Ride for the Cross

The PortaFlex Round Pen is hand crafted in the United States and designed for permanent or portable use with the safety of both horse and rider a primary consideration. PortaFlex has a 5 year limited warranty. The PortaFlex can be set up as a portable or permanent round pen. It can be set up or taken down in less than an hour. Ideal for use as a training aid for clinicians who travel or those who like to provide their own corral when camping.

Wall height of 6’5″ constructed of strong, weather resistant, UV treated textilene material with solid brass grommets and heavy web reinforcement. 24″ Solid steel heavy gauge ground stakes. Hollow braid UV treated rope.

The PortaFlex is a dynamic tension structure that sets up like a tent and operates on the principle of a trampoline. The posts set on top of the ground and move on impact adding to the safety of the round pen. Only the 24″ steel stakes are driven into the ground.

One 30′ panel weighs under 40 lbs. Each 30′ panel adds approximately 10′ diameter to the round pen. Additional panels can be purchased to enlarge the size or panels removed to reduce the diameter.

The PortaFlex has been tested on over 1000 wild, unbroken and problem horses without injury and is the safest round pen on the market.

Features

• Portable or permanent.
• Ships worldwide on UPS.
• Hundreds have been sold in the USA, Canada and Europe since 1988.

Created and Manufactured by
Horse Lovers for Horse Lovers

Contact

>Jolly Roger Holman
jollyroger@tcsn.net
805-712-0671
355 Hollyhock Lane
Templeton, California 93465

Price list (as of Jan 2010)  Plus Shipping from Arizona.

Custom Gates Available

My Personal Testimony

I met Steve Harris in 1991 when he was doing a Touch of Love horse training demonstration with his PortaFlex Safety Round Pen. I guess I kinda got in on the ground floor and had one of the first PortaFlex round pens that had a four foot wall two feet off the ground. Steve has made a lot of modifications and improvements over the years and his product just keeps getting better and better. My personal pen is 90′ in diameter and has been in place for ten years and still holds the rankest of the rank. I always try to have a second 50′ pen to use for clinics and training on site at a client’s property but that doesn’t always happen since when I set one up they usually end up buying it from me. I’ve yet to have one get out or injured in a PortaFlex. In fact, there is no way for a horse to be injured in the PortaFlex, everything gives with the pressure and there is nothing solid to cause injury. I’ve actually been bucked off into the side walls and it felt kinda neat to just bounce off the wall instead of hitting a solid pipe rail fence. I’ve watched as a mustang ran full blast into the PortaFlex gate and it held them, provided the safety latch is in place. I’ve seen a number of horses attempt to go over the top without success or injury.
I have watched as a woman was bucked off her mare in her pipe round pen and shattered her helmet to pieces. I’ve known people who have had their horses injured in their round pens or at a trainers from portable or solid pipe round pens. I’ve heard the stories of broken legs from kicking pipe panels to shattering their faces from running head on into a pipe panel. I’ve seen horses get hung up in the rails trying to jump over pipe corrals and whatched board pens shatter from a horse’s kick. The PortaFlex just stands there like the flexible barrier it is.

Being portable, I’ve been able to move my PortaFlex around from one spot to another on my property but even more important is the ability to take a PortaFlex to my horse training customers and use it right there on their property. I usually refuse to work their horses in their solid pipe or portable round pens. I once saw a friend working his mare in his portable panels when she jumped into a panel knocking it over on top of a 20 yr. old girl breaking her collar bone. This would not have happened in a PortaFlex so for safety purposes, I generally refuse to work a horse in anything but a PortaFlex. It doesn’t take long to put up and take down, especially with two people working together. I’ve sold about ten PortaFlex Round Pens and one of the last ones I sold was because I loaned it to a friend who was competing in the Western States Mustang Challange and I wanted him to have the advantage of the PortaFlex. It was the fact that we set it up in less than 40 minutes that convinced him that I wasn’t going home with that PortaFlex. As easy as it is to set up and move, it has been right there in that exact spot for over a year now. I sold it with the condition of keeping a banner with my name and number on it and have sold another one from the banner. I’ve sold about six of them to people who I set up a PortaFlex on their property to work with their horses and had them buy it instead of having me take it down and go home with it. The others I’ve sold have been to people who have brought their horses to my barn to be worked with and walked away wanting their own PortaFlex.

I’d love to do more clinics than I do but certainly have enjoyed the dozen or so times I’ve been invited to do a training clinic out of town with the PortaFlex. I can set it up just about anywhere and have often used a corral fence to tie the ropes to on one or two sides. The hardest part of setting up the PortaFlex is driving the stakes into the ground and pulling them out. But like the old saying goes, just use a bigger hammer and it’ll be easier. I’ll never forget March of 2003 when Steve Harris invited me to Sells, Arizona to help him gather and train wild horses on the Tohono Odom Indian Reservation. We set up a PortaFlex to catch horses in and load them into the trailer. Then we set up two pens inside the rodeo arena to work the horses in. We had a blast on that trip.

Everyonce in awhile someone complains about the cost of the PortaFlex. I tell them that the PortaFlex has saved me thousands of dollars in vet and medical bills or a law suit from an injured horse or client. I have a number of portable pipe panels on my property that I’ve used for permanent corrals but they haven’t held up like my PortaFlex has. One thing I know for sure is that I probably use my PortaFlex a lot more than most people who have a round pen and have had it longer than most and it still stands tall and untattered.

You can even use your PortaFlex as an extra corral or for overnight camping since it is so portable. I can haul a 50′-60′ PortaFlex in the back of my pickup and have often put it in the saddle compartment of my slant load trailer. When I bought a camper top for my pickup I had a lumber rack included on top of it where I haul my PortaFlex so the back of my pickup is available for my bedroll and camping equipment. A 30′ or 40′ pen is plenty big enough to take on camping trips and I usually only set up a 40′ for clinics.

If anyone has questions concerning the use of a PortaFlex I certainly welcome the inquires. I can testify to their safety, portability, ease of use, and the pride of ownership.
Call me at 805-712-0671 or email me at jollyroger@tcsn.net

Jolly Roger Holman, jollyroger@tcsn.net (805) 712-0671