Today I found out about breaking points in electric fences

You know me. You know how much I prioritize safety in my animals' environment. Tpost caps, no sharp edges, dragging a powerful magnet over my burn pile to get any metal out of the ground....

I have been following a Facebook group called Horse Track Systems because we have a track system here (paddock paradise, it was originally termed). Today someone said they'd like to build one and wanted to know which is better, electric tape or electric rope. 

Most people took my side, that 6mm rope is better because tape stretches in the wind, sags in the snow, and rips so easily. 

However, almost everyone said to be sure to include "breaking points" in the fence. What could that be? I googled it and it was hard to get info, but the group itself went on to explain it a little. Apparently 6mm electric rope (which we have) doesn't break, under any circumstance/tensile pressure.  

I've had trees fall on my fence and what always happens is the Tpost cap opens up, releasing the top wire, and the ring insulators below break, releasing the 2nd and 3rd wires. The wire never breaks. Is that important? 

The group's consensus is that if you use electric tape, it will break and you'll avoid vet bills. 

Over the years I've eliminated gates in my fence, using stainless steel wire connectors instead (the kind you can screw together using hand strength). In the back of my mind I thought, this is actually a safety feature, if a horse goes through, the rope will slide through and open up. But I never actually implemented it, in favor of keeping the volts on the electric fence as high as possible. 

The breaking point thingies that everyone recommends are called Litzclips, that pop open under a certain tension. (300kg?)  Their website in English here. 

I'm annoyed at the company who sold me all my fencing, that they left out this safety feature. In fact, their website has these Litzclips, and I've seen them, but they are called "wire connectors" and the description is "to repair a broken wire." That is not what I learned today. Today I learned they are safety features to prevent a horse from becoming entangled in the wire. 

Reading further in the group, it turns out people use them differently. Some people use one every 80 meters. Some only in areas that a horse is most likely to barge through a fence. 

Have you heard of safety breaking points in electric fences? I know that electric fencing (alone) is not as common in America. Here, almost every fence is electric only. Wait, I honestly cannot think of a single horse farm in my area that does not have exclusively electric fencing. And I live in horse country; there are 3 horse farms within sight of my front yard.  

I'm dismayed that I missed important information to protect my animals, and I've already decided to buy some more of my preferred connectors that allow the rope to slide out under pressure, at least for the potential danger zones (my interior fence of my track system).