Half a Fence, Three Times the Pasture

Back when I had a crazy moment and decided to adopt my boys it was essentially the middle of winter and I had a.) a barn full of junk with no stall, and b.) no fenced in pasture. Since I only had a week to get ready for them, I fretted over the fence situation for a while, and then decided to string up some temporary fencing for them in front of the barn.

It is nowhere near enough space for them, and my plan was, come Spring, I’d put in a real fence. And then Spring actually happened and I was like, holy shit, I guess I better put a fence in this weekend. And also, my little mowers have done a number on the grass in their temporary space.

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As you can see… inside the fence is to the right, outside to the left. They are quite effective at both mowing and fertilizing the grass. They are also about to turn a large chunk of the front yard into a barren wasteland, so it’s time to get them a proper pasture.

For the fence itself, I love what MysteryMan and I did at Memorial which was split-rail on the front and then typical welded wire fencing along the sizes and back.

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That took us a weekend, if I remember correctly, but turns out it takes slightly more time when you have half the people and two damaged hands…

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Why yes, there are three bandaids on that hand, none of which cover injuries that I sustained while installing half a fence (it’s a riveting tale though, which does include donkeys… more on that adventure tomorrow.) The bloody little scratch on my palm is not a sign from Jesus though, that was actually from the fence. And the moral of this picture: buy more work gloves.

Good news is, injuries aside, I managed to install about 20 posts this weekend…

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Since I haven’t put the 4×4 posts in yet I couldn’t stretch the wire fencing yet, but I wanted the boys to have access to all that delish grass back there ASAP, so I strung some extra electric fencing wire around them… temporarily. (That does seem to be a theme around here, doesn’t it?) I didn’t use insulators because I don’t actually intend to turn it on, those boys stay far away from the fence wires regardless.

And, while I was stringing that wire, in one of the least brilliant moments I’ve ever had, um, ever, I did this:

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You’ll notice that the car is on the opposite side of the fence from the house, driveway, and road. You’ll also notice that there is no gate.

So. Once I restrung the fence with my car on the outside (sigh) the boys ended up with about triple the space for grazing.

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And, you know… a really awesome view.

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I’ve got another 20 posts and 10 4×4’s before to set before I can stretch the real fence, but this gave me a little breathing room and even more importantly, time to get my grandpas tractor with the post-hole auger so I don’t have to dig all those damn holes by hand.

(For a look at how to install a welded wire fence for real, check out this post.)

8 Responses

  1. That view is so awesome! The donkeys look like they’re enjoying having more space.

  2. I’m not gonna lie – I LOL’d when I saw the picture of your car and knew immediately what you had done. Too perfect!

  3. Hi mate I liked it when you said “And the moral of this picture: buy more work gloves.” I hope the car is now closer to the house. Congratulations on your fence mate. The donkeys are much happier now that you have secured their safety. Good day!

  4. This is some really good information about the temporary fence. It is good to know that you can set up a temporary fence quickly with posts and rope. It does seem like a good idea to have a protective gear when doing this. After all, your hands look like they got beaten up super bad doing this.

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