Round pen almost finished

[NoTrespassing]

We've just about got it knocked out. A few odds and ends here and there and then put down the footing. I've decided on crushed gravel and sand. I still need to cut the top of the posts off even with the top of the fence. We stained all the cedar posts before setting them and backfilled them with peagravel. The top 4 boards are 5/4" cedar decking and the bottom two are 5/4" treated pine decking. All the screws are stainless. Every other row of boards are beveled on the ends about 15 degrees for the curve. Here are a few pics. I guess I've got almost $1500 in materials. Hope it lasts, only time will tell I guess.

Kevin

 

[NoTrespassing]

The pen is about 68 ft. in diameter and 6ft. tall. We used a water level and line level on the ground and fence.

 

[Spiffy]

I'm glad you took the second picture with your little lady riding in there, else my wife might have dump me and headed for Illinois!

Nice work!

 

[Boone]

Just curious about why you made the pen so large.

 

[GeneD14]

Looks like you did a fine job. I have used a water level alot and they are super accurite. Pea gravel around the posts was also a good idea. Very nice. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[NoTrespassing]

<font color="blue"> Just curious about why you made the pen so large. </font>

20 meters (65.6ft) is a standard dressage circle.

 

[RobA]

Nice job. You should be proud of your work.

 

[NCDeere]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( The top 4 boards are 5/4" cedar decking and the bottom two are 5/4" treated pine decking. )</font>

Your pen looks great!

Pardon my ignorance, but why are the top boards cedar and the bottom two pine? Maybe it's a stupid question, but I am just curious.

Thanks,

Bryan

 

[NoTrespassing]

<font color="blue">Pardon my ignorance, but why are the top boards cedar and the bottom two pine? </font>

After I put in the footing for the horses the bottom board will be in contact with the ground. I just figured a treated board would hold up better in the moisture.

 

[tjkadar]

Nice looking round pen. Never thought about building one large enough for Dressage work though... and no, I wont be showing it to my wife. The last thing I need is another project.

We've actually had pretty good luck using granite sand for footing. It doesn't break down to smaller sizes like other footing material we've tried. It drains fairly well and isn't dusty. Of course, it does help that there is a granite quarry about 30 miles away...

 

[NoTrespassing]

Htjkadar
Heh, a 60 acre equestrian facility! I'm not showing my wife your bio! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

My wife has been training horses for over 20 yrs. off and on for other folks. She got a small bonus today when one of the horses she was training sold. I had to slap myself when the thought crossed my mind that a person could buy a horse cheap, train it and resell it for a profit. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif I sure can get some screwy ideas sometimes. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Kevin

 

[tjkadar]

We hold six dressage shows out here a year. It doesn't sound like much, but it seems you barely recover from one show and its time to put on another one. My wife does some training, but most of her work is instructing. I don't know how many students she has off hand, but I know on some nights I don't see her until around 8:00 or 9:00 at night.

We have a basic saying here, "You don't make money with your own horses, only with someone else’s."

Mary (spousal unit) has a 2-year old Oldenburg gelding we are looking at starting in about another year. The guy is brave to a fault, and very, very inquisitive. He is a pretty good mover too.

Mary is talking about training him and selling him, but I would rather keep him. He is a really cool guy.

 

[creeper]

I am considering builing a pen soon, getting started is the hard part. Can anyone help with measurements on sections for a pen about 40' dia. How did you lay your circle out? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[creeper]

Wow! that 1st picture is impressive....nice job!

 

[JohninCT]

<font color="blue"> Can anyone help with measurements on sections for a pen about 40' dia. How did you lay your circle out? </font>

Find the circumference of the circle Pi x Dia (3.1415x40)= 126.6 ( say 127ft). Divide by the length of your fence boards (say 8 ft) = 15.8 (need 16 fence sections). Put a stake where you want the center of the pen to be and using a 20 ft rope mark off the locations of your post centers (every 8 ft) around the circumference.

John