Let me preface this post with a few words of wisdom:

• Get everything you need before building; it’ll save you time during building from running to the hardware store – trust me.
• Measure twice, cut or dig once.
• Better to have the posts a little closer together than too far apart, you can always cut a section or two of boards shorter but you can’t make them longer.
• Also, with proper planning this can probably be done in three days, but it took us about a week because we had some mechanical problems with the first auger we rented, the second auger had a broken pin we didn’t see before we brought it home and we were short a couple sections of boards. So, it took more than a few trips to the hardware store to get it all done.

Materials

• 19 posts or railroad ties
  • Around 9 feet long
• 80 boards = 5 boards x 16 sections
  • This includes the kick board and the 4 rails.
  • Kick board – 2x10x10 (treated)          
  • Rails – 2x6x10 (treated)
• 2 gates and hardware (optional)
  • You don’t have to have two gates. We decided two gates so we would have more options for driving the tractor or trucks in and we’re probably going to put a chute off the back gate.
  • If you don’t do two gates then you’ll have to add a section of boards (4 rails and 1 kick board) to the list above.
  • Also, I advise waiting to get the gates until you have the posts set because that’ll determine how big the gates will need to be.
• 1-2 tub(s) of 4” screws
  • One thing I’ve learned about having horses is that you’re better off having screws and nails a little longer than normal because it adds more stability.
• Tools
  • Saws
  • Drills, impact drivers and bits
  • Hammers, wrenches
  • Shovels
  • Post Hole Digger
  • Tamping bar
  • Auger
    • You can rent one from your local hardware store.

Steps

• Measuring a 60-foot circle.
  • I got a stake, 30.5 feet of string and some spray paint.
  • I put the stake in the middle of the area that we decided to build the round pen. Then I tied the string to the stake and pulled it out until the string was straight and start marking with the spray paint the circle.
• Marking post holes
  • The post holes will be 10 feet apart from the middle of the inside of the post.
  • This is where measuring twice really helps, especially since this is the foundation of the round pen.  
  • This is where you’ll plan to put your gates too.

• Digging the holes
  • We dug the holes 2-foot-deep using a 12-inch auger because we used railroad ties and they averaged about 9 feet long and 7 inches wide. So that left us with about 7 feet above ground.
  • We also put the posts in the holes as we went, so no one would get hurt, but we didn’t fill the holes we just set the posts in the hole until we were done with all the holes.
  • Remember this is a round pen for horses so it should be built to weather a 1000-pound animal testing its sturdiness.
• Setting the posts
  • Now is the fun part, setting the posts in the ground because once this step is done, the rest goes fairly fast and easy.
  • This is also a good time to get the materials ready for if you’re going to cement the posts. We decided to cement the gate posts and every other post in between because those would take the most abuse and then it allowed for me to tie the horses to the other non-gate posts without worrying that they’d pull the round pen out of whack if they spook.
  • You’ll go around make the post level and fill in the hole with dirt, cement, really whatever you decide best. Also, take this time to make sure the middle of every post is 10-foot apart while you still have a little wiggle room to adjust the post.
  • NOW THIS IS IMPORTANT: it does not have to be perfectly ten feet apart. As I said in the beginning, it’s better to have the posts a tiny bit closer together because you can always cut a section of boards to make it work but you cannot make the boards longer.
  • If you cemented any posts, take a break while waiting for the cement to set or come back the next day and put the rails on.

• Putting up the rails
  • We started with the kick board and worked our way up with the four rails for each section.
  • The kick boards will go as close to the ground as you can with making them level all the way around. The kick boards are there to keep the sand footing in the round pen so it doesn’t get pushed out.
  • Once the kick board is on, you’ll put the rails up, 4 for each section. We put the rails 10 inches apart so there wasn’t enough room for a leg or head to get stuck, hopefully.
  • If you have any section(s) of boards that are too long, just cut what you need to off and keep going. Trust me, no one is going to notice that one section is a little shorter than the rest.
• Gates
  • We got two 10-foot metal pipe gates and metal latches. Most metal pipe gates come with the hardware to hang them, but not to latch them. Really, how you want them to latch is up to you. I like the metal latches because the gate can swing both ways and I can swing it shut if I have to. Also, they’re easier when on horseback.
  • We hung the gates so it meets most of the body of the horse. So, the bottom meets below the knee and the top is high enough my 15 hand horses have to pick their head up to put it over the gate. Also, this height makes it easy to open and close while on horseback.

Once the gates are hung, the round pen is ready for use. You’ll want to consider putting some soft footing down, especially if you’ll use it a lot. But from here you can add a hitching post, roof, bleachers, watch deck, whatever you want or just enjoy it as is.

The following spring we stained the round pen because where we live it is so dry and windy that the boards needed a little TLC.

I hope you found this helpful and if you have any questions or comments just send me a message! Thanks! 😊