Choosing The Right Round Pen

One of the most effective and safe training tools I have found over the years is a properly set up round pen. Why? A round pen allows you to establish leadership and control your horse's movement in a kind, effective manner.

With a round pen, you have the ideal classroom for both you and your horse. The round pen gives you a safe, controlled environment where you can establish leadership by controlling your horse's movement. And by that, I don't mean running your horse around and around for hours until they are exhausted.

Instead, I recommend my "pressure and release" method. I pressure the horse gently to move where and how I want it to, and then release the pressure to let the horse make its own decision to submit to my leadership.

Choosing the right round pen is very important. Here are my recommendations of what is the most effective type of round pen, based on years of experience working with thousands of different horses:

• Having a 50 foot diameter is the ideal size.
• Smaller—the horse can't escape the pressure.
• Bigger—both you and the horse will have to work too hard.
• Footing—I recommend a soft sand base.
• No gravel, grass or hard surfaces.
• Make sure the round pen is ROUND—with no corners for the horse to "escape" to.
• At least six feet tall—with no protrusions, sharp edges, etc.
  

Once you have your round pen set up, you'll have a classroom you can use for almost any training issue. I start every horse in the round pen to establish leadership and control. If you'd like to know more about proper round penning techniques, order my 5-disc Training DVD set. The first DVD takes you step-by-step on how to work with your horse in the round pen and establish the most important thing of all—leadership.

Stay safe and have fun!