What are thoughts on railroad ties as posts with 2x6 slats (either fully enclosed, or just 3 slats per section as a panel). That would be one sturdy pen! I never understood the solid panels, I know their purpose, but just never grasped the conceptso IMO the rails would be fine. I'd think 2X6's would be fine for railing.
Forgive my wordiness; having one of those brain fart days
I hope that link helps. I rather liked that idea. If you sunk the posts further it might be a little better. But if you weren't breaking horses in it so much as using it for training, I'd think it would work out pretty well.
ETA: Our old round pen we leveled and used the packed clay till we could get sand. Then I didn't like the sand. So I bought a pea gravel/sand mix and loved it. I'll ask DH what it is called since I can never remember. It got a little dusty so I sprinkled it before using it. The gravel stayed put really well. No washing away or drainage problems. Caps were 5 and 1/2 ft since were broke a few in there.
Just curious, did you build your round pen out of wood? I've been scouring the internet to see if anyone had done this... my husband suggested this weekend that we build us a round pen versus purchasing a new one cause everywhere we went to purchase the panels, they were already rusting or the stores didn't have enough material in for us to complete our round pen. Since we just finished putting up new fencing we are still in the wood mentalitly Let me know if you discovered any tricks or regrets. Many Thanks, Cathy
Cathy, have not built mine yet. Don't yet have the property, just planning in advance. Personally, for training's sake, I am going to use a wooden pen with posts set in the ground (probably good quality railroad ties), and 8' walls (either solid, or more likely 3 rails of structurally reinforced 2x6 boards. We will see how this pans out when the time comes.
I am not a big fan of the pre-fab metal ones as I have seen a 2 year old draft baby completely mangle a pen in a single bound. Do not want to see any ponies getting legs ripped up in aluminum railing should something go wrong.
I put up a 60' round pen, four rails high on PT fence posts and it works just fine for us. Some people like em higher and stouter. Lumber ran me about $500.
A note on lumber. Landscaping timbers tend to rot out sooner than most pressure treated posts. And if you buy used RR ties for anything make sure they are not rotted inside.
I would like to suggest if possible make your round pen 75' across at least. I found my 50 footer very usable but if I just had that 25' more I could have cantered alot easier in it.
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
The Horse Forum
3.4M posts
92.6K members
Since 2006
A forum community dedicated to horse owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about breeding, grooming, reviews, health, behavior, housing, adopting, care, classifieds, and more!