When “Safe Enough Fencing” Isn’t Safe 
A few weeks ago, I lost my beautiful Arabian mare, Aria.
Her death wasn’t from old age, or an accident no one could foresee—it was partly caused by something I had already recognised as a risk… but hadn’t yet addressed.
I’ve gone back and forth about whether to share this. It’s painful, and I still feel a heavy mix of sadness, regret, and guilt. But if telling Aria’s story prevents even one horse from suffering the same fate, then it’s worth it.
The Fence I Knew Was a Problem
On one short section of our track—just 50 metres—there was an old ring-lock fence designed for sheep and goats. It had large mesh, steel star pickets, and sat on a slope. I’d made it “safer” with 4 cm white tape along the top (not electrified) and capped each picket with 20 cm of heavy-duty poly pipe.
It had been like that for over 12 years. I knew it wasn’t ideal, but it had worked… until it didn’t.
A week before the accident, I remember looking at that fence and thinking, “I really should replace it with plain wire, or run an electric line to keep the horses away.” I even pictured the risk—a horse slipping or rolling there and getting caught. But I told myself I didn’t have the materials, help, or time to do it right now.
The Day Everything Changed
Aria colicked. In her distress, she rolled into that section of fence. In her panic to get free, a star picket punctured her gut wall and tore her thigh.
The vet gave her just a 10% chance of surviving surgery—with almost certain peritonitis from the gut injury. After over 12 hours of care, herbal remedies, hydration, pain relief, and the help of dear friends, I made the most difficult decision of my life: to end her pain.
I’ll never know whether she would have survived the colic without those injuries. But I do know that fence should have been fixed before she had the chance to meet it in her most vulnerable moment.
What I Learned About “Safe Enough”
Horses are curious, powerful, and unpredictable. The fencing we use for them needs to be more than just “good enough.” Hazards can be there for years without incident—until one day, they’re not.
I’ve realised how easy it is to look at other people’s unsafe paddocks, old machinery, or hazardous hay feeders and think, “I’d never let that happen.” But sometimes, the danger is in our own yard, waiting for the moment when prevention would have made all the difference.
Fencing Safety Tips to Protect Your Horses
If you’ve been meaning to check or upgrade your fencing, here are some key points I wish I had acted on sooner:
1. Walk your fences regularly
Inspect for broken wires, protruding nails, sharp edges, leaning posts, sagging lines, or loose mesh. Check after storms or high winds.
2. Avoid large mesh for horses
Sheep or goat fencing (ring-lock) has openings that can trap a hoof or leg. For horses, opt for smaller mesh (50 mm / 2” maximum) or plain wire with a visible barrier.
3. Make star pickets horse-safe
If you must use steel pickets, cap them with high-quality protective sleeves. Better yet, keep horses well clear of them using offset electric wires or replacing them with safer posts. It’s also easy to cut off the sharp post corners at the top with an angle grinder and cut-off disc.
4. Add visibility
Horses see thin wires poorly. Use wide electric tape, sight boards, or painted top rails so they can clearly identify the fence line.
5. Create buffer zones
Where fencing runs along high-traffic areas, slopes, or near water points, add a second internal fence or electric strand to keep horses away from potential hazards.
6. Act on your intuition
If you see something and think, “That could be dangerous,” take it seriously. Make the repair or change as soon as possible—before “one day” becomes “too late.”
Moving Forward Without Aria
Nothing can undo what happened. The only comfort I have is knowing she is no longer in pain, and that her story may help others protect their horses.
If there’s a section of fence, gate, or hazard you’ve been putting off fixing—please take this as your sign. Go and look at it today. Make the change now. Your future self, and your horse, will thank you.
Download our printable Horse Property Fencing Hazard Checklist – Your Horse’s Safety Is Worth the Effort. 
Oh Cynthia, you are remarkable, to be able to see through your grief, to share what happened to Aria so that others might fix a potentially dangerous situation where they are.
There will be many who will read what you have written and, like me, will act to remedy something they have been conscious of, in some cases, for a long time.
I hope you are able to take the time necessary to heal from this and accept all the support available form those who know the extraordinary person you are.
I’m so glad to hear my sharing has inspired you to fix things for your horses. Thank you for your kind words and thoughts – writing this has helped with the healing and grief. X
I don’t know what star picket fencing actually is; we maybe have something similar here in USA. Regardless, I’m very sorry you had to go through this experience of losing your Aria. I’m sure we ALL have areas of fencing that could be better as well as other aspects of keeping horses in which we could improve. Thank you for sharing and encouraging us all to be more mindful.
Thanks for your kind words Sarah, I think they are called T-posts in the USA – metal posts that you drive into the ground. And yes, fencing is the big issue around keeping horses safe so the more mindful we are, the better.
My heart goes out to you Cynthia, what a horrible experience for you to endure. I’m so sorry this happened to you and dear Aria. Nothing is ever completely horseproof, and no matter how many hazards we identify, there are always more that we don’t recognise as hazards. And hindsight is always perfect!
Thank you for being brave enough to share this story. I too have lost horses in the past, due to thinking “that will be ok”, until it wasn’t.
This is my impetus to go pull down that old stretch of sheep ringlock that’s been bugging me for a while now! Thank you, and hugs for you xx
My wish is that by sharing Aria’s story, it will cause people to take action on those dangerous fences and onjects. Thanks for committing to doing so and for your very kind words.
I am so sorry to hear the tragic story about what happened to Aria. We also had a star picket accident with our standardbred horse Jarrah. We had to temporarily fence off an area near some giant bamboo. We used uncapped star pickets and electric (non live) electric tape. The horses were used to respecting electric tape and the park was only intended to stay up for a couple of days. The ground was rocky so hard to get the star pickets in deeply but they were in far enough for basic stability. But the horses got playful and somehow got entangled in the tape, ripping out a couple of star pickets. One struck Jarrah on the hind canon bone and seriously gashed it down to the tendon. It’s easy to underestimate how quickly star pickets can become dangerous. Thankyou for your article giving people the heads up on dangers of fencing.
Thanks for sharing your story too and I hope Jarrah recovered well. It can happen so easily and I’d love to see the star picket manufacturers round off the top edges so they’re not so likely to injure animals.