Round Pen Storys, please read :)

I have a nice round pen the we had just built in the summer this last year. It is 60ft. But there is way too much sand in it!!! Dad says that it will be fine the sand will go down, so I said okay and waited and waited and it is still the same!! I want to be able to ride in the round without my horse tripping over his own holes that he made! My question is if its so filled that the size of the holes are close up to your knee, why can't he just take some out? That's one story....

We have a Clyde mixed with something like a saddle horse. And the owner said it was trained to ride, so I braught him in my round pen and started working with him and he was fine but when I took him to my pasture to ride, he had no clue what he was doing?! Even my friend said he was probably round pen trained. Now we are starting to get things all straight. :)

I would just get a shovel and wheel barrow out and start shoveling. You should ask your dad where he wants the extra sand put. That question might motivate him to get involved. He might call your bluff and let you start shoveling but I doubt he'll let you work very long before he gets involved.

Your problems with your horse sound like plain old fashioned stubbornness. Round pen work would be the first place I'd start to establish control and authority. But that's just me...

Hey, I see you're in Canada, I wish you were close to me because I could do with some more sand in my round pen You can't be close though because my round pen is 6" deep in snow now

It does sound a bit deep, try telling your dad that it will be a good way to save money. If you can strip off some sand and store it, then when your surface goes down you will already have the top up material at hand

Stripping away some of that sand will be better for your horse's safety as well. One of our horses when I was a kid ended up over-reaching and he broke a bone in his leg due to sand in an arena that was too deep.