"Round" pen

[ayrabz]

really wasn’t sure if I should have put this ‘here’ or in farm board. But, my question will be one for both those who have ever constructed a round pen, and or? those who utilize them often and have an opinion, so, here goes:

On the little farmette, had no area for a ‘real’ separate ‘actual’ round pen. however, had a 50 ft. wide already fenced area, and ran fencelines to create a 50 ft. square out of it, and hung 12 ft. gates in each corner just to eliminate deep corners in use. This is going to suffice for ‘my’ roundpen. now: my issue is this: this is a solid sand soil area, but it is on a GRADUAL slant. the ‘footing’ will be 'level, but one end will be lower than the top area. Do you see this as a danger in use for a roundpen? The soil is a nice packed soft moving sand soil, very loamy…its just it will be on a ‘surface slant’ there will be work on that circle that is slightly raising and of course, slightly falling. A problem?

[Guilherme]

It should be satisfactory for normal round pen work.

G.

[Marla_100]

not the best conditions/- you may have lots of stumbling on the downhill and subsequent bucking to catch balance. but more concerning is fencing used as roundpen sides/- easy to catch a leg or foot in the fence if it’s wire.

[danacat]

I think it depends on what you will be doing in your round pen and/or ‘expecting’ of your horse. With that in mind: horses tend to prefer to trot downhill and canter uphill - so you might see some gait adjustments given the slant of the ground.

Aside from that, the low end might stay more wet/soggy after a rain - and the upper part of course will be more dry. This inconsistent footing might prove to be a challenge too.

[findeight]

Depends on how steep the grade is. If it’s slight, it won’t make a great deal of difference. But agree you need to be sure to block any possibility of a horse putting a foot though or catching it between the bottom rail and the ground. That goes for both the pen fence and the gates across the corners. Stout plywood is used a lot for that.

You can never eliminate all possibility of injury with horses anywhere but that will eliminate the most common cause of injury when working at speed (anything faster then a walk) in a round or small pen.

[ayrabz]

thanks all. this question was mainly in regard to the slight grade. I totally understand a solid wall , totally round circumference is best. Mine will be flex ram fencing except for the mesh filled gates at corners. I was mostly asking if the slight grade/no difference in footing depth would be an issue for legs and using.

[Gestalt]

Gosh no, I can’t see a slight grade change being any problem. Lots of people only have fields to ride in and they make it work. Without a rider a slope in the round pen seems pretty mild.

[King_s_Ransom]

Hi Ayrabz!

The real answer depends on what you are planning to do in the round pen. Mine is on a slight grade and for most things, it’s fine. But I am moving it this spring to a graded, flat area.

To explain: I put it where it is now to take advantage of the very little bit of shade we have here on the (tree-less) prairie. It’s absolutely fine for lunging and ground work with my very well-trained, middle-aged and elderly horses.

It’s not so great for riding – like when the granddaughter was learning to ride the pony, or when I am just warming up after a winter’s break and the even my oldsters can be a bit frisky.

I use the round pen primarily for lunging and ground work. But when I am riding in it, it’s usually because I’m trying to get somebody settled down … and that is when the slight grade is problematic; and why I am moving to a true graded, prepared spot in the spring.

I hope this helps you decide. I love my round pen and will miss the shade, but when I need to school somebody, I want the better, level footing.