# Creating a temporary outdoor arena?



## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Our coach suggested we set up an outdoor arena on our property so my daughter and I can ride outside now that the weather is better and the daylight lasts longer. Currently, our horse is boarded at the neighbors who only has an indoor and it's very dusty. I can easily ride the horse over to our property.

I had already selected the area where the outdoor arena will go eventually (we plan on building a barn as soon as the ground thaws) and it's a flat area with a very slight incline for drainage. However, it's too early to start digging post holes so the coach suggested we just use a few stakes and mark off the area. It's not a muddy area - just grass at the moment. We are just doing walk/trot so no jumping or high-impact exercises. I have a 120 x 75 ft area I can start using immediately. 

How would you mark it off? I was thinking of using T-posts and rope with some flagging ribbon for a visual cue, or maybe just some white flagging tape... it does not need to be electrified as we will not be turning the horse out in it, however, it COULD be (we have an electric fence system already, we just haven't set it up yet). Safety is concern # 1 of course. Our horse respects electric fences so would probably interpret any rope as electric as long as he wasn't left to his own devices to test it. Again, we are not creating a paddock here, just an area in which to ride with the coach supervising.


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

I know people who've used the step in posts with wooden bracing posts at each corner and wide tape to create an enclosed riding area - seemed to work OK


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

If you feel safe why use anything?


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

churumbeque said:


> If you feel safe why use anything?


Good question. It's mostly so there is a visual barrier. It helps my daughter work on things like diagonals if she has a clear reference point.


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## Jan1975 (Sep 7, 2015)

When I was a kid my "arena" was an area of the pasture that was mowed very, very short. In time, I wore a dirt path around the outside so it did feel like an arena. There's a barn I drive past sometimes that has railroad ties on the ground to mark an arena. I think theirs is for dressage though as there are letters.


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## TessaMay (Jul 26, 2013)

I'd use the step-in posts rather than t-posts. I've used a t-post arena before, but even with caps I always pictured how badly it would hurt myself or the horse if we had an accident in the wrong place. Step-in posts (the plastic ones) I wouldn't be as worried about. 

Of course, if you are just using it as a marker, why not try poles on the ground around the perimeter? Or, if you want it to look a little more like a dressage arena, you could lift the poles a little with cinder blocks/bricks.


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## Woodhaven (Jan 21, 2014)

When I set up a riding area outside I didn't bother with anything to mark the area but I know it can be helpful for keeping perspective.
When I was showing in dressage I wanted to be as accurate a possible so I just took some poles and put them in an L shape at each corner and that worked fine for me. You could also lay a pole half way along the long side to help keep to the area that you want to ride in.


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

Have you considered a "dressage look" to it.....
Short posts and white low boards....

Check out the home page of this place...
_Turf dressage arena Â» Halefield Stud
_With the exception of the show jumping arena all the "fences" are low.

You can also "paint" the ground as a visual "barrier" with actual paint, powder lime, flour....

It is _the effect _of a visual barrier if you are not using it for anything else than riding you need...
Just a thought...
:runninghorse2:...


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## backyardhorse (Feb 22, 2013)

Although I love the idea of the railroad ties on the ground, those suckers are heavy, and getting hard to find. How about using landscape timbers instead? Easy to move, treated so that the contact with the ground won't immediately rot them, inexpensive enough, and if you decide you don't like them as an arena marker, you can use them around the gardens!


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

I love the look of the dressage arena, but since this WILL eventually be a real outdoor riding ring that will double as a winter/sacrifice paddock, I got some step-in posts. I think I will just use flagging tape to create the illusion of a fence. Will have to brace the corners of course, but this is just temporary.

Eventually, this area will be a solid fence (I'd like to have at least a top board for this area - partly for looks and partly as a more solid fence which, even though it will be hot, will contain the horses even in the event of a power failure. I hope to start on this area very soon since we've had a mild spring and the ground is not very hard. I figure I can use the step-ins for other areas of the pasture that I want to sub-divide for rotational grazing down the road.


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## Jan1975 (Sep 7, 2015)

If you build this now, Harley can spend the night at your house if it's supposed to be mild all night!


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Jan1975 said:


> If you build this now, Harley can spend the night at your house if it's supposed to be mild all night!


Don't think I hadn't thought of that  

I probably wouldn't keep him here for the night, but it would be nice to bring him over on a Saturday afternoon and just hang out. I have a few bales of hay just in case  

They're forecasting snow tomorrow though, so I may have to wait a few weeks before we can get a posthole digger out here to get something permanent in the ground.


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## Woodhaven (Jan 21, 2014)

I was thinking about my reply during the night, I do some of my best thinking then.
A good suggestion on this forum from someone else was when introducing something new, do it after a work out when the horse is not as fresh.
I didn't think a fence was important but on re-thinking, Harley may be a little anxious in this new place away from "home' and his buddies and may not be as quiet, and he is a forward horse anyway so something to keep in mind. 
I know he can be hard to stop when your daughter canters him so it might be best if you ride him first at your place so he gets comfortable in this new surrounding (I'm sure you will do this anyway), also I would bring a lunge rope over as well just in case you might need it. Once he has done this a few times, it will get to be routine, coming over to your place.
I'm not trying to worry you just thinking ahead of some situations that could happen.
If you do have a more permanent fence then it would be great to bring him home for part of the day.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Woodhaven said:


> I was thinking about my reply during the night, I do some of my best thinking then.
> A good suggestion on this forum from someone else was when introducing something new, do it after a work out when the horse is not as fresh.
> I didn't think a fence was important but on re-thinking, Harley may be a little anxious in this new place away from "home' and his buddies and may not be as quiet, and he is a forward horse anyway so something to keep in mind.
> I know he can be hard to stop when your daughter canters him so it might be best if you ride him first at your place so he gets comfortable in this new surrounding (I'm sure you will do this anyway), also I would bring a lunge rope over as well just in case you might need it. Once he has done this a few times, it will get to be routine, coming over to your place.
> ...


I'd already thought of all that Woodhaven, but thanks for thinking of us! 

I will start bringing him over and riding him along the temporary fence line so he gets the idea. He will NOT be cantered here until we have a real fence up. I was thinking about lunging him in the space too. And just letting him graze, hang out, eat some hay inside this space (with me holding a lead rope of course). 

He is actually a pretty good boy about being in strange places. We just sent him off to a three-day camp with my daughter on the coach's property with 15 other strange horses. He had his own separate paddock (mostly step-ins with one line of wire!!! when I saw it I told the BO to watch him closely because I was sure he'd escape, but nope) and was ridden in an outdoor arena that's not fully fenced in. So while he may be a little more alert than usual at first, I'm confident that with a few rides, he will settle right down into this new space. It will eventually be his full-time home so this will be a great way to get him used to it gradually.


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## MiniMom24 (Mar 13, 2013)

I use a Patriot in the summer to rotate the horses around. Mine is the Battery/Solar Panel Plugin style. Patriot P5 Dual Powered Charger | Electric Fence Energizer Then you just need the rope wire and fence posts. 

All of their models: Patriot Electric Fence Chargers | Electric Fencing Products


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

So I got a temporary fence up to use as an outdoor arena. We finished it yesterday and were planning on trying Harley in it today. Unfortunately, it's a rather cold, blustery day and I'm not sure I want Harley's first experience in there to be a frightening one. I know the cold won't bother him, but it's really windy - like all the trees are moving windy - and there are trees all along one side of the riding area. I think I'll wait a bit to see if the wind dies down later today. He can be a little anxious when I take him outside the indoor arena and I was really hoping to have a nice day for his first ride outside. I also have to ride him from the neighbor's property to ours, which I have done before without too many issues, but I'm afraid he might spook at the wind. Maybe I'm just not confident enough, but I figure it's best to wait for good conditions so he doesn't have a bad association with his first ride there.

We ended up making a 75 x 120' area with step-ins and T-posts for corners. The store that sells the fencing supplies didn't have caps for the T-posts (I think most of the customers are dairy farmers, but it's the only store in town that sells that kind of stuff) so I got tennis balls, cut a X in them, and stuck them on top of the T-posts! Not the prettiest, but it would offer some protection if Harley or my daughter were to fall on them. Not that it is likely to happen since they are in the corners. The step-in posts are a little disappointing in that they are not very tall. The fence is maybe 4' tall. So no way I'm going to leave Harley in there by himself to graze. He could leap over that fence for a joke. However, it will serve as a visual guide when we're riding and hopefully a psychological barrier for Harley who does respect electric fences. We opted to put electrobraid on the top (and it will be electrified) and another line about 2 ft off the ground. As I said, the goal is not to create a safe enclosure - I would not feel safe leaving him in there as it is - but to create a visual barrier for both horse and rider. As soon as the ground thaws, we will be putting in permanent fencing and at that point, I can start letting Harley graze on our land. But we quickly found out yesterday when pounding in the T-posts and step-ins that only about the top two inches are thawed. Everything else is solid ice underneath.


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## Jan1975 (Sep 7, 2015)

Sounds like good progress! It will be fun to have your own private area to ride instead of using the indoor.


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