01/30/2026
The Roundpen
I've had a lot of folks asking me about this lately, so let's take a quick pause from the c**t starting series to talk about one of our most valuable tools - the roundpen.
First, let talk specs --
Personally, I like a 60-70 foot diameter roundpen. Big enough that the horse has enough room to lope, but not so big that I'm having to cover a ton of ground. 55ft would be about the bare minimum.
The pen does not actually have to be round. Round is ideal so the horse doesn't get stuck in any corner and their forward motion continues to just flow around, but I will work horses the same way in the pen the live in, say if they are hard to catch or if something comes up when I'm in there to feed or clean. Or if you don't have a round pen and all you have is a square pen. You can still do all the same exercises, you just might have to work a little harder to keep the horse moving through the corners.
Safe footing is important. Ideally, the ground is not too deep that it strains soft tissue, and also not too slick since the horse will be working on a circle with speed at times.
The walls/panels should be as sturdy as possible. I've used portable panel roundpens before and it's OK if that's what you have. But try to anchor the panels in some way. The last thing you want is to hang a stirrup on a panel and have the panel stay with the horse when they jump away (or worse... don't ask me how I know!) At the least, you can drive t-posts in the ground right up against the outside of the panels and tie to them with wire.
Solid, banked walls would be the safest. You don't want the horse to be able to hang a foot in the panels, if they buck or something. Set them close enough that there isn't a gap between them and use chains or wire to snug 'em up. If you're going to ride in the roundpen, you also need to think about not hanging your own toes in the fence. Some options for covering gaps in panels - thick fabric of some sort stretched tight and secured on the inside of the panels, roll of rubber or plywood secured on the inside.
If your panels have a gap at the top where the panels connect, there's a company that make plastic caps you can slide on to cover that, or you could probably DIY something that would work. You just don't want a horse to be able to get a hoof caught in the top of your panels.
In order to be able to really use your roundpen and get the most out of it, it is worth investing in making it as safe as possible.
Now onto the WHY --
The main reason the roundpen is so useful is because it allows us to work horses loose, at liberty, while still keeping them within a manageable distance.
As with all of our tools, it's only really beneficial if used correctly.
You'll hear people often say something like "I roundpenned him for a while before getting on." I'm not even really sure what "roundpenned" means, but I picture someone just running the horse around the pen until it's sweating and breathing hard. Now, I'm not knocking folks for doing things differently than I would, if that's what works for them, but you'll never really see me just running one around in there.
My goal is to build horses that can eventually be saddled and go right to work, even after some time off. I don't want horses that always have to be longed and worked down before they can be ridden.
What works for me is using the roundpen to get their mind with me, rather than trying to tire them out. I have specific exercises that I will work on in order to accomplish that (many of them are covered in my **tstarting101 series). Careful not to overdo it, never drilling, rewarding try and progress.
Reading the horse, knowing how far to push and when to quit is something that just has to be learned through mistakes and experiences, I think.
A person has to have a solid understanding of body language, and be able to convey that to the horse as clearly as possible, in order to truly control their feet and accomplish these exercises. The level of communication that can be developed with the horse at liberty is far greater than anything that I've ever been able to do when the horse is on a lead (and isn't free to leave). When the horse moves in the way I want, without having any physical restraints, and they remain with me, both physically and mentally, I know that we have come to a mutual understanding.
Yes, I use the roundpen to start c**ts, but you'll often hear me say that I do all of the same stuff with every horse I train, whether they're 2 or 22. It's where I start with everything. The process helps me gather as much valuable information as possible before I make myself vulnerable and put a foot in the stirrup. With older horses it's like making sure all the basic arithmetic is there before asking for calculus.
Good use of the roundpen is next level horsemanship for most humans, but it's basic foundational work for most horses. Purposeful roundpen work will have a profound, lasting effect on every aspect of the horse's handling.
**tstarting
