# Ideas for private arena build



## neil foreman (Jun 26, 2013)

Hi , I have my horse (national show horse ) on my property . He isn't really a trail horse more of an arena horse. There is a riding stables near me which i had hoped to use but the owner doesn't like men, so i am contemplating building a small arena on my property , to be honest i had him at a facility with a big arena and he tends to run away , the smaller arena seems to work better but I would like to be able to canter him. so here is my plan 40 ft long and 32 feet wide, 4"x4" posts at 8ft intervals with 2"x4" rails and 4ft high (2 rails) and using a footing of redwood bark (10 square yards) (pretty cheap in Humboldt ). The property is already fenced so if he does make a break for it there is a secondary barrier. Is it too small? will it work?


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## mrwithers (Jun 25, 2014)

Don't limit your arena size because of your horse. You can train that problem away. 40' is only the size of a medium round pen. Maybe just build a round pen instead? If you can, build a bigger arena. Even 60' at the shortest width is pretty small when you're cantering. I've never seen a bark arena footing before but we have a lot of bark/hog fuel trails and I'd never want to ride in an arena covered in that.


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

That size would put a lot of stress on his legs and he could hurt himself easily. It's not good to just ride in circles. Maybe it's not that your neighbor doesn't like men but more that you are not able to control your horse.
I would get some training. Every horse will benefit from trail riding physicallly and mentally.
I would not build an arena any small re than 60' on short side but preferably larger


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## neil foreman (Jun 26, 2013)

Thanks for your input guys, i will have to go bigger and do a 60' pen with sand floor when i get enough money together (if that ever happens LOL), a good balance of arena and trails seems to be a good recipe for my horse. As for my horse control , yes he is hot blooded but I have ridden with lots of people since i have owned him and have done a competitive endurance race with other riders and received compliments on how good we were,it's just a grumpy old neighbor who owns the nearest stables and hasn't ridden a horse in 20 years that has been a pain.


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## twolucid (Jan 14, 2014)

That's a strange excuse to not like men..
I would suggest a round pen as well, however round pens are usually made with metal and in my area a 60' round pen can be purchased new for $1,500-2,000. If you are only going to be riding in the arena and not turning your horse out or running him then I would spend a little less money on cheap pine and build maybe a 2 board 60' x 60' or 60' x 80' if you are trying to stay small. In my area that would run me around $750-1,000. Maybe less. I would only recommend this if you have complete control of your horse when under saddle and do not plan on letting him off the lead line in the arena or using it for a turn-out area.

SO YES, IMO your plan would work if you go a bit bigger, and your horse doesn't actually RUN away from you and smash through the fences.


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

I've got mine planned in my head, but my barn needs a new roof this year, and other stuff.
I want my arena long enough to fill most of the 250' wall of my ~3 acre north pasture. I'd like the dimensions to be as close to 60m long as possible, and as close to 2 m x 60m. I want to build an asphalt driveway over the shallow ditch so that I can drive truck and trailer into the arena after a trip, unload from there, and store the 4 horse slant in the building, in the middle south and beyond the arena.
Not sure that I want stalls in the building or not. My barn has three stalls and it's wood, so it's nice and warm when the temperatures drop to -20, as they do, sometimes. Perhaps, stalls, and I can use them for storage, and for cooling off a horse after a winter workout.
I want to add plywood at a ~10 degree angle from wall to floor to keep my horses from riding my feet into the wall, just like you see in some very well made arenas, except _they_ look like varnished hardwood floors, which mine don't have to.
Mine would open to the north and to the south. I would have a fence with a break for a vertical or crossbars, so that my horses would have to practice jumping on their way in or out. I would have storage for extra bedding and fodder, but no wash stall or automatic waterers. I don't trust them.
I want my entrance/exits to be made from round pen fencing bc it's easily removable. If I need to store any extra equipment I'll just put gates in the corners and store there. That's the safest place to keep them out of the schooling space.
It's good to have a plan. =D


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

i would not used wood chips. Just use the natural dirt , and till it or disc it . My arena is 120 x 60 and is large enough for my draft mix and TB , and if they are just turned loose, they usually just run or trot about half of it. The TB will canter figure 8 's and charges the length of it and he is 34 yrs old. You could probably go 80 x 40 and be fine. put your post 10' or even 12 ' apart and use the two rail. You could even try just using a top rail , at 4'tall my horse would try to go over that.


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## Rizzo (Aug 5, 2012)

I'm late to this thread but I'm also getting ready to put in a arena and was thinking a 60x90. I don't show, it would be for light exercise, teaching the hubby, and son to ride, and ground work. I want to go bigger "not in the budget" but we can add on later as needed. Will this work?


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## DuckDodgers (May 28, 2013)

In these sort of "what size arena" threads I always say that the smallest arena I'd consider worth building would be the size of a small dressage arena- 20 x 40 m, or about 65 x 130 ft. In particular I wouldn't want the short side to be any smaller. This size gives you enough room to ride a 20 m circle comfortably without putting too much stress on the horse, plus give you some decent straightaways to ride. You can easily put up several jumps if you would like. I personally wouldn't consider anything smaller to be worth the money put into building it, but others have disagreed with me in the past.


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