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Betty J Zimmell
New Member
Username: Juheefa
Post Number: 1
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Monday, Mar 14, 2005 - 5:22 pm: |   |
Hi, I am planning to build an indoor arena. I have to watch my budget but don't want to spend money and find I have not built an adequate arena. I do not do jumping. I want to have it big enough for cantering and excercising. I will also need to be looking into types of footing. Any help would be much appreciated.  |
Christos Axis
Member
Username: Christos
Post Number: 653
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, Mar 15, 2005 - 11:22 am: | |
Welcome to HA, Betty.
Standard indoor Dressage arena is 20 X 60 meters with 3 meters distance from the rail to the wall (overall 26 x 66). If you can build that big, it is all you need to fully school a horse.
20 X 40 is also good, as you can still work extended gaits, only restricting the number of steps accordingly.
You can also cut the width to 13-15 meters if you do not plan to work young or green horses.
Smaller than 13 X 40 is, I believe, rather inadequate for correct schooling.
Sand is standard footing and widely used, but looking around in your area may save you a lot of money and a lot of dust. I've seen rubber crumbs and leather shreds used in indoor arenas and they worked well.
Christos |
Linda Lashley
Member
Username: Lhenning
Post Number: 60
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, Mar 15, 2005 - 4:59 pm: | |
Hi Betty and welcome,
You don't say what type of riding you do, but I have ridden in a 120' x 60' (40 x 20 meters, I think), and I like that size for general winter riding. I have used the 100 x 60 arenas, which are very popular in northern Wisconsin, but I don't care for them.
One arena I used had the sand way too loose and deep, which was very poor and difficult to correct after the fact. Another thing to consider is dust. I believe there is good advice in the article with this topic as to flooring.
Happy trails,
Linda |
Sue G
Member
Username: Warwick
Post Number: 122
Registered: 4-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, Mar 15, 2005 - 6:30 pm: | |
Hi Betty
Most indoors around here are 20x60 metres with just a few at 20x40 metres. I'm not sure what discipline you are riding or whether you plan to allow several horses to be worked at one time. Several horses in a small arena can be challenging at times.
I do dressage and one of my horses is over 18 hands so it is very difficult to work him in anything smaller than 20x60 metres. Not sure what size your largest horse is but this is something to take into account if you own a big boy like I do. I also prefer to work my young horses in a larger arena until they are a little more balanced and advanced in their work.
Footing seems to vary depending where you are located. Around here we either use sand or a mixture of sand and hogfuel (wood fibre). I prefer sand but it does require daily watering and dragging.
Lucky you having your own indoor! |
Betty J Zimmell
Member
Username: Juheefa
Post Number: 2
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, Mar 15, 2005 - 9:48 pm: | |
Hi and thanks for all the responses. I originlly was thinking 60' x 100' but looks like this may be too short. Seems like 60' may be wide enough but need at least 120' or longer. I have a 2 year old warmblood cross that should mature around 16 hands or better that I will be starting under saddle next year. Also there will be more than one horse working at times (my niece shows her 2 Quarter Horses- western and trail, and will also use the arena). We also have 2 miniatures that I may try training for the cart?? I've mostly just been into trail riding but am considering dressage lessons. Low jumps?- maybe, but nothing high.
A nice dresage arena would be at minimum 20 x 60 meters- Is that 60' x 180'? - WOW that is big! I know I couldn't do the 26 x 66 meter size for my budget- darnit!
Thanks for all the replys for the arena and footing, this will give me something to go on when getting estimates and I'll look up the topic on flooring too.
Betty |
Mickey
Member
Username: Mickey01
Post Number: 33
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, Mar 16, 2005 - 11:44 am: | |
You might look into a Cover-All structure (www.coverall.net). They are supposed to be less expensive to put up. I've been asking about them on another site, and so far no negatives. They seem to work good in cold weather also. |
Sue G
Member
Username: Warwick
Post Number: 123
Registered: 4-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, Mar 16, 2005 - 12:16 pm: | |
Yup, Cover-alls are nice and I've heard good reports too. However about a year ago I checked into pricing to put one up on my property and found it to be far from cheap. In fact I found that I could put up a covered arena with open sides for the same price. But I do live in the Pacific Northwest where lumber is plentiful so I guess the cost of wood arenas might be far higher in other locations.
Still haven't erected anything though and yet another winter has passed. Luckily I can use my neighbor's in the meantime. |
Janet Schmidt
Member
Username: Sparky
Post Number: 124
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, Mar 16, 2005 - 4:02 pm: | |
What is the proper height for a covered or indoor arena. They all seem to be really high and I don't understand why. Is there much difference is the cost according to the height? You may be able to save some money in this area. Also you don't have to have lights on as much in a covered arena opposed to indoor. I love riding in a covered arena over an indoor. I know there are more distractions in a covered but hey it's all about training! Winter riding is winter riding and if you don't suffer from too much wind in your area you may only need a covered.
Good luck
Janet Schmidt |
Betty J Zimmell
Member
Username: Juheefa
Post Number: 3
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, Mar 16, 2005 - 9:09 pm: | |
I did look at the Cover-All site but the arena would be put near a wooded area and small limbs do fall with bad storms so I wonder how sturdy the fabric is. I would have to think a traditional arena would last longer and be an advantage on property value in the long run but I don't know. It sounds as thought the Cover-All would be warmer in the winter. I'm pretty certain I would do an indoor rather than a covered arena as it does get windy here at times and I'm a warm weather person!! It will probably be a year or so before I can actually start building to save enough for a large down payment and this will give me time to research- I am just starting to look into this. HA is a great place to start, getting ideas from others who have some experience! I haven't even thought about height yet- I suppose 14-16' at the sides should be ok. |
Nancy Reynolds Kiester
Member
Username: Albionsh
Post Number: 71
Registered: 9-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, Mar 16, 2005 - 11:10 pm: | |
My husband and I were two years in planning and gathering information for our planned barn and arena. We agree with Betty on the "selling" value of a traditional arena; though we have no plans to sell, it is such a large investment that this factor needed to be considered. That left wood or metal. I felt that the tall metal frame wasn't the right atmosphere, plus they were very expensive and would still need some wood framing to finish off walls. We chose to make a pole barn with 17 feet below the trusses, which gives plenty of head space and a nice proportion. At 20 X 60 meter (74 X 156 ft under roof plus a 44 ft extension), it has lots of natural light from the open sides. Kraig installed 15 high bay lights, which might be too few for a professional arena, but fine for us. We used decomposed granite over the solid rock base, topped with 3 to 4 inches of small playground gravel called birdseye sand. We also chose to make the arena separate from the barn to keep dust down in the stall area. |
D.
Member
Username: Dyduroc
Post Number: 82
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, Mar 17, 2005 - 10:44 am: | |
Betty, lots of luck with your new indoor! I just wanted to add a few things for your consideration.
I'm located in New England and the temps range anywhere from -20F in the winter to 95F in the summer during a typical year. Proper 'siting' is very important to ensure that an indoor is 'warm' in the winter and 'cool' in the summer. I've heard a few horror stories about people building indoors only to find them freezing cold in the winter and oppressively hot in the summer because they chose sites without considering sunlight direction/time of year, prevailing winds/breezes, etc.
Also, we get snow and ice in the winter and heavy rains and sometimes hail in the summer. While metal roofs (most popular material used on indoors around here right now) are low-maintenance, I've been in a metal-roofed indoor on 2 occasions (one a snow slide and the other a hail storm) that taught me to always be prepared for the unexpected--even a sensible, bomb-proof lesson horse can spook!
Wishing you lots of luck finalizing your plans.
D. |
Janet Schmidt
Member
Username: Sparky
Post Number: 125
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, Mar 17, 2005 - 11:23 am: | |
Betty - I have ridden in a metal indoor in a very windy area and it sounds like you are riding with a freight train on top of you! The other one I was in the other day is wood all around but with a metal roof and it was all the pigeons!! running around on the roof that were making quite a racket! I guess there is no perfect solution and you really have to consider your elements and seasons where you live.
Good luck
Janet |
Betty J Zimmell
Member
Username: Juheefa
Post Number: 4
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, Mar 17, 2005 - 9:23 pm: | |
Thanks everyone- a lot of good things to consider. The wooded area is to the west so it will get the morning and afternoon sun which is good (I had not considered that!) and will need enough doors for ventilation. Also I am kicking around the idea of just the covered arena for now (may be able to save enough to even do that this fall) then save up to fully enclose it a year or two later??
Nancy, is yours and indoor or covered arena?- you said you had lots of natural light from the open sides. Also you said it was kept separate to keep the dust down in the barn area. Is this a totally separate building or just separated by a door? I thought it would be nice attached especially in bad weather but I can see the dust being a factor also. Another thing to think about in addition to metal and roofing. I'm thinking wood will be cheaper anyway but I have to look into that yet.
Thanks again for all the input. Betty |
Nancy Reynolds Kiester
Member
Username: Albionsh
Post Number: 72
Registered: 9-2001
| | Posted on Friday, Mar 18, 2005 - 12:26 am: | |
Hi again Betty. The arena is a totally separate building. It has a metal roof with a four foot board on board wood wall along the top all around and a four and a half foot arena wall. Where it extends beyond the roof, the fencing is the same as the stall barn paddocks--steel pipe frame with no-climb horse wire mesh in between. We added that 44 ft. section so the arena could be full dressage size. Couldn't afford to put all under roof at this time... We don't worry much about the weather. Here in the Pacific Northwest we get plenty of rain and a good amount of snow, but we are out in it taking care of the animals anyway, so walking 20 feet to the arena isn't that big of a deal. It will just be nice to have a dry place to ride!
Another neat thing we added was a special kind of heavy fabric matting in the box stalls and paddocks. It lets the liquids go through and keeps the mud away even out in the weather. We put down a light layer of wood shavings over all, with a deeper new bed where they sleep each night. Really saves on shavings and it stays very clean. Love the stuff! I also have a special mix of beneficial bacteria and digestive enzymes that dissolves in water to be sprayed once a week. So far no odors, so it seems to be working. Some other neat plans which we haven't put into action due to lack of funds are a streaming video so boarders can see their horses 24 hours a day and a vacuum system for solid waste.... |
Holly Wood
Member
Username: Hwood
Post Number: 580
Registered: 3-2001
| | Posted on Friday, Mar 18, 2005 - 12:44 am: | |
Nancy . . . I'd like to know more about the fabric matting . . . What did you have to do for preparation of the floors? What was the cost? Where did you hear of it, and where did you get it? Sounds like a good idea if the ground gets muddy as it does here.
Thank you.
Holly |
Nancy Reynolds Kiester
Member
Username: Albionsh
Post Number: 74
Registered: 9-2001
| | Posted on Friday, Mar 18, 2005 - 6:21 am: | |
Holly, the gentleman who installed my matting is Steve Wescott and here is his website:
http://rrequinesolutions.com/ I think he has the prices on line. It cost a little less than a full covering using sections of heavy rubber mats (plus it doesn't smell and it doesn't move). I was able to get free installation due to the large size of the order during a slow time for him.
I saw his flyer at a local feedstore. I did visit other people's barns that had the mats, and they looked very good even after a couple of years. To prepare the ground, I laid down a level layer of decomposed granite over the rocky or muddy subsoil. This is a crumbly small gravel/sand that compacts into a solid layer when moistened and rolled. What is neat is that he custom fits each paddock or corral, and he melts the edges together of adjoining areas for a very secure installation. Another neat thing is how easy it is to clean. After the snow finally melted following a three day storm the outer paddocks of my mare motel were pretty stacked. It was real easy to get the fork under the piles to clean. I sound like an advertizement for the stuff!! I know it is going to make my new boarding barn very easy to maintain. |
Holly Wood
Member
Username: Hwood
Post Number: 581
Registered: 3-2001
| | Posted on Friday, Mar 18, 2005 - 11:31 am: | |
Nancy, thank you so much for the information. I am here in CA now, and the mud is treacherous and atrocious during rainy season . . . and it makes horrible, hard, pocky paddocks when it dries . . . the matting sounds incredible.
I am happy and excited for you that your facility and business is taking off. Good for you. Thanks, again. |
