The quality of a horse farm is often only as good as the fences around it, and the Wilson sisters appreciate that fact more than most.

The sisters Vicki, Kelly and Amanda have had more than their share of horses injured after being caught in fences and gates, and spent many hours tending injured horses and putting the offending fencing right.

But in the past year they have had some welcome relief from the upsetting and stressful encounters between horses and fences, thanks to having their property made far more “horse friendly” using Gallagher Equine Fence systems.

Working with Gallagher and the Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand the sisters have fenced well over two thirds of their Northland property with the Gallagher system that incorporates specially designed Equine Fence Wire, gates, outriggers and now the innovative new Insulated Line Posts.

With a year’s experience having the system in place, Kelly says they have come to realise how stressful and unnecessary horse injuries from fences and gates are when avoided by having a good system in place.

“In the 12 months we have had the system in place we have had no wire cuts or accidents from the fences or gates where we have the Gallagher system in place. But we have had seven on the remaining conventional fences, and one horse had to be retired from riding because of the injury she sustained.”

Other horses have also sustained small wire cuts requiring attention to avoid them becoming infected.

“I think what we have learned is that we now know it is preventable, they are accidents that with the right fencing, you can avoid.”

The sisters are working over coming months to replace the remaining traditional wire fences with Gallagher Equine Wire. The wire has a unique electrified polymer design with wide diameter and smooth coating that reduces the risk of it becoming entangled with a horse’s hoof, leg or head.

This has avoided the injuries Kelly has witnessed where the high tensile wire becomes entangled between the horse’s hoof and shoe, at worst electrocuting the animal.

Similarly, all the gates have been replaced with Gallagher Equimaster Gates, designed to minimise any risk of horses getting their heads or hooves caught in the gate’s railings.

Grid mesh welded to the gate frame eliminates the risk of mesh separating and providing a means for hooves to become caught between it and the frame.

“We have had horses go over gates and get their back legs caught, or get their heads caught between gate railings. We changed the gates over and in the past year have had none of those accidents.”

Kelly is particularly impressed with the newly released Gallagher Insulated Line Posts.

Designed to be easily transported around the farm, and set up with minimum fuss, their adjustability means they can provide a tailor made solution to containing horses, sheep, cattle and deer.

“We found they were extremely easy to set up, the three of us laid out a whole paddock ourselves in only about half an hour. The fact you can move the snap on clips up or down means to you can set up the fence and the wires exactly as you want them to be.”

The sisters have used the fence system to subdivide a larger paddock, and alongside the river bank to keep horses out of the water.

At present the sisters are running a wide variety of horses, ranging from three different breeds of wild horses, the horse Vicki trained and won in the World Championship of Colt Starting event in March, and a number of Olympic standard show jumpers.

Kelly said she has much more peace of mind knowing all are well contained, and less likely than ever to injure themselves around the family property.

“We have come to realise with the fence system just how avoidable some of these injuries are, and we are working hard to remove the last of the old fencing.”

Leading developer of virtual fencing technology, Agersens, is now part of Gallagher Group under a strategic change of ownership that will allow us to further improve the solution and accelerate commercial expansion across Australian and international markets.

Agersens, which was founded by Ian Reilly, designed and developed the eShepherd platform to allow graziers to control the location and movement of cattle using a web application and an intelligent, solar-powered neckband connected to the internet via a base station. Testing, including a fully-subscribed beta trial programme, shows the technology is proving effective in rotational grazing and protection of riparian zones.

Leading the Agersens team over the past two years is Jason Chaffey, who said Agersens and Gallagher shared a common vision for farm automation, expansion into global markets and partnering with industry to provide tools that facilitate data-driven decision making.

“Gallagher’s long and respected history in livestock management, international reach and vision, not only for virtual fencing but for promoting a more efficient, productive and sustainable grazing industry, means it is ideally placed to provide a strong foundation for the future growth of eShepherd,” Jason said.

“Agersens and Gallagher will work closely to maximise synergies and grow commercialisation of eShepherd, a technology we are confident will be a game-changer for livestock production.

“eShepherd is performing well at our test sites across Australia and New Zealand and the acquisition by Gallagher will accelerate growth and development of the product, to move towards providing producers in multiple markets with access to this tool which can genuinely improve the efficiency, profitability and sustainability of grazing businesses,” Jason added.

Gallagher Chief Executive Officer & Executive Director Kahl Betham says the company is delighted to add this new technology to the Gallagher lineup.

“For over 80 years, Gallagher has led the way in the agricultural industry.  This acquisition further cements our commitment to investing in new ways of farming that will support customers with smarter, simpler solutions that make farm life easier and more profitable.

“We are thrilled to be adding further talent to the Gallagher family and are excited about what we can achieve together through our combined passion for innovation and customer experience,” Kahl added.

We first began investing in eShepherd in 2016.  The acquisition will be finalised by 21 June 2021 at which time the current Agersens team of around 35 people will transition to Gallagher, under the overall leadership of Lisbeth Jacobs, Global General Manager for Animal Management.

Find out more about eShepherd here.