Round Pen

[wildriding1]

Well I have decided to invest in a wooden round pen

Does anybody know of any websites with some good pics of them on and dimensions and guide to building your own? Can't seem to find any other than metal ones and I want a wooden one. OH is going to make it for me but he would like some decent pictures so we can agree on the best style before he starts!! If anyone does know of any good manufactorers/distributors, then would possibly consider buying one.
Also read that between 55 -60ft is ample size, anybody any advice?
Thanks guys

 

[teddyt]

You could get the dimensions from a metal one? Never heard of an exact make for a wooden one. You''ll probably hve to design it yourself

 

[Brandysnap]

Hi wildriding1,

Firstly, apologies i don't have any advice about round pens, but welcome to the forum!

May i ask, please, why you want a round pen? And why wooden?

Wood isn't something i've ever heard of, for this purpose. My initial feel is that if you have a horse that needs to be put in a pen, then wood isn't a good idea. Surely he/she will just kick it to bits? Splinters, etc?

Always open to learning more, + to differing views to mine (makes me think deeper!)
All bests BS

 

[Enfys]

Wooden pens are very common where I live, every yard has a round pen of some description, incredibly useful things.

The disadvantage with wooden ones is that they are permanent whereas the metal panel style ones can be dismantled (mine are actually used as fencing at times). Wooden fences do need maintenance, but no more than any other wooden structure. They can also be made with vinyl fencing, solid panels and pipe rails. It very much depends what you plan on doing with it.

60' is a reasonable size, bigger if you can. 60' is only about 20m. For wooden pens you want to use good thick uprights, my neighbours wooden pen was made from railway ties (sleepers) for the uprights and good solid 1.5" oak planks for the rails. It takes a lot of horse to go through those and they'd blunt their teeth before they ate through it in a hurry.

If you google round pen construction it will throw up all kinds of info for you.

http://www.google.ca/search?sourceid=nav...ing+a+round+pen

Cherry Hill's 'Horsekeeping on a small acreage' has excellent, clearly detailed plans for round pen construction.

 

[gekko]

I'd disagree with having a large round pen! Anything over 12m is a waste of time in my books!

Roundyards are at their most usefull in early handling, education and breaking in... times when you want close proximity to the horse and for breaking in, the ability to NOT get a run up!

12m MAX is about it...that gives you 6m from the middle which is a real stretch for any sort of control with long reins, a lunge line or a whip... Ours is less then 10m and to me it's about right...

It's only used to establish brakes and steering in the starting process...walk trot and a few strides of canter under saddle....NO point AT ALL of riding round and round in a bloody circle on a young horse! Stuffed joints and an inability to ride a straight line are not things we work to establish....

SO... Establish brakes and some steering and then out into a well fenced schooling area to ride straight lines with proper corners.

The only reason anyone ever comes up with for a larger roundyard is to ride in....and thats not great for the reason I described above... and in a 20m or larger yard the horse you have just backed can get up a pretty good bolt!...a little harder(and a lot safer) in a confined space!

Wood? Bad move! You guys have a climate thats not know for it's dryness so rot and maintanance become a real problem.
Not to mention the possible safety aspects of getting your leg dragged along splinters or a broken rail impaling a horse that goes off. Ive seen that happen! It's not nice!

Steel rails, conveyor belt rubber from 4' to the ground, sand footing! Way to go!

Or got he cheap environmentally friendly option thats safe as..recycled tires! Our RY is built of tires and is great! Enough bounce to ensure safety, no rails to get legs over or heads through, no splinters....and the materials were not just free...they got us a big discount on new tires for taking them!

If you have a look on our site you'll see pics of it and how safe it is for starting young horses.. www.cmsporthorses.com/Strawbs1.html

 

[Enfys]

That's another advantage of metal panel pens isn't it? You can alter the size.

Interesting round pen, not something I could have, my husband would complain that it looked untidy, even if he hadn't paid for it! Benefits for me would be that I wouldn't risk getting my hands stuck to tyres when the temperature was -20C, I hate metal gates in winter.

I cringed when I saw the adult in the article, bare feet, in sand! Ugh, I hate sand between my toes.

 

[wildriding1]

Reason I want a round pen is so I can start doing some join up and ground work, not to ride in other than when backing the youngsters. Got a school for riding in but find its too big and hard work when doing join up and free lunging, too tierd these days to run full length of a 40 m school chasing horses out of corners

Reason for wanting wood is mainly because they look nicer (we have some annoying nosy moany neighbours!) but also because when they are solid like the wooden ones, there is less distraction. It would be properly constructed and maintained and would pose no extra risk than being in an arena that is post and railed! Proberly less as a pen would be much higher so making it near impossible for horse to jump out.