Ideas on cheap round pens, anybody?

[BirdyMe]

So, I have to get a round pen for my horse....but I don't exactly have $500+ to just lay down for it. x) Does anybody have any ideas on how to make a super cheap round pen?

Thanks!

 

[danischi24]

Yeah, pick up scrap lumber & cobble one together. I may just be stating the obvious here though.

 

[Peppy Peep]

I had come up with some ideas that I could use step in stacks and a yellow polly rope stringed in a circle.
I have some of the same intrests as you find out!!!! I love Parrelli, horses and God too. I had recently burrowed the Parrelli course from a friend and tried to use it on my pony that is a Shetland cross, (and a welsh cross but I lost him this spring to a case of colic) Shotgun did not take it very lightly and began to charge me when he would get loose!! I am also in 4-H but not in horse I am in Chicken. I just love showing my chickens in fair!! I checked out your blog and think it is really cool. Are you in to photography? What kind of camera do you have? I have a Panasonic bridge camera that I just purchased last fall! Are you homeschooled? I am! Well I hope this helps!

 

[BirdyMe]

Yeah, pick up scrap lumber & cobble one together. I may just be stating the obvious here though.

Haha, yes the obvious. It's not that easy though, unfortunately. Nobody around here is going to give away something as precious as scrap lumber, and I'll be building this mostly by myself. I'm not the scrawniest teen ever....but still. I'm not looking for something easy....just for something do-able. And safe.

I had come up with some ideas that I could use step in stacks and a yellow polly rope stringed in a circle.
I have some of the same intrests as you find out!!!! I love Parrelli, horses and God too. I had recently burrowed the Parrelli course from a friend and tried to use it on my pony that is a Shetland cross, (and a welsh cross but I lost him this spring to a case of colic) Shotgun did not take it very lightly and began to charge me when he would get loose!! I am also in 4-H but not in horse I am in Chicken. I just love showing my chickens in fair!! I checked out your blog and think it is really cool. Are you in to photography? What kind of camera do you have? I have a Panasonic bridge camera that I just purchased last fall! Are you homeschooled? I am! Well I hope this helps!

I'll pm you.

 

[Oregon Blues]

If the horse is well trained, you can use hot wire. Just don't have it tall enough that your leg will touch it.

For training a horse, you really can not cobble together anything cheap. If your horse crashes into the fence, the fence must be able to hold the weight without any give. It must be tall enough that the horse will not consider jumping it. Anything else and you risk serious injury.

You might be able to use heavy posts and livestock panels. Although, I doubt that would be any cheaper than $500 by the time you got it big enough, high enough, and sturdy enough.

If you've got a trailer, maybe you could rent space in a round pen for an hour or so, a couple of times a week. For starting a colt, if you don't have safe equipment, it makes sense to board the horse in a stable that has excellent training equipment for at least a month. Then train like blazes for that first month, and maybe you can get away with continuing at home with less sturdy equipment.

 

[BirdyMe]

If the horse is well trained, you can use hot wire. Just don't have it tall enough that your leg will touch it.

For training a horse, you really can not cobble together anything cheap. If your horse crashes into the fence, the fence must be able to hold the weight without any give. It must be tall enough that the horse will not consider jumping it. Anything else and you risk serious injury.

You might be able to use heavy posts and livestock panels. Although, I doubt that would be any cheaper than $500 by the time you got it big enough, high enough, and sturdy enough.

If you've got a trailer, maybe you could rent space in a round pen for an hour or so, a couple of times a week. For starting a colt, if you don't have safe equipment, it makes sense to board the horse in a stable that has excellent training equipment for at least a month. Then train like blazes for that first month, and maybe you can get away with continuing at home with less sturdy equipment.

This is what I was kind of afraid of. You're completely right. I looked at dozens of plans for cheap round pens...none of them are going to work. >.<

I thought about using cattle panels...I'll look at the cost of those and see if that's going to be any cheaper.....either way, it looks like I;m going to end up spending a lot of money on this.....Lord knows where I'll get that. x)

He's not a green horse.....he's just a horse that was abused for a long time, rescued, and then not used for a while. I talked to a master trainer, and she said exactly what other trainers and friends have told me: "You need a around pen."

Hmm.....more research I guess. Maybe I'll put an add up saying I'm looking for a used one too.

Thanks!

 

[blackminx]

What exactly is the issue that requires a round pen on a non-green horse? Have you re-started the horse on ground work.

 

[BirdyMe]

Ground work is what I'm having the problem with. When I circle him, he gets to the end of the rope, loses confidence, and tries to avoid or fight the rope- by bucking, rearing, or bolting. We've lost all respect. The reason I was told to get a round pen, is because once he gets to the end of the rope, he'll be at the rail, and he won't have room to buck or rear. Once he realizes he doesn't have to freak, then we can work on confidence.

I had a good friend (and trainer) out today, and she helped me a lot. I actually got a full circle at the trot- and he was relaxed and paying attention. So we made a little progress today.

 

[blackminx]

Ground work is what I'm having the problem with. When I circle him, he gets to the end of the rope, loses confidence, and tries to avoid or fight the rope- by bucking, rearing, or bolting. We've lost all respect. The reason I was told to get a round pen, is because once he gets to the end of the rope, he'll be at the rail, and he won't have room to buck or rear. Once he realizes he doesn't have to freak, then we can work on confidence.

I had a good friend (and trainer) out today, and she helped me a lot. I actually got a full circle at the trot- and he was relaxed and paying attention. So we made a little progress today.

That's excellent. It really helps with confidence when you see a little try. Good luck! Slow progress is solid progress. Best thing to remember is you will make a forward step one day, and two backwards steps the next but always know it will get better everyday.

 

[BirdyMe]

That's excellent. It really helps with confidence when you see a little try. Good luck! Slow progress is solid progress. Best thing to remember is you will make a forward step one day, and two backwards steps the next but always know it will get better everyday.

Thank you!! I needed to hear that! Today really was awesome the more I think about. It's the first good day we've had since January.