Start with your animals and your ground

Before you order a single post or reel of wire, it pays to think carefully about what will be living behind the fence and what the land is like beneath your boots. A paddock used for a couple of retired ponies has very different demands from one grazed by a small flock of sheep or a few young cattle. Sheep are notorious for pushing through gaps that look impossibly small, so they need tight wire spacing and a low bottom wire. Horses lean, rub and scratch, so they need visible, robust fencing that will not trap a hoof. Cattle are heavy and will test every strainer and gate latch you install.

Your soil matters just as much as your stock. Clay holds a post firmly, whilst sandy or peaty ground may need deeper setting or additional bracing. Sloping ground and exposed corners catch the wind, so plan extra strainers there. Walk the boundary in wet weather to see where water runs and where the ground softens. That is where a gate or a hard standing will save you a boggy mess later.

Posts: the backbone of a stock-proof fence

Good fencing starts below ground. For strainers at corners, ends and gateposts, choose timber posts of at least 100mm to 125mm diameter and set them 0.6m to 0.9m deep, depending on soil and frost. Brace every strainer with a diagonal or box arrangement — a single post will pull over once the wire is tensioned. For intermediate posts, 65mm to 75mm round timber is a sensible choice for stock netting. Space them 2.5m to 3m apart for sheep, and 3m to 4m apart for cattle or horses.

Metal posts are lighter and quicker to drive, which makes them useful for temporary runs or awkward corners, but they are not a substitute for sturdy timber strainers. Avoid plastic posts for permanent stock fencing; they degrade in sunlight and will not hold tension. If you are driving posts, use a post driver with a steel cap to protect the top. If you are digging, backfill in layers and tamp each layer firmly. A post that wobbles on day one will be leaning by autumn.

Wire and netting: spacing that actually holds stock

Stock netting is the workhorse of permanent paddock fencing. For sheep, choose netting with vertical wires every 10cm and horizontal wires every 15cm to 30cm. The bottom wire should sit close to the ground — no more than 5cm above it — to stop lambs and ewes pushing underneath. For cattle, a vertical spacing of 15cm is usually sufficient. Horses need a different approach: small mesh netting can trap a hoof or shoe, so use plain wire strands or post-and-rail, or netting with larger vertical spacing and no sharp knots.

Height matters too. A finished fence of 1.05m suits sheep, 1.2m suits cattle, and 1.4m is safer for horses. Plain wire is cheaper and easier to tension, but it offers less of a visual barrier. Barbed wire has no place in a horse paddock and should be used with great care around cattle. Whatever you choose, tension the wire properly using strainers and ratchets, and fix it to intermediate posts with galvanised staples driven at a slight angle — not straight in, which can split the grain.

Gates: get the width, height and hanging right

A gate is the weakest point in any fence line, so do not scrimp on it. For vehicle access, a 3.6m (12ft) gate is the practical minimum. For routine animal movement on foot, 3m (10ft) works well. A smaller 2.4m (8ft) gate is fine for pedestrian access or a small holding pen. Height should match your stock: 1.1m for sheep, 1.2m to 1.3m for cattle, and 1.4m for horses.

Hang gates on sturdy timber or metal posts set deep into the ground, and make sure the gate swings clear of the ground across its full arc. A gate that drags will soon sag and fail to latch. Fit a self-locking latch that can be operated from horseback or with one hand, and consider a second catch for high-traffic gateways. Position gates on high, well-drained ground where possible, and add a hard core or concrete pad beneath if the area turns muddy. A well-hung gate saves daily frustration and keeps animals where they belong.

Electric fencing: a useful ally, not a substitute

Electric fencing is brilliant for strip grazing, temporary partitions and protecting young hedges, but it is not a permanent boundary unless you maintain it diligently. For a small paddock, an energiser of 2 to 5 joules is usually ample. Earthing is the part most people get wrong: drive at least one 1m earth rod per joule into damp soil, and keep the ground around it moist in dry spells. Use tape or polywire rather than thin wire for visibility, especially with horses.

Check the voltage regularly with a fence tester. A reading below 3,000 volts on a dry day suggests a short circuit from vegetation, a broken insulator or poor earthing. Electric fencing works best as a supplement to a physical stock-proof fence, not as a replacement for one. If you rely on it alone, you will spend more time chasing animals than enjoying your smallholding.

Maintenance through the seasons

No fence is ever finished. Walk your boundary at least once a month and after every storm. Look for loose staples, sagging wires, cracked insulators and posts that have heaved out of the ground. Keep a small repair kit in the shed: spare staples, a hammer, fencing pliers, a few insulators and a coil of wire.

• Spring: Check for frost heave and re-tension wires before animals go out.
• Summer: Clear vegetation from the bottom of the fence and test electric earth rods.
• Autumn: Walk the fence after leaf fall and before winter winds; replace any rotten posts.
• Winter: Look for storm damage and repair promptly — a small break soon becomes a large one.

Keep gates well oiled and latches free of mud and ice. Trim overhanging branches that can rub wires or drop snow onto the fence line. A few hours of maintenance each season will keep your paddock secure and your animals safe, which is exactly what a well-fenced smallholding is all about.