# Horse Fence Installation in Hammond, LA > Horse fence installation around Hammond, LA: board, rail and no-climb mesh for pastures and paddocks, with braced corners, tight ground gaps and horse-height gates. URL: https://palisadeshammondfence.com/horse-fence-installation/ Service Board, rail and no-climb mesh fencing for horse pastures, paddocks and turnout pens, with braced corners, smooth faces and gates planned for horses and tractors. Get an Estimate [(985) 866-3827](tel:+19858663827) Last Updated: November 1, 2026 Boards fastened to the inside face mean a leaning horse pushes them against the posts, not off them. A light-colored top board is easy for a horse to see. A horse leans, rubs, reaches over and occasionally runs into its fence. Each of those is a load the fence has to carry. Mon to Fri 8 to 6 · Sat and Sun 9 to 2 A horse fence has a different job from a cattle fence or a yard fence. [Palisades Hammond Fence](https://palisadeshammondfence.com/) installs horse fencing across the Hammond area, from pasture perimeters to small turnout paddocks, in painted or treated board, rail and no-climb mesh, on braced corners and posts set for wet ground. Installation is carried out by licensed and insured fence contractors. Horses are large, quick and curious. They lean on a fence to reach grass on the other side, rub against it, chew it, and sometimes run into it when spooked or playing. Equestrian fencing is built so those contacts load the posts rather than the fasteners, the horse can see the fence clearly, and there is nothing to catch a hoof, leg or halter. No fence makes a horse injury-proof or escape-proof; a well-planned one reduces the ways things go wrong. ## Pasture, paddock and turnout pen The first decision is what each area is for, because the loads differ. A **pasture perimeter** encloses a large area where horses spread out to graze. They touch the fence occasionally, but when they do it is often at speed. The perimeter is long, so cost per foot matters, and it often runs along tree lines where a falling limb in a storm is a real load. A **paddock** or **turnout pen** is small, near the barn, and in constant use. Horses stand at the fence, lean over it toward each other and rub on it. Contact is constant rather than occasional, so the posts are closer, the rails heavier and the corners stiffer. Pipe fencing is common for these pens; see [pipe fence installation](https://palisadeshammondfence.com/pipe-fence-installation/). ## Fence types for horses Horse fencing comes in a few families, compared in depth in the [horse fence types guide](https://palisadeshammondfence.com/guide/horse-fence-types/): - **Board fence**, three or four boards of treated pine, painted or stained. Highly visible and rigid, and the classic look of a horse farm. Boards break rather than flex, and need checking. - **Ranch rail**, the same idea in a heavier rail profile, often used along a drive or frontage as well as around a pasture. A lighter [split rail fence](https://palisadeshammondfence.com/split-rail-fence-installation/) marks a line but is not built to hold horses. - **No-climb mesh**, woven wire with small openings that a hoof can’t pass through, topped with a board or rail so horses can see the line and don’t push down the top of the mesh. - **Pipe**, steel pipe posts and rails for pens, alleys and high-traffic corners. Standard field fence and barbed wire are built for cattle. Field fence openings are large enough for a hoof, and barbs cut. Owners of mixed stock ask whether one fence can serve both, and the answer is usually to give horses a fence of their own. The general [farm fence page](https://palisadeshammondfence.com/farm-fence-installation/) covers the cattle side. ## Braced corners and mesh tension No-climb mesh and the wire behind board fences only stay tight if their anchors stay put. Every corner, end and gate gets a braced assembly: two heavy posts with a horizontal brace and a diagonal tension wire that turns them into one rigid frame. The mesh is stretched against those assemblies and then attached to the line posts. When bracing is undersized, the corner post leans in, the mesh loses tension, and a slack fence bellies outward where horses lean. A belly is more than a cosmetic problem: it puts the mesh at a height and shape where a hoof can catch. Attachment matters too. Mesh is fastened to the inside face of the posts with staples or clips set so the wire holds without being crushed, and the top board or rail covers the top strand. ## Rubbing, leaning and the posts behind them Horses rub on posts and lean through the gaps between boards to reach grass. Each of those is a sideways load on the posts, the boards and the fasteners. Boards and mesh go on the horse side of the posts, so leaning pushes them against the posts rather than pulling them off. Fastener heads are set flush, and board ends are cut back so nothing sharp sticks out. The posts carry all of this in ground that stays wet much of the year. USDA soil data around Hammond maps mostly poorly drained silt loams with a shallow seasonal water table, so posts are ground-contact treated wood (AWPA UC4A or UC4B), set with footings that drain, as the [wet clay post guide](https://palisadeshammondfence.com/guide/fence-posts-in-wet-clay-soil/) describes. Homeowners setting pasture corners report hitting water about 3 ft down; corner and gate posts in that ground are set deeper and wider. The [post rot and termite guide](https://palisadeshammondfence.com/guide/fence-post-rot-and-termites/) explains what attacks posts at the grade line. ## Gaps, transitions and where escapes start Most problems on a horse fence start at a break in the pattern rather than in the middle of a run: ### The ground line A horse that rolls next to the fence or reaches under for grass can get a leg or head under a bottom board set too high. A bottom board set too low sits in wet grass and rots. The gap is set for the horses, foals included, and held consistent through dips, where it tends to open up as the line crosses lower ground. ### Transitions Where board meets mesh, where the fence meets a barn wall, where a ditch crossing interrupts the line, and on both sides of every gate, gaps open up. Each transition is closed so there is no opening a head or hoof fits into. ### Gates A gate left hanging a few inches off its latch post, or hung with a wide gap at the hinge side, is an easy gap to miss. Gates are hung tight to their posts with a consistent bottom gap. ## Gates for horses and gates for equipment A horse gate and a vehicle gate do different jobs. A horse gate is opened several times a day by someone leading a horse, so it should be wide enough to lead a horse through without crowding, light enough to swing with one hand, and latched with a hardware type a horse can’t nudge or lip open. The latch sits where the handler can reach it from horseback or the ground but a horse can’t play with it. A tractor, mower or trailer gate is wider and opened less often. Its width follows the equipment: a tractor with a bush hog or a hay trailer needs far more than a person and a horse. The approach matters as much as the width: a gate set at the end of a narrow alley, or right beside a ditch, is hard to drive through. Many pastures need both kinds, each hung between braced posts. The [gate installation page](https://palisadeshammondfence.com/gate-installation/) covers hanging and hardware. ## Inspection after storms and isolating damage Storms reach this area often enough that a horse owner should plan for them: FEMA has declared major disasters covering Tangipahoa, Livingston and St. Tammany parishes for storms from Katrina in 2005 through Francine in 2024. After a storm, walk the full line before turnout. A broken board, a limb on the mesh or a loosened gate is closed off with a temporary panel or by moving horses to a sound area until the section is repaired. [Fence repair](https://palisadeshammondfence.com/fence-repair/) handles the fix, and wider damage falls under [storm-damaged fence repair](https://palisadeshammondfence.com/storm-damaged-fence-repair/). ## Electric offsets, rules and cost An offset electric wire on brackets keeps horses from leaning on and chewing a fence. It is a specialist add-on and is not part of the work described here; if you plan one, say so at the estimate so the posts leave room for it. Mandeville’s land use code, as quoted in city planning reports, prohibits electric fences inside city limits, so the rule is confirmed per address; see the [Mandeville page](https://palisadeshammondfence.com/service-areas/mandeville/). Inside the City of Hammond, barbed wire is not allowed in residential districts, and woven wire can’t go in front of the house. Most horse property lies outside city limits, where the parish rule is confirmed per address. There is no published Hammond-area price for horse fencing; board count or mesh specification, the top board, paint, post spacing, line length and the number of gates set the cost. The [farm fence cost guide](https://palisadeshammondfence.com/guide/farm-fence-cost/) explains each. ## What's included - Walking the pasture with you: the horses, how they will use each area, the low spots and the gates - Separate plans for the pasture perimeter and any paddock or turnout pen - Board, rail or no-climb mesh, chosen for the horses and the use - Braced corner, end and gate assemblies sized to the fence - Rails or mesh on the horse side of the posts, with fasteners that sit flush - Ground gaps and transitions kept tight where a horse could reach or roll under - Pasture and paddock gates, plus a wider gate for the tractor and trailer - Latches set where a horse can't work them open - The Louisiana 811 locate before any post hole is dug ## Pasture perimeter or turnout paddock | | Pasture perimeter | Paddock or turnout pen | | --- | --- | --- | | How horses use it | Graze across a large area; contact with the fence is occasional | Stand, wait and play close to the fence; contact is constant | | Main loads | Running contact, storms, falling limbs along tree lines | Leaning, rubbing, chewing, horses reaching over to each other | | Typical build | Board or rail, or no-climb mesh with a top board, on braced corners | Heavier rails or pipe, closer posts, stiffer corners | | Gates | Wide enough for the tractor and trailer, plus a horse gate | Horse-width gates near the barn, latches out of reach | | Typical Hammond-area price | No published range; length, boards or mesh, posts and gates set it | No published range; heavier materials raise it per foot | ## Related resources Decision Guide Which Horse Fence Type Suits Your Pasture? What a horse fence has to do that a yard fence doesn't, how board, polymer rail and woven mesh each meet it, and why a decorative rail fence isn't horse containment. Cost Guide How Much Does Farm Fence Cost per Foot Near Hammond, LA? Why pasture fence has no single per-foot price here, how length, corners, ground and gates set the scope, and how to describe a job so quotes can be compared. Learn How Should Fence Posts Be Set in Wet Clay Soil? What the ground under a Hammond-area fence is actually like, why posts rotate in it, how footing depth and type are chosen, and how a post hole that fills with water is handled. Learn Why Do Fence Posts Rot at Ground Level? Why decay concentrates in the few inches around grade, why treated posts still fail, how termite damage differs, how to test a post without pulling it, and what a lasting fix looks like. Learn What Are Louisiana's Fence Laws for Property Lines and Neighbors? What the Louisiana Civil Code says about enclosing land, fences on a shared line, boundary markers and long possession, and where city codes take over for height and front yards. ## From the first call to the last gate 1. First call You describe the fence, the yard and the timing, and set a visit. 2. Site visit The line is walked and measured, gates and slopes noted, and the soil and drainage checked. 3. Permit and 811 The permit drawing goes to the city or parish, and utilities are located before any digging. 4. Build Posts are set and allowed to cure, then rails, panels or fabric and gates go up. 5. Walkthrough Gates are adjusted, the site is cleaned, and you check the finished line. ## What this work looks like A no-climb woven mesh horse fence with a wooden board along its top on wooden posts around a green pasture, a horse grazing far off A galvanized tube pasture gate in a white board horse fence, closed, with a pasture beyond ## Questions about horse fences ### What is the best fence for horses? There is no single best. Board and rail fences are highly visible and rigid; no-climb mesh with small openings and a top board keeps hooves and heads in and dogs out; pipe suits pens and high-traffic areas. Which fits depends on the horses, how crowded the area is and the budget. What every horse fence shares is a visible top, no sharp edges and tight gaps. ### Why do horse fence boards go on the inside of the posts? Because horses lean on and push against the fence. With the boards on the horse side, the push presses them against the posts, so the posts take the load. With boards on the outside, the same push works the nails or screws loose and can pop a board off, leaving a gap and an exposed fastener. ### How big a gap should be left under a horse fence? Small enough that a horse can't get a leg or head under it when it rolls or reaches for grass, and large enough to keep the bottom rail or mesh off wet ground. The right gap depends on the fence type and the horses, including foals, and is kept consistent across low spots where it tends to open up. ### Should horse gates and tractor gates be the same? Usually not. A horse gate is used several times a day by a person leading a horse, so it is a moderate width, swings easily and latches where a horse can't nudge it open. A tractor or trailer gate is wider and opened less often. Many pastures need both, each hung between braced posts. ### Can an electric wire be added to a horse fence? An offset electric wire that keeps horses from leaning on or chewing the fence is a specialist option and is not part of the fence work described here. If you plan to add one, say so at the estimate so the posts and layout leave room for it. Some towns restrict electric fences; Mandeville's land use code, as quoted in city planning reports, prohibits them, so the rule is confirmed per address. ## Related services ### Farm fences → Woven field fence, barbed wire and high-tensile wire for pasture, livestock and acreage, on braced corners and posts set for wet ground. ### Pipe fences → Welded steel pipe rail, pipe and cable, and pipe with wire infill for ranch entrances, pens, arenas and road frontage, painted and capped against rust. ### Gates → Walk, garden and double gates in wood, vinyl, chain link and metal, sized to what passes through and hung on posts built to carry them.