Budget Crunch (Part I): Building a Round Pen on an Extreme Budget

Building a round pen for our equine friends can be an expensive proposition. Depending on the posts, rail, footing and size of the round pen it can all quickly add up to serious dollars. Recently, I’ve had a lot people ask me, “How can I build a Round Pen on a really tight budget?” So, let’s take a look and find outÂ…

The first part of our puzzle is the posts. The most economical option here is to use regular, wooden landscape posts. These are what you would typically use for your backyard or garden projects. As you can imagine, they are not necessarily meant for long-term wear and abuse. Furthermore, landscape posts are not made of the highest quality wood and many times you will find many defects in the wood itself.

However, don’t let this scare you off if money is an issue. For a temporary solution they will work just fine.

Tip: Spend an extra $15 - $20 and buy 4” pressure treated post for your gate posts. In a very short amount of time, you will be delighted that you did.

Consider landscape posts your lowest cost and a somewhat temporary solution. Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day! Landscape posts are an excellent way to get started building a horse round pen and later on, you can always upgrade your materials as your budget allows.

The second part of our round pen puzzle is the rails. Use 4” (preferably 4.25”) vinyl rail with integrated metal wire. It usually comes in rolls of 300 – 600 feet. This type of vinyl horse fence is made to withstand a significant amount of force and it holds up incredibly well in the elements over the years. Vinyl has the advantage being a very low maintenance item to use. In fact, you may have noticed that many people nowadays use 2-rail vinyl fences for outlining their property and general landscaping.

Purchase enough vinyl horse fencing to complete a 3-rail round pen. For example, if you are building a 50 foot round pen, you’ll need approximately 440 feet. Don’t forget to back out the gate measurement - you will build your gate out of wood and it will match your round pen fence perfectly. Budget around $50 for your gate supplies and materials.

Continued - Building a Round Pen on an Extreme Budget – Part 2
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© 2006 E. Landers

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