Frugal Round Pen

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Okay, all you frugal cowboys and cowgirls. Does anyone have any frugal (cheap) ideas for a round pen for training horses? Let's think salvage, safety and simple. Logs, poles, pallets? All ideas will be considered. I know ya'll got good ideas to share. Thank you.

-- Laura Senderhauf (gsend@hotmail.com), November 16, 2000

Answers

We wasted our money and bought a panel round pen. However, If we ever get our place sold and move elsewhere, we are going to make a round pen out of used car tires.... They are free for the taking... Many Tire store will even help you load them on your trailer... We have not figured out how many tires it would take to make a 60 ft pen. I have done some training in my panel pen, and found that the horses like to look over the rail and whinny to the other horses, breaking their consentration. I also use this pen to train stock dogs in, my stock crawls thru the panels...

-- Ginny Davis (yehagirl@goin.missouri.org), November 16, 2000.

I've seen lots of folks use gates to make a round pen. If you use the light weight aluminum ones they are easy to move and sturdy. I use them all over the farm to make temporary squeeze chutes and such. Not cheap initially but they are versatile and durable enough it may save you money in the long run.

-- Amanda S (aseley@townsqr.com), November 17, 2000.

Someone down the road from us has a round pen made out of recycled garage doors. Around here they are often available for free if you have a way to haul them. Check with a company that sells replacement doors. Years ago I saw a round pen in one of the horse magazines made out of interlocked recycled tires and think I remember some feedback later that there was a problem with water collecting in the tires and getting nasty (mosquitoes) and also rats? I have used pallets for goat and garden fencing but I don`t think they would be high enough to make a good round pen, especially if you were breaking colts? I have also seen a round pen made out of bendable wire stock panels attached to t-posts. Sue

-- Sue Hudler (catzrus@webtv.net), November 17, 2000.

I was going to recommend the tires, but someone beat me to it! I really think for safety, cost, and durability, used tires are hard to beat.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), November 17, 2000.

For a 60' diameter corral, 8' high you would be looking at something like 1,100 tires. If they are ever disposed of, you would be looking at something like $1 or more per tire. Then there is the problem with water accumulation as a breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), November 17, 2000.


Wow! You guys ARE good! I know I can collect that many tires from the back roads. We get 14 feet of rain a year out here, so water is always a problem. Can tires be drilled for drainage?

I am now picturing a round tire fence with vines and flowers cascading down the outside and my neighbors wondering what happened to that mountain of tires I drug home.Won't my dear spouse have a cow when I start dragging tires home!

-- Laura (gsend@hotmail.com), November 17, 2000.


There's an illegal dump here that would give you a million or two for free...

Why not fill them with dirt as you laid them? It would also hold them still when you/horse inevitably 'bumps' them. Enough dirt to fill the cavities, if not hold the whole wall. There is always the option of concrete, though expensive.

-- Anne (HT@HM.com), November 17, 2000.


They always suggest drilling holes in tire swings for water drainage, I don't see why a couple of holes would harm a round pen. I think you should gradually make it wider as you go up so it cannot collape on itself. That's just my opion.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), November 17, 2000.

We used cattle panels to create our round pen. It is only 50', but at 5' high, it is not high enough. The older horses are ok, but the weanlings and yearlings can get a jump out so we usually have to put a "babysitter" (our 25 yr old mare) in the middle of the pen to keep them happy and not wanting to jump. Once they settle in we can take the babysitter out. We put a post in the middle of ea 16'panel (on the outside) as well as the ends and it has taken quite a bit of abuse. More than I thought it could.

If you use gates, do not use light weight ones. We had a 3 yr old that bucked when we first put the saddle on and she destroyed a light weight gate when she hit it a couple of times. We have middle weight ones that I think would work though, but the height is still a problem. We use the mid weight ones as temp corrals when we travel.

I would love an enclosed round pen, but in the summer here, it would be awfully hot to work in with no breeze, which would be a consideration for any enclosed round pen even tires.

-- beckie (sunshine_horses@yahoo.com), November 17, 2000.


Around here people make roundpens with poles they cut themselves or ceder posts which are about $1 a piece, then they get free, eegads, I forget the name: that wood leftover when the mills trim the bark off?, my brain is fried right now.

-- Epona (crystalepona2000@yahoo.com), November 17, 2000.


If you fill the tires with dirt you are looking at something like 150 cubic yards. After lugging 1,100 tires, probably a couple of times, and 150 cubic yards of dirt, probably a couple of times, someone may be too dang tired to work horses.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), November 17, 2000.

Ken, you are right about filling those up with dirt being too much work. I don't have spare dirt unless I want to dig a pond. I will need to fill them with something, like horse poop and compost. I can't leave them hollow because the big kids might ditch the little kids in there. (childhood memories)

The immediate horses that need to be trained are over ten years old and real calm and low to the ground. I can always build up the wall later for training babies.

I think the tire idea would be good for pig pens, too

-- Laura (gsend@hotmail.com), November 17, 2000.


If you were worried about air getting into the pen on hot days, why couldnt you use a smaller tire in a few areas, leaving an opening or just not butt up some of the tires.. If we ever get to move, I am planning on building a goat lean to out of tires, with a metal roof... And after seeing what my horses have done to my year old pole barn (hoof in the side wall) They just may get a tire barn too. I saw a web page on building a house out of tires, they filled them with dirt, in between each row of tires they put cardboard down to prevent the dirt from falling thru... When you get your round pen made, I want to see pictures!!!!!

-- Ginny Davis (yehagirl@goin.missouri.org), November 18, 2000.

Okay, call me stupid but when I pictured tires, I pictured them upright and bolted to one another. Like they do in kids parks now-a- days. Silly me.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), November 19, 2000.

Dee, you are not the only one with a brain that works that way. Our farrier pictured it that way and hated the idea because the horses would get their hooves caught in the tires. It took a bit more communication to get a clear idea.

I just had a high school kid offer to haul the tires from town, drill and stack them for $150. Does that sound like a bargain to anyone else?

-- Laura (gsend@hotmail.com), November 20, 2000.



I rent so I use a portable round pen so I can take it with me when I move. I have seen carpet and huge rubber conveyer belts put over it to make it solid at a trainers.

-- Pam Creighton (zpjc5_@hotmail.com), November 21, 2000.

The tire store today asked when they can DELIVER my tires! I will not even have to pay to haul them from town. The High School kid said he will drill and stack for $100. Some of my neighbors are willing to kick in some cash to be able to have access to a round pen.

Life is good in my little slice of heaven!

-- Laura (gsend@hotmail.com), November 21, 2000.


Laura, Dont forget to send me a picture of your creation!!!! Ginny

-- Ginny Davis (yehagirl@goin.missouri.org), November 21, 2000.

Laura, I forgot to tell you, if you are going to fill the tires with dirt, contact some Excavators and see if they have extra dirt that they want to rid themselves of.. In our area, we have allot of clay, and they would gladly bring it over , for free.

-- Ginny Davis (yehagirl@goin.missouri.org), November 21, 2000.

Before you go to the trouble of using tires please check with your authorities, local, county/parish, and state. I remember someone several years ago using tires to build something and getting hammered by the laws governing tire disposal. If you can solve the water/skeeter problem, and create a stable structure, tires sound great, especially working with young rowdies.

-- Skip Barnes (pococj@aol.com), November 22, 2000.

Hi Skip. Our state is totally into recycling. Our road departments have been experimenting with stacked tires for retaining walls and road underpinnings, shredding them and mixing them with asphalt for roadbed. It's been successful, too, as long as they use a lot of dirt and gravel to fill them. It seems stacked tires with a lot of dead airspace are prone to spontaneous combustion. As we all know, burning tires is a very bad thing, and very hard to put out.

-- Laura (gsend@hotmail.com), November 23, 2000.

Small wonder your tire store is willing to deliver them. At least in TN there is a $1 surtax on the sale of each new tire. This is suspose to pay the disposal fee for the retailer. If they don't have to pay this fee, it is an extra $1 profit per tire for them.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), November 23, 2000.

tires will work just fine, also good for holding buckets to feed horses in, nests for turkeys (just fill with straw), and good for hog feeders (use a flat round tub placed inside the tire, and we bolt the tire to a piece of plywood). Keeps everything right side up!

-- Cindy (Clawson@mindspring.com), November 23, 2000.

Laura, glad your state does something constructive with them. I ran the recycling program for a Mississippi Navy base at my last duty station before being forced into "honorary" retirement. I tried everything possible to recycle anything that could be recycled. Wanted to try crushed glass and shredded tires on a small section of the base's roads, but the contractor hadn't ever "heered" of such. I contacted the state offices of the highway department and was told they'd never heard of it either. Very discouraging. We recycled the crushed glass, different types of plastics, several grades of paper, corrugated cardboard. aluminum cans, steel cans, and scrap metal. It didn't last long as the markets for most of the items quickly dried up. Another case of too much hype too soon. Hopefully things have improved since then. It was an interesting, if frustrating, tour of duty. Strangely enough, the Navy and the Dep't. of Defense had some really great instructions. To paraphrase, 'If an item can be recycled, it shall (meaning "must", no matter what the Gore minions say) be recycled. Gave me a lot of power in dealing with the various commands that didn't want to participate. Sometimes I enjoy stirring things up, and when an enlisted puke gets to tell a high-up mucky- muck ossifer what he will do, why, it still makes me grin! Anyway, I have wandered far from a round pen. Good luck with yours. We're fixing to build one out of cattle pannels and landscape timbers. Colts and fillies are only in them one at a time for training, though. Momma is saying 'tis time to go to T-day. Bye. Skip

-- Skip Barnes (pococj@aol.com), November 23, 2000.

Ken, in our state, it costs $1.25 each to dispose tires. Then our tire shop would have to haul them at least four hours east to do that. So hauling them 12 miles from town is a real bargain for them.

For me, the commitment to take 1,000 tires is more permanent than most marriages. I think we need a differnt thread for "more uses of discarded tires."

-- Laura (gsend@hotmail.com), November 23, 2000.


I cut down a dead white oak tree and had it sawed into 6in boards 10 feet long. Bought HAlf round post because they have 7 inches of nailing surface for the boards. Drill pilot holes for the nails to prevent the boards from spliting at the ends. Put a drain in the middle and slope the surface to the drain. I can use this pen 2 hrs after a rain.Total cost was $150.+ $38. for the 4in drain. ( 80 ft diameter).

-- jay vance (jay.l.vance@worldnet.att.net), November 23, 2000.

I cut down a dead white oak tree and had it sawed into 6in boards 10 feet long. Bought HAlf round post because they have 7 inches of nailing surface for the boards. Drill pilot holes for the nails to prevent the boards from spliting at the ends. Put a drain in the middle and slope the surface to the drain. I can use this pen 2 hrs after a rain.Total cost was $150.+ $38. for the 4in drain. ( 80 ft diameter).Jay Vance Central N C

-- jay vance (jay.l.vance@worldnet.att.net), November 23, 2000.

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