked right through with the rest of the horses following.

Stallions can be cantankerous when the “season is right,” and certain ones will rush fences hard when a filly they like is on the other side, causing considerable destruction all the while.

Our solution was to put an electric-wire there, and the “bite” stopped the rank horse, until the electricity went dead. Animals seem to have more natural instinct to know when the “juice” is off then we do.

Cattle always seem to prefer grass on the other side of the fence. Calves more readily slip through than mommas, so we had to string a hotwire around the little first calf heifer pasture. Again, the “nip” worked, sometimes, but not always, and babies were out on the road.

Reminds us of Daniel 3:27: “The fire had no power.” Therefore, Romans 13:1: “We’ll get out of here.” However, Genesis 26:5: “Those who kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes and laws,” then First Corinthians 7:37: “Will be controlled and do well.”

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