We’d like to put up an arena but don’t want to use plastic chain. Any suggestions for ‘home made’ stuff?
We use 1/2 cement blocks and 10 foot lengths of 2 inch PVC pipe. The cement blocks are square, with an opening in each. It has worked well for years. This is the only photo I could find of the dressage ring edge – I was teaching my horse to kneel --he usually doesn’t wear volleyball knee pads.
http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff31/foxgloveweeks/P8250351.jpg
Foxglove
How homemade do you want it, and what are your needs exactly?
California Dressage Society sells spiff plastic blocks that are great for making a border using jump poles:
https://www.california-dressage.org/html/shop_here.htm
Lots of shows use them for arena borders around here.
But, if that’s too rich for your blood, you can just lay rails on the ground, on jump elements that you maybe already have (bloks, cavaletti, etc). You can use recycled supplement buckets as marker letters.
Poles on the ground are really pretty functional and very safe.
Those Ikea potty seats (think little jump cups sitting on the ground) and landscape timbers or pvc pipe?
www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30193163/
How portable does it need to be? Just need to move it to mow?
We want to put it out in one of our pastures. I wish we could get telephone poles, I had that in GA and it was really nice. Horses could be turned out and not tear anything up. The arena could be very homemade, frankly. We need it to school but that’s all. I am going to check out the idea of building blocks and PVC pipe or something like that.
What about putting wanted adds out for power poles then? i know there are several suppliers near me that sell used ones ($100 each) so assume in other countries they would be accessible too?
A friend has tyres as her border and loves them - personally i hate the look but it is cheap and failry easy to do. Just hard to expose of them later.
Having said all that if you are planning on putting it in the pasture is the plan to drag it etc regularly too? If not why not just use 20L drums/witches hats etc as your corners and marker points. Easy to move then and let the paddock recover when its getting track lines etc.
At some point, somewhere online, I saw pics for using kitchen trash cans and pvc pipe. Cut holes in each side of the trash can to hold the pipe. At some point we plan to make this but not a complete outline. We are thinking 3 trash cans and 2 10’ pieces of pipe to make each corner, 2 trash cans and one 10’ piece of pipe at A, C, B, and E, and half way between the center and the end on each side. So that’s 28 trash cans and 16 pieces of PVC pipe.
[QUOTE=cmdrcltr;8751864]
At some point, somewhere online, I saw pics for using kitchen trash cans and pvc pipe. Cut holes in each side of the trash can to hold the pipe. At some point we plan to make this but not a complete outline. We are thinking 3 trash cans and 2 10’ pieces of pipe to make each corner, 2 trash cans and one 10’ piece of pipe at A, C, B, and E, and half way between the center and the end on each side. So that’s 28 trash cans and 16 pieces of PVC pipe.[/QUOTE]
That sounds like a good idea. Are you talking about tall kitchen trash cans or smaller ones?
Cobb Lumber has them. If they are not close to you, they might know a company in your area that has utility poles.
www.cobblumber.com/utility-poles/
Grainger sometimes has them they have stores all over the country.
and this add has a few sources
We were at a horse trial that had a dressage ring made of PVC pipe and empty worming buckets --drilled holes as previous poster stated. One could also use pickle buckets (restaurants often have many to discard).
Foxglove
[QUOTE=cmdrcltr;8751864]
At some point, somewhere online, I saw pics for using kitchen trash cans and pvc pipe. Cut holes in each side of the trash can to hold the pipe. At some point we plan to make this but not a complete outline. We are thinking 3 trash cans and 2 10’ pieces of pipe to make each corner, 2 trash cans and one 10’ piece of pipe at A, C, B, and E, and half way between the center and the end on each side. So that’s 28 trash cans and 16 pieces of PVC pipe.[/QUOTE]
This will be much cheaper if you use those blue barrels, they are $5 on craigslist here. A jig saw cuts the plastic easily
PVC can be very sharp when it breaks
the IKEA potty and PVC pipes (4 inch) would work and look great
Oh, and here’s a better (sort of) pix of mine with the cement blocks ( 50 cents at Lowes) and PVC pipe. One advantage to the cement blocks vs trash cans if if your horse is playing in the pasture and catches a PVC pipe, the cement blocks just move a bit and the pipe rolls away --I wonder if trash cans (or any plastic bucket) wouldn’t go with the pipe and “chase” the horse.
http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff31/foxgloveweeks/MyaWD007.jpg
Foxglove
[QUOTE=Foxglove;8752089]
Oh, and here’s a better (sort of) pix of mine with the cement blocks ( 50 cents at Lowes) and PVC pipe. One advantage to the cement blocks vs trash cans if if your horse is playing in the pasture and catches a PVC pipe, the cement blocks just move a bit and the pipe rolls away --I wonder if trash cans (or any plastic bucket) wouldn’t go with the pipe and “chase” the horse.
http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff31/foxgloveweeks/MyaWD007.jpg
Foxglove[/QUOTE]
What a lovely place to ride!
I used white tall buckets from the grocery bakery. They were FREE! Then we bought white plumbing PVC pipe and bolted it the top of the bucket. The pipe fits into one another. I made sections and had it open at E and B. I am in a paddock where we added sand/ It has 3 sides of fence so only need the open side to have a visible boundary. It is lightweight and can easily be moved.
Thanks you, csaper58! As you can see our dressage ring is in a valley, but what you can’t see is that the rest of the farm (every single square foot) is a hill --the 200 x 100 area we excavated for the dressage ring is the ONLY flat land we have (even our house built into a hill, as is the stable). Mowing is a challenge, but I do love the privacy and solitude of a secluded riding area. As you can see, the dressage ring is heavily used –
http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff31/foxgloveweeks/P5030029_zpsk6aswarn.jpg
And another closeup of our inexpensive dressage fence --at the time I put it in, I think the blocks were 50 cents each, and the PVC (ten foot section) was less than $10. That meant that to go around my full size dressage ring (196.6 x 66.6) my cost was just over $150 if I’ve done my math right – anyway, it worked well for me.
http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff31/foxgloveweeks/P5030030_zpszfnnxhmq.jpg
Foxglove
The California Dressage Society (CDS) sells a court made of black and white plastic molded pylons. You then purchase the PVC pipe from a local supplier. Very long lasting and easy to set up and store. www.california-dressage.org
[QUOTE=ACP;8752058]
That sounds like a good idea. Are you talking about tall kitchen trash cans or smaller ones?[/QUOTE]
The pics I saw used small kitchen (or bathroom size) trash cans. But I like the idea here about 5 gallon buckets.???
[QUOTE=cmdrcltr;8751864]
At some point, somewhere online, I saw pics for using kitchen trash cans and pvc pipe. Cut holes in each side of the trash can to hold the pipe. At some point we plan to make this but not a complete outline. We are thinking 3 trash cans and 2 10’ pieces of pipe to make each corner, 2 trash cans and one 10’ piece of pipe at A, C, B, and E, and half way between the center and the end on each side. So that’s 28 trash cans and 16 pieces of PVC pipe.[/QUOTE]
I have thought of this idea, too. But, to me, the better (and cheaper) solution is white 5 gallon buckets from Lowes or HD. They cost under $3 each, with a $2 lid, a can of white spray paint to hide the logo 
, and PVC pipes threaded into holes cut out with a circular drill bit used for making holes for door knobs.
I have not actually started work on this project, but it seems to be something that can be put together by just about anyone. The only ‘hard’ part is making a template which ensures that the holes are drilled exactly opposite each other so the sides of the ring are absolutely straight.*
If anyone can solve this small issue, please let me know.
Add sand or gravel in the bottom of the pails for stability, drill holes in the lid for artificial flowers, and, voila!, you have a nice looking dressage ring for about $400.
- I have considered using square 5 gallon buckets, so it would be easy to make such a template, but square buckets are prohibitively expensive.
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