When I was first learning to train horses, my sister Kandra was my biggest influence. She had gone to a Ray Hunt Horse Training clinic, and had begun starting colts by using gentle methods and phsycological techniques. I was always perched on the corral fence watching, and some of those skills I was able to soak up just by being in close proximity to it and seeing it done over and over again.
I remember my sister talking my dad into buying some portable fence panels at a farm sale to form a round pen. They were heavy and rusty, but she brought them home and painted them by hand–a bright John Deere green color, since that was the paint we already had on hand, I guess. Those panels became her most prized possession, and she got a lot of good use out of them, as did all of us younger ones when we began training horses. They are most likely still being used at my folks’ ranch today, much like the many colts that we trained in that round pen over the years.
I see a lot of round pens set up around the countryside today, and it makes me wonder if the people who have round pens really know what to do with them, or if they just have one because they have a horse? There are many uses for a round pen–whether you’re working on halterbreaking, lunging, separation issues, or just need a clean space to put a horse that’s recovering from an illness. But I’d like to share my favorite uses for a round pen.
If you’re getting a new horse or bringing home one to train and it is unfamiliar to the surroundings, a round pen is usually more secure and comfortable to start them out in. They can see everything and get accustomed to their new home without risking injury from fencing or other horses chasing them. We usually set up the pen inside the pasture or lot where they will be staying with other horses, so the new horse can smell and sniff noses with all the horses before it is actually put in with them.
A round pen works wonders for gentling a colt, or if you’ve got a horse to train that is especially spooky. The round shape of the pen encourages the horse to focus inward to the trainer, rather than looking over the fence for other horses that might distract him, or finding a corner to “hide” in and keep away from you when you’re trying to work with him. I like to use the join up horse training technique when I’m working with a spooky type of horse, and the round pen is essential for that.
Giving a colt a solid foundation in groundwork can be done in any pen or arena, but a round pen can contribute greatly to familiarizing a colt to basic handling skills. I like to start out by getting the horse to give you his attention. Often you put a horse in a round pen and he instantly starts looking for other horses or trying to find something to eat—those are just his basic instincts taking control. But when you get out a lunge whip or a cotton lead rope and give it a swish and ask him to move out and circle the pen at a trot or lope, his whole demeanor will change, and he will begin to focus on you as herd leader. When again he starts to let his attention lag, all it might take is a turn of your head or a step towards him to get him to look right back to you for direction, and then you reward that with praise and relaxation and petting. You’re teaching him to watch you, gauge your movements, and respond with movements of his own. And that’s one of the greatest things you can accomplish with a round pen—establishing leadership and control of the horse’s focus.
The practice of round penning isn’t really something a person can explain very well in written words. Timing and actions and reactions are all interwoven with what the horse does, what the trainer does, and what you want to accomplish. If you really want to learn the techiniques of the round pen, find a trainer in your area who has learned from Ray Hunt, Bill Dorrance, or Tom Dorrance. Those men were true knights of the round pen, and they knew how to read a horse and understand one, and communicate with one. Go sit on the fence rail and watch for a couple of hours. You’ll be amazed with what you can do with a horse in a round pen.
