Lari Dee Guy has had decades to plan and perfect her roping arena design, and now she has two arenas that work seamlessly together with a series of pens, gates and alleys.
See how the nine-time WPRA World Champion has designed her facility for ease of use and simplicity with this video from Roping.com.
No. 3 Maximize pen usage
If you’re fortunate enough to have multiple arenas, lay them out so the calf pens can be used for both arenas.
“I have two calf traps, and both traps come in to the pen so I can push them to my outside pen and rope,” Guy says. “If I decide I want to rope inside, all I do is push them through to a pen that connects to the indoor catch pen.”
Even if you just have one arena, designing pens so they can be used for multiple purposes like feeding, doctoring and loading can prove the most efficient and cost effective.
No. 2 Keep alley widths in mind
“My covered pen is 125 foot wide and 300 foot long. This return alley is seven foot wide, which is wide enough that I can still rope in it and train horses in a straight line, but not too wide that my steers and calves turn back.”
You can watch the full video for free on Roping.com by starting a three-day trial subscription here.
No. 1 Gates make or break a design
While there are many gates in Guy’s facility, there are two that make life particularly easier.
Alley gate:
“This is my gate I use when I track calves around. I can tie it back and push calves down the alley, out and around. And I have some accordion gates that can shut the [chutes and boxes] off. It keeps a constant flow when tracking—there’s never a corner a calf can get in and stop.”
Steel cut gate:
“I set my whole arena up where I never have to get off my horse. I can work everything on my horse and by myself. I have this cut gate where, if I open it, the animals coming into my steer roping chutes on the [right] side of my arena. If I leave it open, the calves come right on by and make the corner to come to the calf side [on the left].”
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