# cattle guard for mini



## devittjl (Jun 24, 2004)

My mini horses are ecsape artists. I have seen them crawl under the fences. I keep tightening up the holes but they find more.

Will a cattle guard across the driveway at the front gate stop them? I need to stop them from getting on the road and the gate is often open.


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

Yes. Maybe. 
Minis are notoriously devious and cattleguards can be jumped, walked through, stepped around, etc. (We have both a mini and a cattleguard.  )

Be VERY careful with horses and cattleguards, though. 
We had a ranch horse once who got a foot caught in the cattle guard that he was walking across. It nearly ripped his hoof off. He never recovered and had to be put down.


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## oregon woodsmok (Dec 19, 2010)

Not likely. I've ridden a lot in cattle country so I've crossed a lot of cattle guards and any horse of mine would either jump over them or carefully step on the bars and walk right across them.

Electric fence is probably your best bet.


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## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

I'm not sure about your part of the world but up in the frozen north, unless you know a good welder, a cattle guard sells for just over $1500 and they were never really intended for horses. If the end of your lane is your biggest concern, I would think that you could build or buy a good gate for a lot less than a cattle guard. 

Perhaps it would be easier to invest in some electric fencing and if you set up a rotational grazing system, you could maximize your grass and keep your equine Houdinis where they belong.


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## jennigrey (Jan 27, 2005)

Hunh, sounds like goats! :teehee:


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## oregon woodsmok (Dec 19, 2010)

[[[....Hunh, sounds like goats! ...]]]

Yeah, The biggest difference is that horses and ponies only eat the trees as high as they can reach from the ground and don't climb up into the tree to eat it.


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## arabian knight (Dec 19, 2005)

I sure would go with some kind of electric fencing then any kind of cattle-guards, One nice mini getting a leg broke after it gets stuck in one, sure would not want anything like that to happen. I have 48" woven wire, Can't get under that kind of fence, but I also have 2 strands of electric wire, basically to keep the mini's from scratching themselves on the fence line when shedding time comes. Electric wire and fencer is so inexpensive compared to even one mini getting hurt.


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## devittjl (Jun 24, 2004)

thanks for the answers. solved the problem by give the giving the horses to a great new home.


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## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

I had to google "cattle guard" I had a pretty good idea from reading what it was, but I've never actually seen one. My one foray into the West was a vacation (DH's softball team won States back in '94 and went to Nationals) in Bismarck, ND. Very pretty place, but so incredibly flat! I've lived in hill country (upstate NY) my entire life. We visited the Badlands and that was truly beautiful.

My question, do one of those things really stop cattle? Now, my only cow experience is my uncle's dairy farm, and a few small beef operations but I can't see that stopping a cow from crossing.

devittjl- that's one way of solving the problem.


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## oregon woodsmok (Dec 19, 2010)

Cattle won't cross them. They won't even cross one that's painted onto the road. I don't think they stop anything else, though. Most animals will jump over them.

They usually have a small walk through gate next to them for horsemen to go through.


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

Most cattle guards are not on public lands and therefor don't have walk-through gates. 

They usually have a wire gate next to them, though, for when moving cattle through, horses, large equipment, etc. 

And cattle can and do cross cattle guards. Just like horses, they can jump them, walk through them, walk between the edge of the guard and the cross-piece guards, etc. 
Ours currently has a hot wire across it... Danged heifers.


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## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

I didn't think it would be a huge deterrent unless they are a lot bigger than they looked in the pictures.


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

Actually, 95% of the time they work just like they're supposed to! :shrug:
But they're definitely not fail-safe.


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## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

Irish Pixie said:


> I had to google "cattle guard" I had a pretty good idea from reading what it was, but I've never actually seen one. My one foray into the West was a vacation (DH's softball team won States back in '94 and went to Nationals) in Bismarck, ND. Very pretty place, but so incredibly flat! I've lived in hill country (upstate NY) my entire life. We visited the Badlands and that was truly beautiful.
> 
> My question, do one of those things really stop cattle? Now, my only cow experience is my uncle's dairy farm, and a few small beef operations but I can't see that stopping a cow from crossing.
> 
> devittjl- that's one way of solving the problem.


If you look up on CF you'll see that we're going to convert our big barn into a guest house. Sounds like you should maybe plan a road trip to north Idaho, Pix.
We do have cattle guards on public lands here...so much BLM and state land leased by ranchers.


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## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

LisaInN.Idaho said:


> If you look up on CF you'll see that we're going to convert our big barn into a guest house. Sounds like you should maybe plan a road trip to north Idaho, Pix.
> We do have cattle guards on public lands here...so much BLM and state land leased by ranchers.


Perhaps I will.  I still can't see where one of these guards can be a deterrent... maybe if I saw one in person.


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## hrslvrtrailridr (Jan 9, 2007)

Cattle guards are not for horses. Most horses are not afraid of cattle guards. I have read articles on horses becoming entrapped when their hooves slip through the grates. In one case rescue required the dis-assembly of the cattle guard, a process which is not easy.


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

It takes a portable cutting torch. 

See my story above.


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## HorseGirl31 (Apr 7, 2010)

I have read stories of horses becoming entrapped and having to be put down. Horses+cattle guard= not a good idea!


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