Would horses bother a utility pole on our property(rub against it, etc.)?
The area of our property that we are fencing off for 2 horses that we are getting has a utility pole smack dab in the middle. We live in the country so the pole only has our lines from the house running to it and obviously the lines are to the top of the pole. Should we fence this small section off around the pole or do you think the horses would leave it alone by not chewing on the wood, rubbing against it, etc..etc..?
2008-01-15T05:45:58Z
Good point Cat! I never even thought of what the pole itself is made of or coated with
D2008-01-15T05:49:35Z
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Oh, they will definately bug it, no doubt about it. Expect them to chew and rub on the pole- if your horse doesn't, it is probably sick, lol. We have 10 acres of alfalfa pasture and 1 cedar post in the middle of it .....it has been rubbed to the ground already- even 24/7 available food doesn't get them to stop- their heads and butts are itchy.
If you don't want it damaged at all, you definately need to fence it off.
It is pretty unpredictable what the horses will do with that pole, they might rub against it, chew on it or simply leave it alone, the most damage will be caused by chewing (assuming the pole is solid and deep enough in the ground that rubbing doesn't cause it to loosen in the ground), for the chewing you might just get some chain link fencing (chicken fence) and wrap it around the pole.
one of my pastures has a utility pole in it and over the many years that it has been there and the many different horses that have been pastured there...I have never seen a horse even look at the pole. If the poles are treated with Creosote, the horses will not chew on it..creosote is used by many of us horse people for the reason...if they run on it for an occasional itch...so what. Leave it alone no one will hurt it
Murphy's Law for horses: If in a field of lush grass up to their butts, there is one lonely pole that might be treated with something toxic, at least one will at least chew on it just to see what happens.
I'd isolate the area. Would it be possible to move the pole? We're upgrading to 400 amp service sometime this year and will be moving the pole/meter at that time because it's a pain in the butt where it is. You might ask your utility about it.
Alexis, I don't know what the actual statistical percentages are of those for or against horse slaughter in the United States- I think that if you "google" this, you might be able to come up with a few of them, and perhaps some polls or surveys which have been done on this topic to back up what you are writing or speaking about. That's what you are really asking for in your question- NOT peoples' personal opinions about slaughter. For myself, I will only say that I am pro slaughter, but NOT for the reasons which most of the others have listed here. Most of my reasons are too complicated to go into here- there isn't enough room to do so anyway. Try to " google" this topic for more information. Good luck.