From the article: How to Build a Round Pen on an Budget
Have you built your own round pen for horse training? What advice would you offer to someone planning to build a round pen? You may comment on how to design a round pen, how much it cost you, what materials you used, or offer any other advice you might have on round pen building. Share Your Advice
An easier, faster round pen
- There are new round pens that can be put together in 15 mins and don't need posts in the ground! If anyone wants to know more about this round pen please let me know. Thanks!
- —Guest horselover224
My roundpen
- I built a 40' roundpen. I did something quite different however. I found a place to get old telephone/power poles free. All I had to do was take the entire pole. I loaded up my trailer with as many as my back could handle loading. I ended up with (17) 12+ footers and (12) 18 footers. The 12+ footers were spaced about 7 feet apart with one gap being 9 foot. My only expense here was the 2 man auger which I rented for the day for less than $100. I ordered my oak planking from a local saw mill. These were rough cut to 1 inch thick and 9 1/2 inches wide. The mill gave me 16 and 8 foot lengths ($660). I spent $40 on a 30 lb bucket of nails and a couple of nail aprons. I will spend another $100 for the frame and hinges for the gate. A truckload of non-packing sand was $75. For less than $1000, my roundpen is solid wood so the horses aren't distracted by stuff outside. In the future, the other poles will be used to set a roof. That's where it will get expensive!
- —Guest Vaughn
My Round Pen
- I spent about the same 15 years ago. I disagree about the posts though, if the posts go, you've got nothing.. easier to replace a board than a post. Mine is 60' (thankyou John Lyons) I can do anything in it. The boards are white oak, rough cut, bigger dimensions than store bought. If the horses test it, it bounces them right back off it...never a broken board yet, never chewed. The posts are 6" cedar, 8 ft. long. It was supposed to be the highest elevation, but the backhoe guy skimped and I've had drainage problems. Ended up digging 4 trenches..2 inside, 2 outside. I've tried different ground materials in there and ended up being a barefooter and now have crushed limestone...my horses have a heel first landing in it, so fine for them, acts like pea gravel too and great traction/support. The one thing I did wrong was to put the lower boards too close together...got a foot stuck once. The one thing I did right, was to put a 14' gate in, so a dump truck could enter.
- —missyclare
