# Indoor arena rental...by the hour?



## laurapratt01 (Oct 3, 2012)

I'm dying to find a barn nearby that I can trailer my horse to, maybe once a week, in order to ride in the barn's indoor this winter. Once the ground freezes here (or we get snow) it's very difficult to work a horse at anything more than a walk, at least not on a regular basis. Do farms near you offer arena rental? I know that in the state that I used to live in, there were several barns that offered this. I've e-mailed a couple of close barns around where I'm living now and have gotten no response. Does that mean they don't offer that service? Should I call them or would that seem like I was harassing them? What is the going rate where you are? 
Any information would be appreciated! Thanks!


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## frlsgirl (Aug 6, 2013)

We have a monthly arena usage fee of $50 for boarders. It doesn't hurt to ask around. If they don't currently offer it, you might be the one to start a new trend


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## beau159 (Oct 4, 2010)

In my area, some barns let outsiders come in and use the arena, and some do not. 

Typically, you get one hour of use, at most of the barns. And it ranges from $10 to $30 a pop.


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

I have had to do the same, haul into arenas, and I have found that the busier barns require you to pre-schedule your hour and you pay by the hour and if you used the arena after dark and the lights were needed the price was higher. Some places was just a day use fee or a per a horse day fee. I have found most fairgrounds do it that way. Some barn owners I got to know and I just paid a flat monthly fee. 

I got to know the fair manager when we lived in Texas and I paid $50 a month and had full run of the place, two indoor arenas and one outdoor, a trail course, wash racks and stalls. 
I would call and talk the barn manager, I have had better luck with phone calls or speaking in person rather than emails. Good luck


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## thetempest89 (Aug 18, 2013)

I'm not apart of the club in my barn area, so if I'm leasing I can go to the arena that I take lessons at, and I just pay a $5.00 drop in fee.


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## verona1016 (Jul 3, 2011)

In my area it seems most common for barns to have a haul-in fee of $10-15 that allows you to use the arenas, but other facilities (wash rack, washer/dryer, etc) are still extra. Most people who haul in already have a relationship with the barn in some way or other (e.g. they take lessons there or did in the past) but I suppose some would also allow people who don't have an established relationship, too. I've never heard of a time limit being put on it. When I haul to jumping lessons with my friend we're there pretty much all day and still only pay $10.


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

Where I was from if outsiders came in they paid a per use fee per horse, limit of 3. Were not allowed during certain lessons for safety reasons and had to follow the direction of the "lesson" and use ring courtesy.
They were guests, period.
They did not have use of any facilities except the riding arena/ring.
No cross-ties, no wash stall... nothing.
The horse also had to have a current coggins and UTD vaccinations to be allowed on the premise.

If you were a boarder and brought in a outside instructor, that had to be prearranged with management and the ring was yours exclusively for 1 hour.
You also paid a "ring fee" and your instructor had to have appropriate coverage of liability and think health for the just in-case...
In the case of outside instructors... if they set up a course of fences, they had better put them back down and return them to where they were if they moved them...
If it was a dressage lesson and they wanted the ring empty, they needed to schedule a time and the ring would actually be stripped of jumps and poles for them and they would drag it too... it was dragged every week at least once.
It was done for reiners too who needed open floor space to practice slide stops and some of those spins off to another maneuver.

Any discipline of rider was welcome as long as they had the proper paperwork, followed the ring protocol and were polite, not rude to others.


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## laurapratt01 (Oct 3, 2012)

Thanks for your responses! I called the barn that I'm most interested in trailering to (it's only 5 miles away) and left a message. So far I have not heard back. I'll let you all know when I get a response! Thanks again guys! It's nice to know that it is a fairly common thing, so that hopefully the BOs won't be offended with my asking.


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## DuckDodgers (May 28, 2013)

laurapratt01 said:


> Thanks for your responses! I called the barn that I'm most interested in trailering to (it's only 5 miles away) and left a message. So far I have not heard back. I'll let you all know when I get a response! Thanks again guys! It's nice to know that it is a fairly common thing, so that hopefully the BOs won't be offended with my asking.


I don't see why they'd be offended- the worst that can happen is they say no! I'm not even in a really cold environment and folks still do this. I'm sure that my barn manager would allow it, and I know that both of my old barns had folks come in to ride in the arena. I don't know how much they charged for a random person not associated with the barn or a boarder, but at the huge barn down the road they charge $30/hour for arena usage. I THINK that is for private usage of the arena though... so you can split the cost between multiple riders.


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## laurapratt01 (Oct 3, 2012)

I've called 4 different barns and thus far none of them offer arena rental to outsiders... There are a couple more barns within my 10 mile limit and I'll call them today and see what they say. Not looking too hopeful though!


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## laurapratt01 (Oct 3, 2012)

Alright, so I contacted 7 barns in all. All of the barns were within reasonable driving distance... 5 said "no" and then 2 never got back to me. A friend told me that a her trainer would let us use her indoor for free! Great!... I was a little suspicious about it being free but I thought that maybe because it's small (only enough room to ride on a 20 m. circle) that it wouldn't cost too much if it didn't end up being free. Yesterday, my friend told me she talked with her trainer about it again and it turns out she wants $75 dollars minimum to rent it for a maximum of two hours. WHAT?!? Isn't that really expensive?! Especially for SUCH and small arena! I guess I'm just going to make do with riding in the cold, on the flatish part of the cow pasture....


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## DuckDodgers (May 28, 2013)

Nope, I wouldn't pay that much. For that price you could trailer in somewhere for a private lesson. And at that dollar amount, you'd be well on your way to paying full board if you went there once a week! I hate it when people go back on what they say price-wise... we were renting a trailer from a lady at my old barn and she named a reasonable price when we asked her. About two days before the horse was supposed to be moved she suddenly jacked the price up astronomically. 

Personally, I probably wouldn't even bother with an arena that small unless it was pretty darn close to free!


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## ~*~anebel~*~ (Aug 21, 2008)

None of the barns in my area offer hourly arena rentals. Most allow haul ins.
Maybe try changing your wording.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## laurapratt01 (Oct 3, 2012)

Anebel, I always thought that when people said "haul-ins" they meant people who wanted to trailer in for lessons not just people who want to trailer in just to ride...


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## ~*~anebel~*~ (Aug 21, 2008)

Nope. A haul in is someone who wants to trailer in to ride. A haul in and lesson is someone who wants to haul in for a lesson.
To rent the arena, the owners have to shut it down to boarders for that time and most are not willing to do that without major compensation. Day rates are around $400-500 and can be up to $1000.

A normal haul in rate is about $25 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

I contacted number of barns around me while back to see if I can ride in the arena for an hour or two. The only barn that turned me down was in fact rescue. All others were OK, and the price was $15-25/hour (depending on place). 

BTW, I did ask if I can "rent" in my emails (although in 1 or 2 the owner stated that I may not be the only one to ride, the borders can be there too).


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