Round Pen Questions

[Foster Woods Miniatures]

Hi everyone!

I have a question for you who use a round pen with your minis.

How big is yours? I've seen some oneline where they are huge! (as in big enough to be a pasture for a foal!) Maybe this is what they're supposed to be, but I'm afraid if theres too much space my horse will think that its just another pasture area and lose focus. :/

Correct me if I'm wrong, share pictures of your pen if you'd like!

Thanks!

 

[disneyhorse]

Traditional round pens are 50-60 feet, but you can get away with a much smaller one for minis.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

My round pen is 50 feet in diameter with solid sides about 7' high. I built it for starting/working with unhandled saddle horses I picked up at auctions (before I fell for minis ) and needed something they would not feel they could go over or thro when I was in with them. There are pluses and minuses to it when working with minis. It helps them stay focused but we must repeat everything outside so they learn to respond when there are distractions as well. I agree you can get by with a smaller round pen but I prefer my 50' pen, I worry less about the stress on unconditioned bones and muscles when the circle the horses are being worked in is larger. Also it allows me to do things that would be more difficult in tighter quarters such as ground driving and working some obstacles in hand. I can also work 2 horses(minis) together in it and they have space to not step on one another.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I have NO idea where you measure from or to, so I could not tell you how big mine is but it is big enough for, and is used as a mare and foal paddock just after foaling, so...it's that big. Since my horses are always out on grass they do not "lose focus" and since I am working them and using a schooling whip they have a double incentive to stay focused!

 

[Marty]

Last time I had one up it was also 50'. My way of thinking is that I have better things to do with my horses than to make them go round and round forever. I like to add a jump or two, cones, and diversify. Keeps them on their toes and their brain from getting fried. I also add music. Training around here is fun.

 

[Margo_C-T]

I like at least 40'diameter for minis. That said, I no longer like to use round pens except in rare instances.

Margo

 

[wingnut]

Can I ask a follow up question? Can you mix panel sizes? We bought a bunch of panels+gate on Craigslist last spring but the online calculator I found tells me I need 4 more to make a 40' round pen with 10 ft panels.

Can you mix panel sizes? Like, could I use some 12ft panels along with the 10ft panels I already have?

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

I don't see why not. All you are trying to accomplish is a pen without corners (where horses tend to get 'stuck' when they are looking for a way to avoid you/work) so mixing panel lengths will just mean you have a slightly different sized pen in the end. As long as they are safe and join the 10ft panels solidly there should not be a problem.

 

[Foster Woods Miniatures]

Thanks Everyone! I will probably now go with a 50' that way I have room for whatever bright idea I get next

 

[Tremor]

I feel rather bad. We *finally* got a round pen and its 30' in diameter; which I guess isn't big enough? It actually seems to be rather big in my opinion, but idk.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Don't feel badly Tremor, a 30ft round pen is better than no round pen at all

Just because some of us think 50ft is optimal doesn't mean 30ft is no good. If thats what you have/can afford just go with it and consider yourself fortunate to have access to a safe place to play with your minis, lots of people don't have anything at all and must do all their work in the open.

 

[disneyhorse]

Tremor... 30 feet might be okay for limited use but generally the smaller the circle the harder it is on the horse. 40 might be more appropriate for a lot of use, and 50 is far more versatile. Our arena here is about 90 feet square so it's what I use... A tad too big for traditional "round penning" and a tad too small to do a ton of driving in, but we all make do with what we have, right?

 

[JAX]

OK Off topic here but does anybody have advice for someone who has a round pen but gets so dizzy that it just goes to waste?? I am so bad that I cannot even ride the super slow carousel rides... Give me a screamer of a roller coaster anyday but oh no to anything that goes round and round sideways!!!

So what are your best tips for someone like me?

 

[chandab]

OK Off topic here but does anybody have advice for someone who has a round pen but gets so dizzy that it just goes to waste?? I am so bad that I cannot even ride the super slow carousel rides... Give me a screamer of a roller coaster anyday but oh no to anything that goes round and round sideways!!!

So what are your best tips for someone like me?

I don't stand in one place when I round pen or lunge a horse, I walk a circle and it seems to help. On those occassions when I haven't moved much from the center of the round pen, I get a bit dizzy. I've been told I don't lunge right because I walk a circle when I lunge, instead of standing in one place and barely moving.

[One gal practically gave me a lecture over it.]

 

[JAX]

I don't stand in one place when I round pen or lunge a horse, I walk a circle and it seems to help. On those occassions when I haven't moved much from the center of the round pen, I get a bit dizzy. I've been told I don't lunge right because I walk a circle when I lunge, instead of standing in one place and barely moving.

[One gal practically gave me a lecture over it.]

LOL yes I have noticed that I can make a whole ten cirlces if I walk it with them... then Im dizzy and out of breath...although that is better than just tossing my cookies! So funny because i dont get sea sick when everyone else does but I seem to have no tolerance to going in circles. Is there a medication for it like for sea sickness??

 

[chandab]

LOL yes I have noticed that I can make a whole ten cirlces if I walk it with them... then Im dizzy and out of breath...although that is better than just tossing my cookies! So funny because i dont get sea sick when everyone else does but I seem to have no tolerance to going in circles. Is there a medication for it like for sea sickness??

When I taught my big horses to lunge, they learned "body language" and part of that for me was they stop when I stop (so standing in the middle didn't work for us). I trained my APHA mare to lunge in a fire lane around a large field (I had no round pen or arena, just a rented pasture in the sticks), so she had no boundaries and I did a lot of walking with her. I also ground drove her miles in those fire lanes and across prairie. [she's had more ground driving time than saddle time.]

I wonder if sea sickness pills would work for going in circles? How about just motion sickness meds (or are they the same thing)? Curiosity got to me, so I looked up motion sickness on Drugstore.com and got: http://www.drugstore.com/search/search_results.asp?N=0&Ntx=mode%2Bmatchallpartial&Ntk=All&srchtree=1&Ntt=motion+sickness&CSRFToken=nezPelJ%2FyLuzczDV%2BAdxkywkSu7MzwExKPZzlN5o%2BVM%3D&Go.x=0&Go.y=0 There were a couple "nature" products in there. At the bottom of the list, there is Sea-Band, a chemical free product that is supposed to help; fairly cheap, so might be somthing to try.

 

[wingnut]

I don't stand in one place when I round pen or lunge a horse, I walk a circle and it seems to help. On those occassions when I haven't moved much from the center of the round pen, I get a bit dizzy. I've been told I don't lunge right because I walk a circle when I lunge, instead of standing in one place and barely moving.

[One gal practically gave me a lecture over it.]

The person who taught me to lunge my horses told me that standing in one place is why I got dizzy and that I needed to move with the horse...in a small way, like small circle. She likes to move her horses up and down the area she's working in while she's lunging. Definitely helped with the dizziness. Oh! And her other "tip" was to focus on one spot on the horse while lunging....like the eye. Keeping that focus while moving with the horse "cured" me of the dizziness I was having while trying to lunge.

 

[Margo_C-T]

I have enough panels to make a 40' or more round pen, but need them elsewhere, so I just use a long longe line, and work inside of my arena(125 X 250'--I am blessed, I realize that!) I have a couple of 20' lines that I use for ground driving; I usually snap them together to longe; that way, I can work the horse in a 40 up to a nearly 80' circle. Of course, this is a horse well-trained to longe. I basically only use 'round and round' work as a warm-up, and to solidify proper responses to verbal commands. Even w/o a round pen, one can train a horse to longe, and with an adequately long longe line, you can use this as a method of exercise, as long as you are conscientious.

Margo