Round Pen Material for Horses

[NoTrespassing]

I'm looking for local sawmill to get some rough sawn oak for a round pen to train horses. Just thought I would ask here in case anyone knew of a mill in east central Illinois or west central Indiana. I haven't checked lumberyards yet. Does anyone know if they would carry rough sawn oak?

I'm open to suggestions if you can recommend a better material.

 

[cowboydoc]

Oak will work fine but you won't find it anywhere but a sawmill and be prepared to pay through the nose for it.

When you build your pen I would make it solid or go with panels. I've seen alot of horses hurt with wood roundpens that weren't solid. The oak is near impossible to break and if one gets caught up in between the boards it's not a good thing.

 

[ThistleKop]

<font color="blue">Does anyone know if they would carry rough sawn oak?
</font>

NT,
Do you have an Amish community near you? They are a good source of rough sawn lumber usually?

TK

 

[roho]

A few more sources No Tresspassing, is places that supply scaffolding to construction companys and construction companys that do underground work/digging and one more is pipe yards! We have a ole man that goes to these pipe yard and gets what they call cribbin, he sales it for barn material,etc! Its rough 2x6's! I built a stall out of it and it's jam up & cheap. Anyway places like that are good cheap sources and I'm sure U'r area has them too! I had to drive almost an hour to this place that sells used scaffold boards but got them cheap to! After they have been used a certain amount of time the companies can't use them for scaffolding anymore so they sell them to a dealer that sells them cheap too! I've had cribbin up 10 years and looks as good as when I "DRILLED HAMMMERED W/BIG HAMMER" in barn!

 

[MarkLeininger]

My wife came up with a different idea for a round pen that she wants me to make. Fabricate panels out of PVC that look like the steel corral panels you can buy at farm supply places. Then use velcro to connect the panels. You can move it if you need to, it breaks easy if a horse gets nuts and goes through it, never rusts.

 

[cowboydoc]

I saw one of those pvc roundpens one time. A horse got his leg caught in it and tryed to go over the top. He broke the whole thing down at a 45 degree angle and came back the other way and came down right on one of the posts that went right through him. I would strongly reconsider the pvc deal if it was me. I don't know about the price of your horses but before I'd do a pvc I'd just buy a good panel roundpen that I could move.

 

[Keith_B]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( My wife came up with a different idea for a round pen that she wants me to make. Fabricate panels out of PVC that look like the steel corral panels you can buy at farm supply places. Then use velcro to connect the panels. You can move it if you need to, it breaks easy if a horse gets nuts and goes through it, never rusts. )</font>

I would be concerned with the horse breaking the pipe, then becoming impaled on a piece of jagged broken PVC pipe.

I'm building my pen out of locust fence posts (they'll last 50 years) and 1X6 white oak fencing. I cut my own posts, and I can get the oak in my area for $350-$400/1000 board feet.

 

[MarkLeininger]

I was thinking the pvc would be safer because it would break easier and the horse would sail through, but maybe not. Our horses aren't all that expensive but we don't want to create situations for them to get hurt. Our neighbor's horse went through a 1x6 three rail fence and ended up running the jagged end about 2 feet into his chest, barely lived. Maybe the indestructible fortress round pen is the only safe option.

 

[cowboydoc]

<font color="red">Maybe the indestructible fortress round pen is the only safe option. </font>

That is absolutely 100% true. A horse that is wild enough to break through a roundpen is not going to stop once they break through. If you are by a busy road that horse may end up on the highway or be so scared it will run through anything and anyone in it's way. Plus once a horse learns they can do something they will do it again. If the horse breaks through that roundpen then in the same situation they would do it again and again. Not a good idea to have a breakable roundpen. Also make sure it's at least 6' high. Anything less and most horses will try and jump it.

 

[NoTrespassing]

How does $1.50/BF or $12/1" x 6" x 16' sound for a price on white oak?

Kevin

 

[cowboydoc]

I wouldn't use 1". We had some 1" oak and the horses just break it. You really need 1.5 or 2". You can get roughsawn boards that are just fine for a roundpen around here for $130/bundle. It has lengths from 8-16' in it. The bundle size is quite large. 2 bundles was enough oak to do 8 12x12 stalls in our barn.

 

[NoTrespassing]

Found rough sawn white oak for 80 cents/bdft. Will be buying 1000 bf. I guess I better get those plans drawn up.

Kevin

 

[DaveNay]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( A few more sources No Tresspassing, is places that supply scaffolding to construction companys and construction companys that do underground work/digging and one more is pipe yards! We have a ole man that goes to these pipe yard and gets what they call cribbin, he sales it for barn material,etc! Its rough 2x6's! I built a stall out of it and it's jam up & cheap. Anyway places like that are good cheap sources and I'm sure U'r area has them too! I had to drive almost an hour to this place that sells used scaffold boards but got them cheap to! After they have been used a certain amount of time the companies can't use them for scaffolding anymore so they sell them to a dealer that sells them cheap too! I've had cribbin up 10 years and looks as good as when I "DRILLED HAMMMERED W/BIG HAMMER" in barn! )</font>

This is a great deal, if you can get it. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif The scaffolding planks actually have an expected lifespan, and it should be discarded and not used for scaffolding any more. If you can get on the good side of a contractor that follows this practice, you could end up with some fantastic wood. There's only a couple of problems...scaffold planking is usually made from Douglas Fir, and is full sized 12" width by 1 1/2" thickness, 12'-15' in length. This means they are HEAVY...heavier than you ever expect for the size they are. The other problem is, there are always people that already have dibs on them, and they are almost impossible to obtain.

Dave

 

[bullet202]

If you have a "wild" horse......try training him in a larger arena with a long line before corraling it in a round pen......it can be done

 

[SandburRanch]

Black Locust poles make a darn good round pen. Either horizontal stacked or set in a trench vertical which ever method you prefer.

 

[WM75Guy]

I am assuming you are going to plant posts and attach the rails. I just priced a Preifert 60' round pen with 6' bow gate for $1400. The panels are the middle grade brown utility panels that attach to each other with chains. After you price the lumber, consider the labor, and the ease of moving panels they are a good choice. We have warmbloods, our 16 y/o Holsteiner mare is 17 hands and 1350 pounds, the 26 y/o Danish Warmblood gelding is 16-2 and 1400 pounds. Every round pen they have been in has been made of panels without any problems.

I do not like wood for several reasons. One is maintenance, two is risk of injury from nails and splinters and three is that if you turn out a horse that cribs in the round pen for just a little while they quickly learn what the fence is made of. If you decide you don't need a round pen later you can use the panels for fencing or sell them. Wood does not have as much utility.

 

[MMagis]

This is a 6 year old post.