Arena side wall

[humbledagain]

I am finalizing plans for covered arena. Would welcome any comments or thoughts on height for side (kick) wall. Also, there is a product being imported from Europe called Q-Line safety wall. Any people on this blog who have seen it in Europe? It is attractive to me because it is made from plastic. It is new to US so I am unable to talk with people who are using it. I am not very tech savy but I will try and post link to product:

www.vitafloor.com.

My walls will be exposed to the elements because the arena is only covered. If I go with any type to wood or wood product it will obviously be treated but this Q-Line wall looks very interesting to me…

Any thoughts would be welcome

[Ambitious_Kate]

Are you talking about this? Scrolling down you can see a great photo. Took me a while to find this part of that company, you linked to the vibrating floor thingy.

http://www.vitafloor.com/vfqa/

I dn’t know anything about it but thougt I would give a better link

[alibi_18]

It really looks interresting!

[humbledagain]

Thanks for putting in correct link…Vibrating floor would never work on my side wall. I really hope someone here has seen product. Because this part of the project is causing me to loose sleep…

[Libby2563]

That product looks interesting but (just a guess) very expensive. I have ridden in tons of indoor and covered arenas with wooden kickboards and have rarely thought they should have been made of anything different.

I believe 4-5 feet is standard height for kickboards. I prefer kickboards to slope outwards from the ground up so riders’ knees and legs have more clearance.

[humbledagain]

Not sure, but I think the price will be within 10% of cost of putting some sort of tongue and groove board down a 200 foot wall. And this stuff is plastic!!! No maintenance required. It can be exposed to elements without damage. In addition, the dealer indicates it has some shock absorbing quality to it. So again, I would love to hear from anyone who has seen it in use…

[JannieC]

In Europe, I would think it would mostly be used for closed-in arenas, so you need to find someone who has had it in use for an extended period with the kind of open set-up you are going to have. Ask the dealer (salesperson) for references of people (who speak English) who have it installed. Would you have to pay extra to have materials shipped from Europe or can they be sourced locally? I would think that would be a significant factor in the overall cost.

[merrygoround]

It looks interestin. I don’t think I like the fact that it does not go completely to the ground.
As far as height goes for the arena. I would say 5 feet, high enough to discourage an inappropriate departure, or receive the apogee of a tall horse’s kick.

[rjr]

I don’t have any experience with the Q-line wall. I guess there is some theoretical advantage to it being energy-absorbing, so less likely to harm a horse that kicks it or runs into it. However, injuries from that are pretty rare. I would definitely go with something that slopes out at the bottom. I HATE riding in areas with straight walls - it is way too easy for a rider’s leg or knee to get smashed against a wall. I have lived in some places with really terible weather, and I haven’t really seen wethering of the sidewall to be a major issue. If it is going to be a covered area, not indoor, I would prefer a sidewal shorter than 5’ – more like 4’ so that the horses can see out. I have had trouble with walls that end where the horse can just barely see over them. Horses seem inordinately worried about stuff they hear, or catch a glimpes of but can’t really see, on the other side of the wall.

[fordtraktor]

It is really unnecessary to do a full kick wall for a covered arena. Look at, for instance, the Moore arena at the Virginia Horse Center. Lovely arena, just a normal fence. So too the ones in Atlanta at Conyers I think but I haven’t been there in a while. So much less expensive than anything you are looking at. But it is your money! I am sure it will be nice.

Keep in mind, the point of a kick wall is to keep a horse from kicking into metal sheeting, etc. and this will be open. No metal sheeting to kick.