# How big is your round pen/How big should a round pen be?



## Cinnys Whinny

I'm just wondering how big most round pens are. The one where I am currently boarding is only maybe about 15 feet in diameter max, maybe a bit smaller, and it just doesn't seem big enough. My horse actually gets anxiety in it if I try to move him faster than a jog and he just HUGS that rail grits his teeth, pins his ears and then he will eventually just stop and look at me like I'm crazy. He did attempt to canter a couple of times the first time he was in there and he hit his legs on the rail and I think that's what started the anxiety. He has no problem lunging w/t/c in the arena however. My BO says my horse is pulling one over on me, but I am thinking it's just too small.

So, how big is your round pen or...how big do you think a round pen should be for general use? And, if you think my horse is pulling one on me, be honest and let me know.....I won't whine and make excuses. All suggestions will be most appreciated.

I am however moving him on June 1st to a nice equestrian center so it's not like I am "stuck" with the situation.


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## aforred

That seems small to me. It depends a little on how big your horse is and how well he's trained. Our round pen is 30' in diameter, and it's too small for a large, untrained horse to comfortably lope.


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## Carleen

The one where I work is 60' and I will admit, I find it to be a little too big for me but I would much rather that than 15' - that seems so tiny! I wouldn't expect a horse to canter comfortably around it for more than a few strides unless he's really athletic/well trained.


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## themacpack

Take a measuring tape (or even a string and two sticks) with you next time you go out and measure it so you know for sure. If it is the size you think, though, that is pretty tight for any fast working.


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## themacpack

For that matter - if it is as small as you think you should be able to lay out a basic 12 foot lead and know whether it's just a bit further across or more - give you a fair idea at least


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## railNtrail

15' is the smaller than one of our box stalls! :? I think common sizes are 30' and 60' I personally would like something in the middle about 45' some day.


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## Brindles

For what it's worth, Monty Roberts suggests 50 foot.


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## smrobs

I have no idea on the diameter of mine as it is not really a circle, it is more oblong. However, it is made from 9 pipe panels and they are each 10 feet long. It is just big enough to get a nice long trot going but not really big enough for a lope. However, I usually only use it for saddle breaking colts and by the time 3 or 4 days has passed, they never see the inside again. If I were working an older, broker horse and I wanted space to work him at the lope, then I would want one of the commercial roundpens about 50 feet or more diameter.


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## SilverSpur

mine is 65 foot, pretty average round here.


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## Chavez

Mine is 80' and i love it perfect for what we need.


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## Cinnys Whinny

It's about the same diameter as the length of my lunge line, I can lay the whole thing across it and the round pen is maybe a couple inches wider but that's about it....but I forgot how long my lunge line is...so of course it's always pooled at my feet when I'm trying to lunge. Cinny is a about 15 1/2 hand stock paint very QH typy (everyone thinks he's a QH because he has the same body type as 2 eyed Jack and other "classic" QH's).


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## loosie

I think it depends on what you want to do in it. But agree that 15' is too small if you're wanting to get the horse going. If you're playing with an unsure/untrained horse, I think the bigger the better, to avoid making them feel trapped. I use (disconnected) elec tape and elec fence pickets, so mine's whatever size I want at the time - 12' radius, so 24' diameter is the smallest I would bother with.


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## Cinnys Whinny

Oh forgot, he's sort of a green broke reclaim. he was broke 5 years ago, sat in a field, ridden last summer until he dumped the person and the she never got on, then he sat all winter, and now I have him. He's normally ultra sensitive as well...you barely tap him with a crop and he acts like you are whipping him with a lunge line so it takes nothing to get him in that "anxiety mode" although he is slowly getting better.

The BO thinks I should not only be able to lunge him w/t/c in there with no problem but should also be able to ride all three gates in there as well. i think she's CRAZY. She says my horse is just spoiled and I'm not hard enough on him and that I need to make him learn to work in there instead of the arena .... I think she just doesn't like her arena getting horsy footprints in it. Any time I ride in there she immediately makes her husband pull out the tractor and drag it so it looks perfect again lol.


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## HowClever

Wow, the roundyard I work in is around 45 ft in diameter and I even find that too small for some of the horses!


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## 5cuetrain

That depends on what you are intendin to do in the round pen.

Usually its where you start horses or "persuade" horses. If thats the case somewhere between 50 foot and 60 foot diameter is nice. It will depend on the panel size and if you one of the lucky ones who can afford a solid wood one then 55 foot.

Horses are pretty uneasy in tight places until they are taught that its ok.


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## loosie

Cinnys Whinny said:


> He's normally ultra sensitive as well...you barely tap him with a crop and he acts like you are whipping him with a lunge line so it takes nothing to get him in that "anxiety mode" although he is slowly getting better.


That sounds like, IMO he's no where ready for being 'lunged' anyway. What is it you want him to learn with lunging?

I would personally get him 100% trusting of you & your 'toys' first & foremost, so he *knows* that you're not going to beat/kill him with the whip. I would be teaching him to yield(respond, not react) to steady, direct pressure in all sorts of ways first, before then teaching him to yield to implied(suggested, a wave of the rope/whip...) pressure, then when he's reliably responding(not reacting/escaping from) light suggestions, would gradually increase the distance until I'm 'lunging', to teach/reinforce him responding to me at a distance.



> The BO thinks I should not only be able to lunge him w/t/c in there with no problem but should also be able to ride all three gates in there as well. i think she's CRAZY. She says my horse is just spoiled and I'm not hard enough on him


That's her problem(& unfortunately her horse's:-(), not yours. Even if what she says were true, it's your horse, so your choice to 'spoil' him! Don't let her dictate what you should be doing with your horse. If you're unsure, find a *good* trainer/instructor to help you.


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## aforred

^^^:clap:


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## hillarymorganstovall

WOW... 15' is tiny!! 

It depends on what it's used for. Most of the smaller ones are for training and the larger ones you can ride in too. I think the most common are 50'


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## Cinnys Whinny

loosie said:


> I would personally get him 100% trusting of you & your 'toys' first & foremost, so he *knows* that you're not going to beat/kill him with the whip. I would be teaching him to yield(respond, not react) to steady, direct pressure in all sorts of ways first, before then teaching him to yield to implied(suggested, a wave of the rope/whip...) pressure, then when he's reliably responding(not reacting/escaping from) light suggestions, would gradually increase the distance until I'm 'lunging', to teach/reinforce him responding to me at a distance.


I'm not starting him and he is getting used to "my toys" lol, it's in that round pen that there is a problem. I can rub him all over with a crop, lunge whip, buggy whip, plastic bag, balloons etc, it's just if he is hit with whips that he has the issue and it is slowly resolving as he is learning that I do only tap. He's 7 and was already broke to ride when I got him, I started him back at basics when I got him to "fill in the holes". He w/t/c and halts from any gait in the arena on a lunge line NO PROBLEM. When he halts, he does so correctly with both eyes turned toward me waiting for his next instruction. He leads perfectly, for me, my 10 yr old and my DH. On lead line he walks, trots, backs and yield front or back without me holding the lead line, he just follows where I go. He has done walk trot with a rider and we are progressing. I just think that maybe somewhere in his training he was taken to a small pen and beaten or something because this round pen just makes him roll his eyes, grit his teeth and pin his ears every time I try to work him in it.


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## Hunter65

Our round pen is 40' which I find works well. My old barns was probably about 20" waaay too small.


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## Failbhe

(side note - I really don't like this "old thread warning" idea! I'd rather continue a discussion where good points have already been made than make people repeat themselves!)

We're looking at building a round pen, and have two spots on our yard that could work - one would give us an area big enough for a 35' round pen, the other could be up to 60'. I'd prefer NOT to use the larger area since eventually we'd like to build a barn in that area. I've read some conflicting things about the size... some people seem to think 35' would be ok, others think that anything less than 50' is just way too small. I would be working my 14.2 h Arab x mare in it. (Though eventually we're hoping to buy another horse for my husband and it would probably be bigger than my petite little mare!)

Anyway, basically I'm just wondering what other (more experienced) people's opinions are - should we sacrifice the possible barn spot for the bigger pen, or stick with the 35'?


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## xxdanioo

The barn I'm at ahs a 60ft, and I think it's a decent size. Works well for round-penning.


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## mls

Hunter65 said:


> Our round pen is 40' which I find works well. My old barns was probably about 20" waaay too small.


20 inches?


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## Adam

> Originally Posted by *Hunter65*
> _Our round pen is 40' which I find works well. My old barns was probably about 20" waaay too small._


 



mls said:


> 20 inches?


 
VERRY tiny horses :wink:


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## Delfina

I think the one where I board is around 65ft?

Large enough you can ride comfortably in it at a walk/trot.

I don't lunge in it though, if I am going to lunge my horse I head for the arena and lunge him on a lunge line.


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## Failbhe

Adam said:


> VERRY tiny horses :wink:


you never know, the stud at the farm I got my miniatures was 27"! :lol:

It seems most people prefer larger pens, 50-65'. I still prefer the idea of that 35' spot (it just works better on the yard and our future plans)... but I don't want to build something I'll regret later. I won't be working with very young or very green horses, I'm not sure if that makes a 35' better or worse... :?


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## crimsonsky

i've had a 40', 50' and 60' roundpen. so far i'd say my fav is the 60' because it gives you so many options as to ground work or riding whereas the smaller ones feel limiting, imo.


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## Corporal

I need to wax a little--seems like we all go overboard on a good thing. I use a ~ square training area. It's 55' x 65'. It's big enough to "round pen", but good for other training, too, like a small arena. I work out problems and I can loose-lunge and lunge on a line, AND school in it too.
I also use my rectangular fenced-in North Pasture. IT is 250' by 310'. _(I know all of the dimensions bc in 2008 I had my property fenced in. I measured EVERYTHING so that they had enough materials to finish.)
_THIS is big enough to do pretty much everything else, including driving IF I ever get the horse to do it. =b
Listen, you need ~50' diameter, but for some work the 15' will work, it's just Very Limited.
*Round Pen work isn't everything.* It's a good start and a good warmup and a good refresh-training area, but it will limit you.
Sometimes you have to use your body like your horse does to understand if the training is pleasant, useful or grueling, which over and over again round pen work CAN be. Try bending your body and jogging circles--it can really hurt. It stretches and contracts muscles and can get old and painful to your horse.
I like to make my horse work and please me AND have a good time doing it, too. 
It's a means-to-an-end but not the end.


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## nvr2many

I'm not sure of diameter. I have 10 x 16' panels.

Edit, I just did the math, that would be a 50'


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