Building round pen?

Ok, just measured and counted my wood, [i]more [/i]than enough, so I guess that's what I'll be using. How the heck do I figure where to put the posts though? My geometry is failing me. :shock: help....
It will be 60 ft diameter, my boards are 8ft long by roughly 11 inches wide. I will need to buy the posts. I'd like to do posts with some cross pieces and screw the boards to those, upright. I might build a gate to match, or just buy one. It will be facing east away from the wind anyway. What size gate is good?
For the footing we have very good draining soil on top of the hill so I'm thinking of keep what I have for now and just adding a few inches of sand on top. Does that sound good? I don't like clay or anything too soft and sucky. Before construction though I have to make sure to avoid or buldoze any rock outcroppings.

Hi Morgan - Mr Lipi here !! Lipi thought I might be able to help : if you can decide where to centre your 60ft circle you could place a single post and using a 30ft rope or tape choose your first perimeter post position and install it. Then using your chosen horizontal timber as a guide for length (placed against your 1st perimeter post allowing enough to fix the horizontal timber at each end) rotate the rope/ tape around the central post until the ends of the 30ft radius rope/ tape and your horizontal timber coincide. This sets out your next post position and can be repeated around the full circle. - hope that helps...if you need to know how many you will need in total I can also tell you that. :D

we used rough cut 16 ft boards and be sure not to put the poles at 8 ft, they bend of the "round" you lose some length, put them about 7 ft , the round pen we did had poles in already but we had to do the boards and the guy put the poles every 8ft and our 16footers could not reach once you push them in the "bend" when we move and make our own I think we will place them 7ft.

My boss used to build round pens out of pallets that you can get for free a lot of the time. If you could find a lot of pallets and screw the rough cut wood to them, then you could place a t-post at each interval and secure the pallets to them.

Re: pallet round yard

You can then plant some vines to grow over them, to pretty it up and to help keep the wind out. Just make sure they're safe for horses and that they aren't the type to grow out of control.

[quote="lipigirl"]Hi Morgan - Mr Lipi here !! Lipi thought I might be able to help : [/quote]

Wow! Does Lipi let you near a computer Alan? 8-) :mrgreen:
(how sweet of you to offer virtual help)

I know round pens make sense. Over here. But to the best of my recollection, Europe is still quite fond of square?
Can anyone give me good reasons for one vs the other? :?

I have used round pens since I first saw one in use by Monty Roberts, and almost all the big horse set ups I have seen have at least one.
I have two, one large horse size the other slightly smaller, but both double as grazing pens for my stallions, and are big enough for mass hi jinks, stallion style!!
I think big bales would work, but they will have a "shelf life"
Welcome Alan,BTW, how brave of you to venture into the virtual madhouse that is our world!!
I agree totally about the centre post and the rope, in spite of both my pens having to incorporate the straight sides of a field corner, I did exactly that.
I used cattle panels for mine as wind is not such a problem and I need then to be able to interact when they are loose in there grazing.
The grass footing has never been a problem as I am quite an aggressive round penner and insist my horse pay attention when they are working, and it has the added benefit of my being able to instantly reward them by stepping back and allowing them to graze for a few minutes.
I have never lunged since building my pens, and I have happy, even sided horses because of it!!

[quote="vneerland"]
I know round pens make sense. Over here. But to the best of my recollection, Europe is still quite fond of square?
Can anyone give me good reasons for one vs the other? :?[/quote]

In a square the horse can put itself in a corner and try to avoid you and put their butt to you and in a circle it is alot harder for it to do that, and its easier to correct than in a square imo.
We have a round pen for untrained horses and then they move up to a rectangle like shape for more advanced horses (and its alot larger, big enough for a full grown horse to canter comfortably). I did try to put a beginner horse into that large pen and he tried to run through every corner, had to end up putting a lunge line on him to keep him from doing that.

Also you don't have to make the pen round...it can be an octagon or a similar shape and still work fine.

[quote="CMhorses"][quote="vneerland"]
I know round pens make sense. Over here. But to the best of my recollection, Europe is still quite fond of square?
Can anyone give me good reasons for one vs the other? :?[/quote]

In a square the horse can put itself in a corner and try to avoid you and put their butt to you and in a circle it is alot harder for it to do that, and its easier to correct than in a square imo.
We have a round pen for untrained horses and then they move up to a rectangle like shape for more advanced horses (and its alot larger, big enough for a full grown horse to canter comfortably). I did try to put a beginner horse into that large pen and he tried to run through every corner, had to end up putting a lunge line on him to keep him from doing that.

Also you don't have to make the pen round...it can be an octagon or a similar shape and still work fine.[/quote]

i agree with CM it's so they can't hide in a corner - I too have used them since 1995 - they are much better than a square one for begining a horse, IMHO.

Yes - VL - I do let him near a computer when one of you needs some help and he is a Structural Engineer - so he really should be able to help.....he he !!

Thanks for the help! :D
The pallets sound like a good idea but since I already have this wood I'm going to use it. My dad works at a power plant and they get equipment in big crates so last month we got several trailer loads worth of good wood. (it's how I get my barrerls too)

As for the round pen itself, I wouldn't want to start a horse in anything else. I like that if they happen to blow you can run them and they can go in a circle, rather than getting stuck up in a corner and trying vertical stuff. I didn't move my cattle pannel pen with me so that's why Chase isn't started yet, I didn't have anything even close to an enclosed area after I moved and I'm not getting on anything with his energy in an open field. :shock: So I plan to have this done by winter and start him and work with V. I do like to have a corner to work the older horses with (certainly helps the stop and deep bending) but for that I just find a regular fence corner (or preferably a building wall) as by then I'm riding them in the open.

I'm gathering for one now. I have pressure treated 2x8x14s left over from re-doing my back porch, so I am going to use those stacked -with no space- several feet up, but the posts will be 4 feet apart with 4x6's as posts. I don't want it solid all the way up, I want tempted distractions.

I cannot even fathom using plywood unless backed by serious structure behind at the base.

We made ours out of some old metal railing (that looks like gates, but 10x heavier) my dad got from his old work. Really nice since they do have the urge to get distracted so we can correct them.

Remember to put a slant on the sides, like the walls of an indoor school, it means when you start riding the horse can't scrape your leg on the wall and also, since you are outside with this, it makes it more able to stand up to wind.

Which way? I've never seen it....out?

Yea, slanting out.