How to Build a Round Pen for Horses With Landscaping Timbers

A round pen comes in handy for working with and training horses. Typically 40 to 60 feet in diameter, a round pen provides enough room to work a horse at any gait, but is not so large that doing ground work, particularly at liberty (lead/lunge line free) ground work leaves the animal with too much running room. Round pen panels are available to create a sturdy and portable round pen, but these can cost several hundred dollars or more. One inexpensive option is the use of landscaping timbers for posts and electric fence tape.

Things You'll Need

  • Landscaping timbers
  • Electric fence tape
  • Fencing clips
  • 1-by-3-inch boards
  • Gate hinges
  • Gate latch
  • Nails
  • Hammer
  • Stakes
  • String or rope
  • Post hole digger
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Instructions

    • 1

      Determine the size of pen to be built. Then figure up the number of posts you will need by multiplying the diameter by 3.14 and dividing by 8. For example a pen with 60-foot diameter would need 24 posts. ([60 x 3.14] / 8 = 23.55).

    • 2

      Stake out the round pen. Secure a string or rope to a stake in the center of where the round pen will be located and measure out from the center half the diameter of the pen (i.e. 30 feet for a 60-foot pen).

    • 3

      Mark the placement of each post every 8 feet using the string or rope to form a circle.

    • 4

      Dig a hole for each post about 1 foot deep and set the landscaping timbers in them. Fill the hole around the timbers with dirt and tamp the soil down to secure the timber in place.

    • 5

      Evenly space the wire clips on the posts, using three clips per post. String three rows of the fencing wire around the pen, leaving one space between two posts open for the gate.

    • 6

      Make the gate by forming an box with the 1-by-3-inch boards that is 8 feet by 5 feet and strengthening with two boards nailed diagonally, forming an X.

    • 7

      Hang the gate by nailing the hinges to the gate and to the post. Attach the latch to the other side of the gate and the other post.