Why vinyl fence and horses are like oil and water

This is the mug shot of my horse.  The same horse who was found inside the fenced and closed gate area into this little pasture area today.  How did he get in here?  Well, he pushed his way thru the vinyl fence (the hotwire needs to be turned back on, obviously). 

We replaced our wood fence with vinyl a couple of years ago.  Since then we took some of the vinyl out and replaced it with steel pipe fence in the paddock area.  What I found out is that when the temp drops below freezing and a horse rolls and knocks a hoof on a vinyl fence rail, it shatters.  Into lots of sharp pointy shards.  Not exactly horse friendly! 

This is what happens when vinyl fence breaks.   

Comments

[Amaranth]

There is something out there called Timberclad that is basically wood dipped in vinyl. This product is considerably more expensive, but you have none of the problems you listed. It has the strength of wood, and the look of vinyl. We put it in the meat locker freezer for a month and couldn't break it. It's super stuff!