My BO asked me for a favour to post her problem here. We have a herd of 12 horses, 5 of which are the BO's horses, and the rest - private. They live 24/7 pasture boarded in huuuuge pastures, that are fenced with an electric fence. The electric tape goes in three cords, is powerful and the horses respect it. However, two of the BO's horses keep escaping - a young gelding and the lead mare of the herd - by breaking the insulators and then slipping through the cords. The worst part - as the main escaper is the lead mare, the rest of the herd often follows her, and it might end up dangerously, as there is a busy road not far away.
We need ideas, how to keep them in, and there aren't many. Making a metal or wood fence is too expensive for how large the pastures are, so making a seperate paddock for the escapers is an option - still, money is tight so the paddock would have to be just electric fencing, which they go through with no problems. There was an idea to use barbed wire, but it is very risky to start with, or keep the two horses in a chain during day and in the stall during night, but we'd really like to keep them outside - just not escaping.
Any ideas and input how to cope with such situations without extremely high expenses are welcome.