100ft long by 75ft wide arena?

[paintedpennypony]

Would this be an okay size for an arena? I got quoted about $1k for someone to doze/level the spot I have picked out. The quote is only to make the pad. I measured it and it’s approximately 100ft by 75ft.

Nothing too crazy planned for its purpose. Things like one or two max 2’6” jumps at a time, ground poles, baby dressage (for horse wellbeing not competition), trail obstacles, ground work/ ground driving, and mounted archery. I’m getting starry eyed at the thought of a flat space to work but thought I’d consult the hive mind about the dimensions!

[Jump314]

That seems pretty small and I think you’ll have a hard time cantering, let alone jumping. A standard “small” dressage arena is 20 x 40 meters, or about 65 x 130 ft.

[paintedpennypony]

I could probably extend it to at least 120ft by 75ft. The space butts up to their dry lot on one side and then there’s a bit of a bank on the other side. I wouldn’t want to mess with the bank but I could eat into their dry lot a bit if I have to. This is why everything will be fenced with t-posts and not permanent fencing until I am set on a layout

[luvmyhackney]

Think of it in terms of strides. A canter stride is 11’-13’ depending on horse.

That’s 7-8 strides down the long side before you have to turn.

[Willesdon]

As big as you can possibly make it. A bit like storage space, you can never have too much.

[clanter]

if we are developing a horse for competitions we attempt to duplicate the expected show environment as close as what is expected

100 by 75 is not much larger than our round pen

If that is what you have to work with sure it will do but it would really be nice to have it closer to the normal.

[paintedpennypony]

I’m not interested in showing and don’t plan on competitions ever, I would just like it to be large enough to canter in

[NancyM]

Make it as long as you can. 75 feet wide is the adequate minimum. But length is the most important part. Somehow.

[Smiles]

You will be fine with the 75 width but it need to be 120 to 150 in length. 100 is way to short.

[beowulf]

Willesdon is onto something. You want to make it as big as you can.

That being said the rideable surface of my grass paddock which I use as a riding ring is about 65 feet by 90 feet. The paddock itself is huge, but only a small portion of it is level or ledge-free enough for anything more than a walk. It’s doable, but I’ve said for years I wish it was bigger (and flatter). It’s challenging with the bigger horses.

On the plus side, it’s made me really creative with jump set up. I can fit 4 to 6 jumps in there and make a course. My horses think the ‘twisty/turny’ courses of my local org are a cake-walk thanks to how congestive my ring gets with fences or poles in it.

Something to consider, and it’s the real reason I don’t drill in my ring - the smaller the ring is, the more circles for the horse. That’s all well and good but if you are training constantly in a small area, that’s a lot of strain on their body. It’s better to go bigger, or you may find you need to take more days outside of the ring than within.

[S1969]

It can be a useable size, but not really for jumping. I had an 80 x 100 and it’s just not enough, even for crossrails. It can be done but it’s always a space issue. I agree that if you went even 20’ longer it would make a big difference.

[Jarpur]

I have a small dressage-sized arena (20 meter x 40 meter) – that’s what I could easily fit, without worrying about removing trees or large rocks/boulders, in a location that would naturally drain well.

It works for my small horses, for whatever I want to do, but maybe not so much for a large, cantering horse – have never had a really big horse in there, even when friends have come over to lesson on their horses, or to ride with me.

But $1K sounds like a great price.

[GraceLikeRain]

At that size I’d definitely leave it unfenced. If you pop in and out of the flat space I think it is workable. The dressage arena size isn’t really about showing but a reference point for how small of a space that can feel. What you’ll have will amount to a rectangular large round pen. Way better than nothing and could definitely enhance quality of riding. If there’s any way to extend the length I would but that’s just my opinion.

[skip99]

I think this is very dependent on what you are used to.

I rode at a barn in the UK for a couple of years, that had a 66x120 ring, did not have any issues with riding or jumping anything from just backed 4 y/os to the 1.2m+ jumpers.

My personal very simple ring at home now is ~75x140 but probably rides more like a small dressage arena because it’s not super level and the footing along the rail kind of sucks if it’s wet. No issues riding my 16.3 mare and jumping a bit. The footing holds me back more than the size to be honest.

I think if you can make it 120’ long you’ll be fine.

[hillary_again]

75’ wide is OK, but 100’ long is very, very small. Are you going to have fencing around it? If not, this is going to be a little tricky to ride in, since if you are going to jump, you will be at the end of the ring pretty quickly.

I learned to ride (any others may have too) in VERY small indoor rings - probably about 60’ wide and not a lot longer than 100’ on the long side. We never had more than 1 jump on the long side. It worked for beginner riding lessons, but I think you want something to use for more than that.

Take a look at these overhead shots of a local boarding facility and note the dimensions of the jumping ring that they show (120x220). https://jvaranch.org/the-ranch/horse-boarding/

I’ve ridden there and that short side is what you are talking about as your long side. I can imagine a crossrail on that side but not much more. 100’ would be even tighter.

I’d try to get that extra 20’ in length, if you can.

[ParadoxFarm]

Remember, too, if you do fence it, you will be sitting inside that fence line by a couple of feet, so that makes it seem even tighter.

[trubandloki]

If that is how much space you have to use then this will work.

Clearly more space is better, but that should be enough room to canter and do anything you want to do.

It will get crowded quickly if you ever add riding friends.

Signed, someone who has boarded many times in places with a 60’x90’ indoor and we had no problems riding in that all winter.

[Bonnie2]

I have a 75’ square longe pen. It is not ideal to ride in but when needs must it is better than nothing! I like GraceLikeRain’s suggestion of leaving it unfenced to leave you more options. Do what you can afford to do now and see how it goes!

[awaywego]

Just rode in part of my ring today that was pretty close to 75x100 ft. I probably end up with the size for the better part of the winter bc the other half stays in the shade most of the day and if it’s cold it never quite thaws. It is doable although definitely not ideal.

[paintedpennypony]

Do you have any major limitations with it or can you do all the basics?