Awesome photo! That shadow! I'm glad you were mostly joking. I don't think of this tree as being in prison. They don't walk much. The fence was prolly put up to protect it from animals and people that would harm it. Or, who knows maybe to keep animals in around it, which would give it a lot of fertilizer, right? Great picture. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks @bbrewer! Haha yes, I believe you are correct. This was taken near Lexington, KY, the "Horse Capital of the World." There are a lot of fields with fenced-off trees, I imagine to protect the horses.