Arena fencing; alternatives to wood rails? specifically, flexible vinyl fencing?

[ToTheNines]

I am in the last stages (finally) of my outdoor arena, and thankful for all the great knowledge on this forum.

My arena fencing so far is 4x4 wood posts on 7.5 inch centers. I have a footboard in already that is pressure treated 2x6’s.

For arena rails, I was going to use what is called “corral board” around here. It is 1x6 inch lengths of treated wood (pine I think) in 16’ lengths.

Dreading the warping and painting of wood rails!

Should I consider any of the vinyl alternatives? I looked at the rigid rails,and they would be about 4x more expensive than wood. For an arena, haven’t I heard of some kind of flexible “rails” that come in rolls? Something between tape and rigid rails?

[Palm_Beach]

IKR !! I went with wood, can’t stand the look of dirty moldy vinyl. Thank goodness my ring is small.

[gumtree]

Comes down to budget. The “corral boards” you reference sound the same as pressure treated “deck boards”. 5/4ths thick, 8’ & 16’ lengths. Rounded edges. Around $15+ for a 16’ board. I should think you could get a discount with a large order. Flexible plastic deck boards can be had also. These are pricey, $20+ to 40++ per 16’ board. I’ve only seen them in shades of brown. Don’t think they would hold paint very well, for very long. Might need to use a special kind of primer?

Pretty sure all pressure treated boards are made with Pine. Never seen anything but pine.

Around the horse mid-Atlantic areas the majority of horse fencing, arena fencing is made with Oak boards. Almost always hung/nailed on 4X6 pressure treated posts. Right now Oak boards can be had for around $8+ per 16’ board.

I have lots of oak fencing. Still looks great after 15 years. Some “horse wear” areas but easily fixed. I’ve only had the odd board “warp” on many thousands of feet of fencing. It’s pretty important to use “clean” boards, little to no knots in the boards, esp big knots.

I don’t paint my fencing. It ages to a nice darkish grey. Thought about painting our ring fencing. It’s not that much in the grand scheme of fencing. So having to repaint every couple of years wouldn’t be that big a job with a sprayer.

[spacehorse]

I used flex fence for my arena. 4 years and haven’t touched it. Looks just like wood rail until you get up to it. Probably cheaper too.

[horsepoor]

The flexible fencing (Centaur or Ramm) can be used, but since you already put in the posts, it may not be sufficiently braced at corners and ends to use the flex fencing. That stuff has to be tensioned, which requires some pretty specific bracing. I do have flex fencing and love it, but it does have to be installed correctly.

[Emma_Cornette]

There are some contemporary types of vinyl fencing that look like wood from a distance. Vinyl is more durable, strong, and requires no maintenance. If elegance is not a concern, proceed with vinyl. But I would suggest wood, as it is more economic, long lasting, and delivers a country feel and traditional look.

[Kottbulle]

Our arena is done in the white Ramm Fencing. As horsepower mentioned you do need to have pretty specific bracing and post… my BF made sure corner posts were cemented in. There is a lot of tension, and you do need to occasionally tighten the “rails” but that is about every 2-3 years. It hold up great and alittle vinegar and a stiff brush keeps the green mold at bay. I will say its nice if your horse makes a miss calculation and doesn’t quite stop at the end of the arena. no harm no foul to the fence of horse.
it definitely doesn’t look like wood, but when kept tight it does look very sharp. My good friend has the dark brown for all her fencing and it looks nice as well.
I think Ramm does carry a smaller width of the vinyl fencing which could look nice as well if you did multiply strands that might not require quite as much tension.

[Outyougo]

I love my Ram fencing. Does not fall down. Horses do NOT eat it. Mine is brown. Does not need painting. No nails fall out does not splinter. Horses bound off it no wire cuts. Well worth the cost