# Riding arena..



## Ninamebo (May 25, 2013)

20 by 40 what? Feet? km? A proper riding arena costs thousands to make. If all you have is the space in a pasture and you want to go for cheap then just use t posts and hot tape. It is in no way an arena but if all you are looking for is a smaller enclosed area to work it will do the trick as long as the footing isn't dangerous for the horse.


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## PrivatePilot (Dec 7, 2009)

Presuming you're talking 20x40 feet, and non-covered?

Cheap? Pine. But the downside is it rots easily unless pressure treated, and pressure treated makes it unsafe for horses as you can't rule out that one day they won't decide to eat your rails when you're not looking. It's also not terribly strong without a lot of reinforcement or careful construction.

PVC is common but more costly. Lots of other wood options as well but the prices go up exponentially as the quality of wood does. Again, not strong, but if it's just the "enclosed" nature of a ring you're looking for so your horse stays focused it's viable - your horse need not know (or test) it's strength. 

20x40? I rode in that size of arena before and it wasn't ideal - cantering is tight and you're asking your horse to change directions in not a lot of space - some handle it better than others depending on space. Jumping might be marginally OK with 2 lines but forget rollbacks or diagonals unless you plan to trot the course IMHO.

Unfortunately "cheap" and "good" rarely go together.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

Sometimes, in my area, we can get flat bed semi loads of old railroad ties. Some will have some damage to one of the ends, but most are great for posts. Heavy! And tall, even the 10 foot ones are plenty tall. 

Besides using them as posts, I couple places I've rode on, made large round corrals completely out of ties. They had really good supplies for them.

Others use ties as posts and cable between the post corners. You can buy cable used, too. Some people drill through the ties and run the cable. I prefer to buy keepers to run the cable through. Drilling through railroad ties can be tough.

Even though the ties are heavy, I'm 5'4" and not stocky and I can work a tie into the ground and set it. 

Oh, and if you are near any oilfield work (PA, OH, TX, CO, WY, MT, ND) you can usually find used oilfield pipe for sale. Again, used cable works well with that also.

Auctions are sometimes good ways to get building materials, but I don't have the patience for auctions.


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## trigger123 (Nov 1, 2013)

Ok thanks for the help but what are the prices of these?!


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## Hang on Fi (Sep 22, 2007)

Prices will vary on your area...

Try your local saw mills and craigslist. Or your "name brand" stores such as Tractor Supply, Lowe's, Home Depot, etc.


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## trigger123 (Nov 1, 2013)

OK thanks! what would be a suitable size for cantering, circles and jumping?


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## DancingArabian (Jul 15, 2011)

The bigger the better.

I ride in a 72'x200' indoor and I think that's a great size. I would not complain if it were even bigger.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Ashleysmardigrasgirl (Jun 28, 2012)

50 x 100 would be my minimum size if I was considering to build an arena. It isn't worth spending the money, time, or space on something that you're not likely to get the full use out of it. 
There is a small indoor arena at my barn, it drives me batty. There's a hunter/jumper trainer that does lessons at our barn and IMO it's not enough even for the the one cross rail they use. It is approximately 40ft x 20 ft and doing much more than a large circle feels very tight... I couldn't imagine even two jumps working well in such a small space...


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## trigger123 (Nov 1, 2013)

ok thanks for the help but would this cost a lot? :/ How much approxamitely? Your best guess!!


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## Kristyjog (Nov 11, 2013)

We just recently last week built a new arena. 100ft x 140ft. We used treated posts concreted in with no climb horse wire and three rails. It cost roughly $1500 for everything. We wanted a dog/small child proof arena so you could not do the no climb wire.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Chevaux (Jun 27, 2012)

I bought portable 10 ft long corral panels. Including the gate panel (4 ft), it gives me a round pen of 58 ft in diameter or 184 running ft to be configured into a rectangle/oval shape if wanted. I bought the panels when the store had a sale on them. The cost was approximately $1,400.


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## trigger123 (Nov 1, 2013)

Omg that is exactly my price range thanks so much  What surface did you use?


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## verona1016 (Jul 3, 2011)

Do you think he would behave in an arena even if it had low boundaries? Probably the cheapest way to have an arena would be to flatten out and area, dig out enough to put in new footing and put up boundaries like this:










If you need it covered to be able to use it all year, something like this would work in a temperate climate:










I have no idea how much any of that costs, though


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## trigger123 (Nov 1, 2013)

He's very young and green so low boundaried are probably not a very good option but we have a flat area all we need now is to make it into an arena!!!


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## ponyboy (Jul 24, 2008)

20 X 40 *meters *is the standard size for an English arena.


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## Haileyyy (Mar 10, 2012)

I second using portable corral panels. I bought a 50' round pen (12 or 13 panels) for about $900 delivered this summer and added that to our other panels making a 110' (maybe 120', we moved it since I last measured it) by 67' pen for under $2,000. 

For footing I am not sure of what you might want to use. We were going to get sand but sand is pretty expensive in our area and I'm going to college next year and the only one who rides in my family so $2,000+ for sand would be a big expense that isn't going to get used. It isn't the best but we just put it up in the flattest part of our yard. It's easy to move and adjust, especially because I don't have to worry about moving/fixing the footing.


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## CandyCanes (Jul 1, 2013)

We are both in Ireland aren't we trigger, so I can probably give you a good indication. I just had an arena about the size of a 40 metre circle built... Its small, because that's all I have, in terms of space. I got it done properly, with crumb rubber as the base, and its bloody FANTASTIC! Its perfect for a pony like trigger, because there are no long sides for the pony to tank off on... Its just a big circle. Mine cost roughly... 6500 euros to build. It was awesomely cheap for something that good! 
I love it for doing dressage in, and you can put a small jump or two in there, but only if the pony is small. My horse is 16.2 and still growing, so he is simply too big to jump in there


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## trigger123 (Nov 1, 2013)

(Candycanes yes were both in Ireland!!)

Trigger is 15h and I was looking for an arena that's maybe rectangular so if he does decide to run off I am in a controlled area and I will stop him and then make him do it myself!! 

Something cheap but big enough to canter, do some circles and a few jumps (probably only 2 or 3). €6500 is a good bit off my limit!!! 

What is the cheapest fencing?


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## CandyCanes (Jul 1, 2013)

I was discussing it with rhos and hers cost her a considerable amount more... I won't say without her consent of course. 
But in terms of fencing, if you want really good fencing I suggest post and rail, but thats quite pricey. Your best bet then is an electric fence. You know the white tape? If you put that up and let him loose in the arena, he might try and barge rhrough it the first time, but one shock from it and he won't try it again... Unless hes stupid. Which most aren't


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## trigger123 (Nov 1, 2013)

I'm not sure electical fencing is the best choice for me!! Especially considering Trigger used to scratch up against it!! And he could just jump it to escape!! I need a fence that doesn't look like he can just run through it!!


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## CandyCanes (Jul 1, 2013)

They won't try anything if they know its electrified. He won't run through an electric fence when he gets the first shock. We have it up a lot, and we don't even need to electrify it any more. Also, horse HATE the clicking sound made by a fence. Trust me... He won't be stupid enough to jump it. Make sure to let him out in the make shift ring first, so he gets to know that he has boundaries that are no touchy.


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## trigger123 (Nov 1, 2013)

I was thinking of maybe a wooden fence because Trigger jumped electrical fences even when they were on and he knew they were on! My grandad has a big field across the road with big trees maybe there are some very big logs for fencing!! I know it sounds silly but it might just work!! And it could be very cheap!!  Would short grass be ok to ride on until we get some other surface?!


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## CandyCanes (Jul 1, 2013)

Oh right ok... I didn't realize he was a risk taker 
Yes, you can definitely ride on the grass! Wait till the ground firms up a bit though in February, as right now a heavy cob will completely poach it. I used to have to ride in the field all the time, as we didn't have an arena, and when the roads and fields were icy in the winter, I had no where. So yes it is definitely fine to ride on grass


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