Vinyl fencing sucks for horses!

About the dumbest thing we ever did was replace our wood fence with vinyl.  It's got to be among the worst possible material for containing horses in.  In the winter when things are frozen, the horses need only to roll and bump into a rail of the fence to have it shatter.  When that happens, the shards fly everywhere - check out these that I picked up today after I removed the manure from the paddocks and dragged the fields with the tractor - these pieces just keep popping up (plus some are from recent damage as well).  The pieces are so sharp you could use them like a knife.  Imagine the damage they could do to a horse if they were to be stepped on, or rolled on? 

In addition to the fence rails breaking, it doesn't take much for the fence posts themselves to crack and come apart.  I guess you know it's time to replace your fence when it's held together by duct tape, eh?  My neighbors fence (also vinyl) is also experiencing the same problems with the splinters, fractures and broken posts. 

If you are looking into getting fence for you horses whatever you do look at choices other than vinyl.  It is just not reliable long term.  Even having hotwire on the top rail doesn't stop the damage - horses are still going to roll and knock into it here and there.  We have already replaced the paddock cross fencing with metal pipe - now we will need to do the same with some other sections  before my horses start getting out - fortunately the areas with the most damage are still within an additional fenced in area.