I am CO. A friend of mine and his wife built a 60 x 120 a few feet from his barn. Minimum size but it works great for them. Guarantees they can either turn out or work horses year round.
My parents have a private facility, we live in Ontario Canada. I board my horses there for the winter for arena use. Last year I trailered over, enjoying it much more this year even though the weather hasn’t been co-operating a whole lot!
It was built when my mom became more serious about showing,and wanting to be able to ride and train all winter.
I believe their final price was around $70k Cnd, however my Step dad built all the wooden parts himself.
The arena is about 20 feet from the barn.
Do invest in good footing. The arena is about 14 years old now and has not once needed footing added. It is never dusty, frozen, or wet. Do build windows that can be taken out or opened. This arena is a dream in the summer, and we board up the openings in the winter.
The barn was there first, a converted milking barn.
Worth the money?? Yes, if you love to ride and can afford it - you wont regret it.
You can see it here:
http://fillysbestfriend.blogspot.ca/2011/11/william-week-3.html
I have a small indoor on my place. We had it built in 2001 but I honestly can’t say how much it cost - probably around 50K for a 60*120.
My advice: go as big as you can - length is more important than width, so long as it’s a 60 foot minimum.
We did our own electrical and footing after the base was put in. We live in a limestone area, so the limestone base was taken from our own hill, which really helped with the cost.
Ours is steel. With the wind, snow load and resale value, we thought it was a better investment than fabric. Plus I ride after dark in the winter so outdoor lighting is not important.
Ours is also not attached. Our farm place is at the bottom of the hills so water flow is very important as to not cause epic flooding in the spring thaw. There was no way to attach it to the barn with out having major landscaping done so it is not attached. It sucks to have to wade through snow on the way to the indoor but…
I really want to insulate and heat it but, on our budget, Ha Ha. not happening. In fact, when I joked about using some saved money for it, DH said we’d better off by having a bonfire with the money… So, I have the best winter gear possible but this winter, well, its been tough. Horse properties do not sell well in this area - so we do not expect any return on any investment that is strictly related to the horses.
For the design, we have one “person” door on the end (put no doors under the eves in snow country) that is a 4’ door for horses and people. No issues so far. Then we have large single sliding doors on both ends that I think are either 14 or 16 foot so we can park hay loads in it during the summer if it looks like it will rain. DH insisted on those doors so if we ever move, it can easily become a machine shed. I think the wall height is 16’ so jumping it never feels like I’m going to hit the rafters.
Lighting is really important. We have these huge lights that I think are Na lamps - they take awhile to turn on but it’s like day light in there with no dark corners. It makes it pleasant even in the pitch black night of winter.
[QUOTE=2DogsFarm;7389734]
I beg to differ 
After 10yrs of use by 2 sets of geldings my free-access arrangement is working out great.
No discernible wear & tear on my barn or stalls and allowing horses to exercise as they choose has kept them sound.
I am in the (now)frigid Midwest and I can literally count on one hand the number of times I’ve closed the Dutch doors that lead from the stalls to the sacrifice paddock (& that opens to pasture on either side) if you don’t count once every 6-8 weeks for the shoer & twice a year for vet visits.
My first 2 often used to share a stall.
Stalls are 12X12 and these 2 were a 16H TB & 17h TWH.
My current 2 - Hackney Pony & 17h+ WB - don’t share, but often play Musical Stalls and no problems with that either.
As for “looking junky” I have been complimented by professionals: vet, shoer & trainers on the appearance of my place.
It is hardly over-the-top fancy, but plain & workmanlike and easily kept clean.[/QUOTE]
I agree 2Dogs. While I have not had the horses in cold cold winters like this before, I have always been a fan of ‘24/7 access’.
Thanks for the points and concerns, winter, I do appreciate hearing the thoughts from a different POV, but the 24/7 access is not something up for debate unless I was hearing from everyone in cold weather climates it was bad for my horses, which you are not saying anyway.
I do ride a lot, 4-6 days a week. It’s more than a hobby for me-I work with horses professionally anyway, and while this indoor would not be an ‘open to public’ thing, it would give me that access.
While I know the benefits of fantastic brought in footing, our budget is not going to allow for it anyway, initially. Later on, that is something I can add. So, I will be using it as a turnout if I need to. At the end of the day, it’s for my horses. I know that going into it-whether I get super expensive footing or not, I will not have my horses locked up in a stall for 3 days because I am picky about the footing getting mixed up. Oh well-that’s just my POV on it. When you buy footing, especially for private use, it’s FOOTING. for HORSES. It’s not making me any money, so if my horses need to move around and have some room to play, they will have super $$ footing for their toes to play on! Haha. 
Thank you all for the replies and such informative answers-I am going through them all and taking notes, looking at your pictures, etc. Thank you.
Well that’s the horse world everyone has their own opinions. Ha ha
I personally have never seen a barn with attached runs that did not look junky and run down, which is why I would never do it myself, clearly it works for other people. Horses are destructive and allowing them access to the exterior of an expensive building and it’s foundation and doors does not make sense to me for practicality or longevity. Allowing my horses to come and go as they pleased from their stalls does not appeal to me as I do not want my barn to function as a run-in, to me barns serve a different purpose. I also think the daily turning in and out is a good time to assess each horse. Again, just my preference. It is also clear that we are not talking about the same sort of climate here. No doors are open on our barn ever in the winter except on the warmest sunniest of days. It is simply too cold. Our water would freeze and we may as well be working with the horses outdoors if there were open doors in every stall; defeating the purpose of having a barn to begin with.
As far as using the arena for turnout, again we must have different climates since there are maybe two days in the entire year that the horses can not go out in their regular paddocks outside. It would just never happen that there would be nowhere to put them outside that we would have to consider using the indoor for turnout. To me, footing is an investment, turning out horses in it deteriorates that investment and reduces it’s efficiency as a performance surface. Again, it all depends what your goals are and what type of riding you do but maintaining good footing for performance disciplines is a lot of work and can not be done if the arena is also used as a paddock. If you just have dirt or something than obviously that’s different! On the few days a year our horses can’t get turned out, they get ridden
Just a couple of thoughts:
I have lived all over CO, WY and MT, and there were some places where I could still ride much of the winter without needing an indoor. What kind of wind breaks do you have? If you’re in a protected valley, or have a lot of trees, you might try going without for a year and giving yourself time to let the landscape and weather dictate how much you spend on it. For many years, we used a snowmobile with a homemade trail groomer to groom trails through our mountain property on the border of NW WY. The packed trails were perfect for riding, and if a colt got too fractious, you just walk off the edge of the pack into the deep snow and they immediately give up the fight! We groomed one of the pastures for “arena” riding, and also taught the horses to drive down there using log skids. If you’re in really windy central WY though, you might need some more protection.
My favorite things about our indoor are the huge glass cupolas on top and the rows of windows-- makes it feel like tropical summertime any time the sun is out! We also super-insulated the roof, and its attached to the barn (which is heated enough to keep water from freezing), so even on the coldest days I can ride in there in just a fleece jacket. Definitely makes the long winter more bearable!
We have a covered round pen built years before our indoor, and it has a metal roof (for fire safety and ease of maintenance). Unfortunately, on days the snow pack slides, it’s not a safe place to ride most horses because they spook so badly at the sound. We had to put a regular roof on the arena, and ocassionally we worry about the snow load. Sometimes we have to get up there and dig channels to let the snowmelt through.
An indoor arena is a HUGE expense, so if there’s an indoor available just a short way away, I would absolutely advise spending a year just learning the weather patterns, snow loads, etc. at your new place BEFORE building. That way you can plan for prevailing winds, sun exposure, etc. and make the most of your space. Just spend that year riding at the local arena, and you’ll meet lots of nice locals who will probably offer great advice and show you all kinds of new riding trails you wouldn’t be able to find otherwise! Best of luck!
Thanks HW. That is a ton of helpful advice. We are in the valley, but do get quite a lot of frozen ground and snow is about waist deep in the fields now. Do you have photos of your indoor?
I am speaking with some contractors today about pricing and what our options are. Will update this thread as we go, in case anyone else is needing the same info.
Photos and setup plans are always welcome, anyone with a personal indoor, please share!
Go to my website and scroll down on this page to “rural horse property - Sedalia”. Click on the photo to enlarge.
http://www.equestrianbarndesign.com/barn_design/barnsandfarms.htm
That is my own 4 stall barn with a 60’ X 72’ attached indoor. I love it. I use 12’ of the indoor next to the barn for hay/bulk shavings, and the balance is a 60’ round pen that I use for: lunging, turnout, mare and foal, winter trail obstacle work, shoulder/hip in/out kind of slow training work, collected walk /long walk /collected walk, lunging over a gymnastic jump, and cold or snowing day winter turn out. The 8’ south facing double-walled Lexan (got a deal on it) lets in sunshine in the winter and can raise the normal 10 degree morning temp to 45 when it is still frigid outside. I can drive my whole rig in and load/unload under lights or out of the rain. My whole years hay and 3 months worth of bulk shavings are inside. I go in one door and that is it. One side is a 40’ run-in that is accessable from inside with 4’ door and a 10’ horse run-in door, the other side is the barn, attached by a doghouse connector section as it was existing (as a workshop and we remodeled a lot.
The thing about an indoor round pen vs a full size arena is: cost = 2/3 as much, work to maintain footing is less, and you can still haul out for lessons or a larger arena use. Other factor is that it only takes me 15 minutes to water the footing twice a week, as NOTHING can totally prevent footing dust in our western climate with humidity in the teens. Great footing is also affordable with the smaller size. I have two 4’ X 8’ sliding plexi panels above the kick wall with rigid wire panels behind for horse kibitzing when one is turned out in the arena, and the other in the run-in, two windows salvaged from the barn remodel, plus the 16’ wide drive door (which allows hay and shavings delivery) so with all open it becomes an airy pavilion in the hot summer.
I had to do the indoor round pen for budget and terrain and to not cut a big tree, but I would now do it as a preference for a single owner. However, if I had had the room, I would have done, and would definitely still do a 72’ X 72’, as cantering takes a lot of collection with my big horses in the 60’.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/65574314@N07/12306589954/in/photostream
We had to build stables on the farm we bought. Already had the indoor up.
Absolutely 100% attach stall barn to indoor if you live in cold climate.
Another recommendation is to spray foam the barn. Keeps us above freezing even in sub-zero temps.
I don’t think I could have horses at home without the indoor and warmer barn. I’m just not built for this winter 
Mine was 140Lx60W. 30’ of that was for stalls, so the arena was 60x110. It was built on to an existing 30x40 to make an L shape barn. When we ran water lines to the barn we also ran water hydrants out to the pastures. I agree about the metal roof and snow sliding off. Also don’t skimp on footing. Make sure you have good drainage outside the barn so it doesn’t flood. We dug ditches along the back and front side of ours.
I built it because I buy and sell horses. I always tried to keep 1 boarder in there but that was more of a pain then it was worth. For business reasons it was worth it. For personal reasons it was too expensive. I find now that you can find a farm for cheap enough compared to building a barn. I got divorced and no longer live at that farm. I wouldn’t do it again at this point for financial reasons. If I were looking to buy a farm here I would want one with an indoor, since 6 months out of the year I am wasting away and I don’t ride at all. However, if I were to buy a farm it would most definitely be in an area where I don’t need an indoor.
If you can afford the expense on top of your house payment and horse care and feed, then I say go for it. Otherwise you will be riding in snow or not riding at all. I hauled in a few times to a barn down the road and it was frustrating to hook up the trailer everyday and took all the fun out of it. I am NOT a winter person at all.
Thank you all for the replies-I have really taken a lot of notes from everyone.
HeadWrangler-Thanks for the firsthand advice! It ‘may’ come to waiting out a year, but we know we will be building a barn, at least, this year, and think that the cost to ‘add’ an arena later will be more than just doing it now,…….not the ‘ideal’, but it’s what we have to work with financially. We would be trailer-ins to the local arena, not boarders, which as Derby Lyn Farms did point out, is a PITA to have to hook up, trailer, ride 2 hours, then trailer back, unhook, etc. And then, to not have a place to ‘turnout’ in bad weather concerns me.
Plumcreek-That sounds exactly like what I need. I did PM you for more details.
I haven’t had a lot of success talking with contractors in the area yet, but getting there. We are planning on going out to the property and taking some measurements (in waist deep snow, haha!) of where we are wanting the barn to be placed. SO many factors come into play, this isn’t going to be an easy setup!
You did go by the local Farm Service Agency and get all sorts of maps on your property, did you?
They may also know someone in your area with similar set-up you can go ask questions, what they like and what they wish they had done differently.
Bluey- I have not, no. I just looked them up and will go there to get that. What kind of maps should I ask for? Topo? Water levels? Kind of clueless on that!
Whelp,…thank you all for the advice.
With the ‘covenants’ for the area (small horse community) we will be in, we will have a 70’x110’ area to build in. That will have to cover a (small) riding area, storage for equipment and horse trailer, 3 stalls, and a tack/feed/tool room. Going nuts trying to come with a competent design that fits the area we have to fit it in (with ONE driveway in and out, we will be backing our horse trailer off the county road (not busy), through the driveway entrance, under our ‘barn’. 
Unfortunately, it’s the only way we can have it work, and fortunately, my husband and myself are good ‘backers’. Oh well.
Will update the post as we go, for anyone interested.
I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but 70’ x 110’ does NOT sound like enough space for all of the things on your list of stuff to be under a roof.
We have a 60’ x 136’ indoor for two riders and by the time we (inevitably) used about 12’ of one end to store a pile of shavings and a small 2 wheeled trailer, that leaves us barely enough space to muster a canter.
The attached stall barn is 60’ x 36’ with 4-5 stalls, hay loft, tack room, small feed room, junk/tool room. There is no room to store all of the vehicles you have, unless you are planning to move them when you want to ride!
Our horse trailer is outside and our tractor and implements are stored in a separate building.
I’m definitely interested to see how you will fit all that stuff and space to ride in 70’ x 110’. Good luck
What happened?
