Traditional wood rail fence.

Time tested, properly installed and maintained wood plank fencing is superior to most types of fence available. The high cost, however, keeps many horse owners at bay.

You'll see plenty of wood fenced pastures in the communities with big money horses, and for good reason: it is probably the safest fence available.

Strong and highly visible, works in all weather and without electricity.

Small diameter electric twine fence.

This looks like either a very lightweight electric rope fence, or a possibly coated high tensile wire.

Either way, while superior to plain wire, and FAR superior to barbed, the visibility is not as good as properly installed electric tape, thicker braid or other non-electric visual deterrents such as wood or synthetic plank.

Fencing like this should be marked with brightly colored flags every 10-20 feet to increase visibility. Running, bucking horses forget that they "know" where their barriers are.

Electric tape and/or twine fence.

What exactly IS keeping this horse in, anyway?

Even if this is a quality tape fence on the bottom and a good plastic/wire combo thin braid rope fence on top, with electricity, the fence is too low for the horse, inviting a jump if spooked or otherwise motivated. (Perhaps by the green grass on the other side.)

Proper installation is key to making the safer types of fence as safe as possible.

Braided or "rope" fence.

Braided or "rope" fence infused with metal wires and charged with a good electric fencer is far superior to barbed or plain, uncoated wire.

Proper installation is essential; not too much space between posts, tensioners used to keep the fence taut, etc.

Visibility is superior to plain wire, but not as good as wood or synthetic rail.

Sagging woven wire with uncapped T-posts.

This may be one instance where the barbed wire is actually HELPING this fence to be 1% safer, but this is still an accident waiting to happen.

If the openings in a fence are large enough to allow a hoof to pass through, even the laziest horse can become stuck by a stray kick at a bothersome fly.

Fence that is not tight, sags and has broken in places adds immeasurably to the risk. If the fence were tighter and a hoof went through, the horse might be able to pull it back out, BUT if the fence "gives" because it is not tight, it is more likely to become entangled.

T-posts without protective caps can impale a frightened, fleeing horse.

PVC rail fence.

One of the safest types of horse fence, poly/vinyl rails are sturdy when erected properly and provide a great visual deterrent.

Be sure the fence is high enough to keep horses from thinking they might jump over.

One pitfall of this type of fence is if a tree falls on it or something else happens to shatter it, the splinters can be extremely sharp and jagged.

Barbed wire and foals.

Hard to see in this photo, but there are at least four strands of loosely hung barbed wire keeping this very pregnant mare contained.

I hope she was moved before she gave birth. Foals cannot be expected to be born respecting fence.

Loose barbed wire over low woven wire.

Triple whammy here.

Stock fence = no-no.

Barbed wire = BIG no-no.

Loose fence, too low = DANGEROUS for any type of fence!

Woven wire, barbed on top.

Stock fence with openings large enough for a hoof to go through is not safe for horses.

Top it with barbed wire (common practice to keep cattle from "riding" the fence down) and we've got double the danger here.

A horse kicking at another horse in a neighboring pasture could get a leg stuck in the fence. (Been there, seen it happen.)

A panicked horse attempting to jump a barbed wire fence and not quite clearing the top wire could result in worse than a big vet bill.

Woven wire with barbed top strand.

Barbed wire fence has its place and purpose. It is pretty darn good cattle fence.

It has no place in the horse world, except for possibly a reference for tooling the skirts of a custom Western saddle.