PLEASE ensure your round pen is REALLY safe!!

RacingAustralia · 08-07-2012, 04:02 AM

You must have full stud book access to view named produce from a mare or stallion. Otherwise you have to look each horse up by name. You can look up a mares unnamed produce without full access.

blue eyed pony · 08-07-2012, 04:04 AM

So my girl is the only unnamed foal from that mare, does that mean all the others (if there are more than just her and her full sibling) went on to race? Sounds like the mare isn't a bad producer, considering I've heard of mares the same age with 3 or 4 unnamed foals that never made it to trials. Or more.

RacingAustralia · 08-07-2012, 04:10 AM

All it means is that other produce, in this case 1 gelding, were named. Doesn't make the mare proven producer.
As for the rest of your comment, again hearsay.

blue eyed pony · 08-07-2012, 04:12 AM

Wow, would have expected a '99 mare to have had more than just two foals, unless she raced to a late age. But I don't know much about the processes involved with breeding TB's to race...

Edit to add; I do know of a mare that was for sale a couple of years ago that had had 7 to race for 6 winners, no idea how many she actually produced but that's a pretty nice winners to runners ratio. I wouldn't mind a 6/7 chance of a winner.

RockyTrails · 01-28-2013, 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blue eyed pony

OK after a bit of a disaster a couple of days ago in which I suspect my TB may have caused herself a hairline fracture in her neck, I have been busily repairing my round pen... but I feel that it's important to let people know about this danger in apparently safe round pens!!

Firstly, this is my round pen:
Magic being easy to catch - YouTube

As you can see, it's made of very thick posts (these are usually used to hang gates and to set the tension on high-tensile wire fences) and rails. It's a very good round pen and I used it for over a year, with horses from 12hh to 16.2hh and temperaments from quiet to troubled, with no issues.

However, a couple of days ago, I was round penning my filly, and she decided she wasn't going to go in the direction I was asking. I blocked off her option to go forward, allowing her the option to turn around or cut through the middle of the round pen. She took neither, instead trying to jump out, but took off far too close and couldn't get the height in time. She caught her front legs and went over the top, breaking one of those huge posts. And, like I said, I suspect she may have a hairline fracture in one of her neck vertebrae - either C1 or C2, the swelling and heat is very close to her head.

What is wrong with this round pen is that the fence is not tall enough, so she thought she physically COULD jump out, and the round pen itself is not large enough at only around 22ft diameter. It's the perfect size for ponies, and a large horse can w/t/c in it in a balanced manner, but it's too small for a large horse that's in panic mode.

So please PLEASE ensure your round pen is fenced with strong fencing at least 7 foot high, and is at least 50 feet in diameter. My girl could very easily have died the other day... I would hate for this to happen to someone else. Magic and I were incredibly lucky that it wasn't worse, and every time there is an accident similar to this there is a very high chance of serious injury or even death for the poor horse involved.

I know this thread is old and am only adding this info for the sake of those who happen to read it.

I come from old school ranch background and build my round pens a minimum 60' round and 8' tall with an outward slant on walls and solid 2x12 walls with no gaps, with telephone pole posts. Also build gate same height and solid so horse cannot see outside pen. Put a lean of about 6" top to bottom on walls so horse cannot drag your leg on fence and if they do try jumping it will not injure itself as easily on a sloped wall. Also rubber trailer mats on bottom of walls prevents Horse leg scrape injuries. You can never know what a horse has on it's mind. It sometimes takes very little to spook it into attempting to fly like a barn cat running through the pen. Even a bird flying past.

blue eyed pony · 01-29-2013, 01:36 AM

RT, that's my ideal, it's not always possible in the room/budget available but it's what I wish I had.

Thankfully Magic is fine, 5 months on, and isn't quite so reactive any more, but I'm still counting my lucky stars that she's ok. It was horrible to see and I hope never to have to watch an accident like that again.

RockyTrails · 01-29-2013, 02:00 AM

I'm glad to hear that she is well. Yes proper round pens can be pricey to build but can save Horses lives by removing the temptation to jump over or run thru the wall, Also safer for the human. Price can be significantly lowered by asking electric utility companies for their old poles that are damaged that have been replaced.

blue eyed pony · 01-29-2013, 02:04 AM

That is a fantastic idea - will have to look into it. Unfortunately we're only renting, we don't own the property, so Mum wants a panel pen instead so we can take it with us when we move. The area is probably going to be subdivided into smaller lots eventually, so we will have to one of these days. Perhaps if we line it with conveyor belt rubber... because for most horses, it only has to LOOK solid and they won't pick a fight with it...?

Not that I intend to have another difficult horse again any time soon, it's just nice to have a proper round pen.

RockyTrails · 01-29-2013, 02:51 AM

Yes Conveyor belt material hung from the top rail of panels would help. Or sheets of plywood attached to the panels would work also. Even attaching blue or gray plastic tarps to the panels as long as they do not flap in the wind will work too. They make it difficult for horse to see outside pen and focus horses attention on you and the training.

blue eyed pony · 01-29-2013, 03:18 AM

Sounds like that may be a plan then. Just have to get the money together for the panels, and delivery [that's going to be pricey, the people who make them are 2 1/2 hours away, and we can't pick them up], and whatever we line it with to make it impossible to see out of.

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search