Horse-safe Gallagher Insulated Line Posts quickly fitted the bill for peace of mind

Wavealee Laird and partner Jacqui Norris had bought the small farm in December, but widespread fires through Gavoc in March burnt half of “Breezeholme”, including all the eastern boundary fencing and two internal fences.

Wavealee says, “Having sold our property before the fires it was really, really frustrating because we were into our 60-day settlement period. We had about three weeks to get the new place re-fenced, so we were in a bit of a pinch. BlazeAid said they could redo our fencing, but it was going to take a couple of months organising, so I had to get something in the ground pretty much straightaway to get the horses across and safe.”

Going through the options

The third-generation horsewoman went to Murray Goulburn in Koroit, where she’d previously bought all their horse supplies.

“We’re not really that near to them anymore, but I still had the relationship and the manager knows I’m a ‘crazy horse lady’!

“He took me through all the options. I really don’t like star pickets for the sheer reason that I’ve seen horses put them through their chest and you have to shoot the horse; it’s not nice - they’re dangerous. So then I was looking at extra-high, seven-foot pigtails but I wasn’t going to be able to have them at the intervals that I wanted – I like my fencing at about 10-metre intervals – because I couldn’t afford to have enough; they’re expensive. So we looked at a standard-height pigtail, which is about three foot; I’ve got some very tall horses, and they probably would step over that, but it was about all I could afford.

“Then Evan at Murray Goulburn said ‘we’ve got this brand new thing in and they’re horse safe’. I said, ‘What do you mean they’re horse safe?!’.”

Wavealee said being black and orange, the Gallagher Insulated Line Posts are “nice and visible”.

“They’re made out of flexi-fibre material, so the post flexed when he bent it and poked it into the wall. That really demonstrated that if a horse hit it, instead of the post ramming through them like a star picket would, it would flex."

"It just flicked back happily afterwards, so they’re very durable and they don’t have any sharp edges. Evan showed me they just go in with the sleeve and a post rammer. They were in my price range, so I could afford enough to have them at the intervals that I wanted. All that pretty much sold me.”

Putting up in the dark

Wavealee is using the UV-resistant, super-strong, snap-on Gallagher Insulated Line Post Clips to hold a top wire and knee-high wire onto the Insulated Line Posts.

“We’re powering it all with a Gallagher Portable Solar Energizer, a little electric-fence portable power pack. It’s got the solar panel and the battery with it, so I could sit it out there and just leave it. I also got the fence monitor, so it tells me if the fence is shorting and where.

“I was in a big rush to get it up. So even though it was after work and getting dark, I thought ‘we’ll put a couple in the ground to see how long it’s going to take us and how easy it is’. So my partner and I went out there when I got back."

“We ended up putting half the posts in that night because they went in really well. I’m not a big lady by any means, but it probably took me about five whacks with the slammer. And the clips went on really easily."

“Once I’d worked out what height I wanted the clips at, it was all just really user-friendly. I didn’t have to struggle with any of it. Nothing was too hard."

“We did half that night and came back the next day and did the rest. Then we strung all the wire up and turned the fence on and we had a boundary fence again. So it made me really happy because I could move my horses.”

Fencing to keep

In May, BlazeAid worked with Wavealee and Jacqui to redo the boundary fence with permanent fencing.

“That was really fantastic, but I didn’t want to sell or get rid of the Gallagher Insulated Line Posts; I really like them. 

“When we bought the property, we had a price for how much it was going to cost to use a particular type of internal horse fencing, and it was around 30 grand – so out of our reach. So we moved the Gallagher Insulated Line Posts and used them as our internal fences. We’ve got them dividing our acres up into horse-sized paddocks now, so they’re not just roaming around in cow-size paddocks. We created a laneway and a couple of small paddocks and a big paddock. I really like it.”

Wavealee says they’re building up into a horse-breeding and training setup.

“I definitely recommended these to all my other horsey people. With my day-to-day management, I feel a lot more secure with this fencing; I’m a lot less stressed about rocking up and finding a horse impaled on a fence.

“Horses can be so stupid sometimes, but I really have that peace of mind with these fences, knowing that if a horse runs at it, the worst thing that’s going to happen is slapping them on the bum on their way past. I’d rather it flexed than was stiff and actually hurt them. That peace of mind is huge.

“I feel like the posts are weathering really well, too, so I’m probably going to get quite a long life out of them which is good.”

Exceeding expectations

Wavealee says she’s never used Gallagher equipment before, although knows it’s “got quite a good name from some of the non-fencing Gallagher gear that we sell at work”.

“When he was selling it to us, Evan from Murray Goulburn said it’s comparable in price and has a really good brand name with what we’ve used before, so we might like to try it. So far, I’ve been really impressed with all of the products that we’ve bought: they’ve all exceeded expectations and they’re super user-friendly.

“And probably the most important thing, and why I bought them in the first place, is that peace of mind. There had been a few times over the years where I cringe before I drive around that last corner and wonder if I’m going to see horses tangled or injured. But not with this; so it’s good."