I can see that you wouldn't want me editing it!
Electricity from the local utility company is typically supplied through three or four overhead or underground wires called service conductors.
Sure they run a lot of overhead triplex on a farm. But if you don't want your animals experiencing stray voltage, four are better.
An electric service or feed consists of two "hot" leads (prounounced >leedz< ) (wires) each providing 120 volts, and one "neutral" lead. Two hot leads - which are out of phase to each other - are used together to provide 240 volts where needed. The wires pass through a meter box and into the service panel of the building where they connect to metal strips called buss bars (9.1).
(In some cases, the farm exception, the meter is on a pole and the service splits to the house and barn from there.)
A "safety ground" or "green" wire (often bare copper) connects from the service panel to copper rods (electrodes) driven 8' into the earth.
The neutral wire from the utility is also tied to the safety ground.
Three wires: one hot, a neutral, and a safety ground make up the connections to in a typical outlet receptacle.
You may wonder why both the safety ground wire and neutral are needed since both ultimately connect to the utility's neutral.
The safety ground wire isn't always needed as evidenced by the large number of electrical appliances which only use only two (hot and neutral) prongs. But, in electrical equipment which has a safety ground connection (a three pronged plug), the round grounding prong is always connected to any exposed metal parts of the equipment. That way, if an exposed part of the equipment becomes energized by wiring fault (failure) inside the equipment the safety ground connection causes the hot connection to short circuit without having to follow an unanticipated and potentially lethal path, and the fuse or circuit breaker should shut down power to the circuit.
Equipment with two-prong plugs usually has a non-conducting plastic case so errant electricity should not pass to a person or horse touching the case.
Sorry, I won't do the rest free.
