Ok fine, a loose set of linkages, but fine.
When I was young they didn't have names like Hot Shot (or maybe they did and we just didn't know). We always just referred to it as the electric fence, although ours was powered by a 12 (or maybe it was a 6) volt car/tractor battery strategically placed under an upside down sink (to keep it from getting wet in the rain) next to one of the poles (although we did also see plug in ones in barns on some farms, probably newer models, maybe one of those was a Hot Shot).
Some of us sometimes had the job of picking grass out from the under area of the wire run because if enough of that grass got long and stalky enough and if not eaten by the cows, it would short out the fence and then the cows would end up down the road or into some back field. A tricky job for some of the longer pieces of grass that were already fence height, periodic shocks.
One fun past time was when one of us was wearing good rubber boots. Grab the fence and no shock, but then grab a nearby companion and big shock, for both. If I remember correctly, the shock seemed to get bigger if a few more were linked in the chain before the final grab of someone not wearing rubber boots, or just crappy boots.
Remember putting grass on the fence once to see if the cow would go for it. Only did that once.
Always fun when the city slickers school friends would come around, tricking them into grabbing the fence, first showing them there was no harm (wearing good boots of course, but not them). I do also remember someone tricking someone into peeing on the fence. Don't really remember the outcome, but I am sure it wasn't good.
