Begin With the Animals, Not the Catalogue

Every fencing decision on a smallholding starts with the stock you keep now and the stock you might keep in three years' time. A single strand of electric tape will hold a quiet pony for a fortnight; it will not hold a flock of hardy ewes when the wind gets up and the grass on the other side looks sweeter. Sheep push and rub, pigs root and lift, goats test every weak point with a patience that borders on spite, and cattle simply lean until something gives. Match the fence to the animal's strength, weight and temperament, not to whatever is on offer at the agricultural merchant.

Walk your boundaries before you spend a penny. Note where the ground dips into a wet hollow, where a hedge gives shelter, where you will need a gate wide enough for a trailer, and where a public footpath crosses. A fencing plan drawn on the kitchen table will save you far more than it costs in an afternoon.

Stock Netting: The Workhorse

Woven stock netting, usually with a strand of barbed wire along the top, is the default choice for sheep and cattle. It is sold by a notation that tells you almost everything: 8/80/15 means eight horizontal wires, 80cm high, with vertical wires every 15cm. For sheep, 15cm vertical spacing is the practical minimum; lambs will happily push through anything wider. For cattle, a taller net at around 1.05m to 1.2m with fewer horizontals is usually enough.

• Sheep: 8/80/15 or 1.05m netting, plus a top barbed wire on a well-strained line.
• Cattle: heavier gauge netting, taller posts, generous strainers at every change of direction.
• Pigs: netting alone is rarely enough. Pigs lift and burrow, so add a low electric strand about 15cm off the ground.
• Poultry and goats: netting needs to be far taller or doubled with electric. Goats will climb anything that gives them purchase.

Electric Fencing: Flexible, Cheap to Run, Easy to Get Wrong

Electric fencing earns its place on a smallholding because it moves with your rotation. Tape is far more visible than plain wire, which matters enormously with horses, and wider tape is gentler in a gust of wind. For cattle and sheep, a single polywire strand at about two-thirds of the animal's height will usually train them within a week, provided they have had a proper introduction to it.

The energiser is where most people underspend. A unit rated at around 2 joules will comfortably run a few hundred metres of clean fence, but voltage on the line needs to stay above roughly 4,000 volts to be taken seriously. Earth the unit properly with two or three metal rods driven into damp ground, spaced a few metres apart. Dry, stony ground and long grass touching the bottom strand will quietly drain your fence, and a fence that only tickles is worse than none at all because stock learn to ignore it.

Post-and-Rail: Traditional and Worth the Money

Post-and-rail is the handsome option and, in the right place, the longest lasting. Use it for paddock boundaries, along a drive, or anywhere you want a permanent stockproof line that needs no power. Three rails on 1.2m posts suits most horses and cattle; goats and young pigs will need rails closer together or mesh behind them. Treated softwood lasts well if the cut ends are sound, while sweet chestnut and oak will outlive most of us if you can source them locally.

Space posts at around 1.8m to 2.4m for rails, closer on soft or sloping ground. Rails should be fixed on the inside of the posts facing the stock, so pressure pushes the rail against the post rather than levering the fixings out.

Posts, Strainers and the Depth Rule

The most common smallholding fencing failure is not the wire, it is the post. As a rule of thumb, bury at least a third of the post's length, and never less than 60cm for a strainer. In soft ground, go deeper and use a wider hole backfilled with rammed rubble or concrete. Corner posts and end strainers take the whole load of the fence, so brace them properly with a diagonal stay and a well-set anchor.

• Line posts every 3m for netting, closer on corners and crests.
• Strainers at every corner, gate and change of level.
• Staple netting loosely enough that the wire can move as stock lean on it.
• Check and re-tension after the first hard frost, when ground shifts.

Regulations, Boundaries and Room to Work

Before you order timber, check the rules that apply to your land. Fences above roughly 2m may need planning permission, and listed buildings, conservation areas and scheduled monuments bring their own restrictions. Removing or significantly altering a hedgerow generally requires permission from your local planning authority. If a public right of way crosses your land, gates must be easy to open, self-closing where required, and never locked.

It is also worth remembering that you are fencing animals in as much as you are fencing trouble out. Under long-standing livestock legislation, the keeper of animals can be held liable for damage they cause when they stray onto a road, so a stockproof boundary protects your wallet as well as your neighbours' patience.

Finally, leave yourself room. Set the fence line at least a metre clear of hedges, ditches and tree lines so you can get a strimmer, a spade and a wheelbarrow along it. A boundary you can walk and maintain in ten minutes will still be standing in fifteen years; one you have to fight your way into will be patched with baler twine by next spring.