behavior problem. Can someone help me!!

Question
My question is about letting a herd in from the field at night. Our horses go into the field everyday after they eat and are let in at night to eat. They are fenced in by a strand electric fencing, they do well when no one is around but when anyone comes around before the horses have been let in and they are standing waiting to be let in either because you are finishing putting feed in or cleaning stalls they break the fence and bolt into the barn. There are 14 horses and they are always let in to their stalls one at a time. So if they are not let in when they think they should be they break the fence to get in. So I guess my question is how can we correct this because I cannot have them getting hurt or them hurting a person.

Answer
Dawn,

Although I don't have as many as you do, only 7, mine are handled in a similar fashion although they don't go to stalls but to assigned areas around and in the run-in shed.  Mine are also behind electric fence.  Sounds like yours isn't working well.  Mine wouldn't dream of breaking through if the gate is closed.  But mine all come in together and most go to their assigned spots and wait to be tied.  They all get tied up before I bring their buckets out.  

Check your fence out with a tester and make sure it's working properly.  Add some extra strands of wire where they break through.  My fence is 5 ft. tall with 4 strands of wide tape.  It's even contained a stallion so I know if the fence works it will stop horses.  But it has to "bite" and do it hard enough that they respect it.  You probably have one or 2 that don't respect it and do the initial breaking after which everyone else follows.  So you have to make them respect it by making it something they won't challenge.  

Good luck with this.  If they won't respect the fence then you have another problem.  Let me know how things go.  

Lyn