How to Build a Round Pen From Poles

Round pens can be very practical for horse owners. Horses need a lot of exercise, and it can be difficult sometimes to spend as many hours riding as you would like to. Round pens are perfect for quick workouts and for lunging your horse. They can also be used to temporarily quarantine horses that are new to your barn, or to confine overweight horses that need to cut back on grazing on a short diet.

Things You'll Need

  • 47 stakes
  • 30' rope
  • Shovel
  • 46 posts
  • Quick dry concrete
  • 66 boards, 8'
  • Nails
  • Hammer
  • Pre-fabricated 8' gate with latch
  • Equine paint
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Choose a spacious, flat, quiet place to build your round pen. Clear away any rocks or branches your horse could trip on and fill in any dips or holes in the ground.

    • 2

      Decide where the center of your pen is and place a stake there. Tie the rope to the stake and walk away from it until the rope is taut. Place a stake at this end of the rope. Walk in either direction, placing a stake at every four feet until you have staked out the circumference of a circle. You should be short one stake, and this 8' gap between stakes will be the gate of your pen.

    • 3

      Dig an 8 -12-inch deep hole at every stake. Fill each hole with quick dry concrete and insert a stake. Allow the concrete to dry.

    • 4

      Soak the boards in water until you are able to bend them without straining or cracking them. Nail the boards to the inside of the posts, beginning with the uppermost row, at a height of your choosing. Continue to create a second and third row of rails, making sure that the lowest row is high enough for a person to escape under. Leave the 8' gap in the posts free from boards so that you can install the gate.

    • 5

      Install the pre-fabricated metal gate and latch as per the directions it came with.

    • 6

      Paint the pen with equine paint.