Round Pen Slowing Coming Together

Ever since we got horses, I’ve been planning on building some kind of enclosed riding area. Once I decided it was going to be an 80 foot diameter round pen, the serious stages of planning went underway. About a year ago I wrote about planning my round pen here. I basically talked about materials, pricing, and trying to decide where to start.

A year later and our round pen is nearing completion! We decided to go with the free/as cheap as possible route and build with all salvaged materials. We cleared a small wooded area for a paddock and used the downed trees from that venture to build the pen. The only things we had to buy were a large box of 4 inch screws and some gas and oil for the chainsaw.

We ride the horses in the yard usually

Some of the horses have to stay on a line when out in the yard

I found the circumference of my 80 foot diameter round pen by doing a little simple math. The diameter (80) multiplied by Pi (3.14) is equal to the circumference (251.2). I adjusted it to 250 feet around so I could do nice, even 10 foot spacing between each post.

Since the round pen is on a slight incline, we planned to level it by adding fill dirt and building a retaining wall on the downhill side. But, I wanted to be able to use it before we get the fill dirt, since it might be a while. We installed taller posts on the retaining wall side. That way, we can add the retaining wall and fill dirt when we are ready without having to tear all the fencing down and starting from scratch.

After lots of digging, all 25 posts were set at least 2.5 feet into the ground. All of the holes were dug by hand by my family and I. My husband and I easily installed all the crossrails and top rails within a few weekends. We got the gate for free from a nearby farm.

Our almost free DIY round pen is nearing completion

It’s so close! All it needs now is a few more rails to be safely usable. Before long, we’ll be using this round pen!