Do you allow free lunging/turnout in your indoor arena?

[Cat_Tap]

I have had my arena for 30 years and I allow free lunging in the arena. We do not use it for turn out. It has not damaged the footing at all. I do ask the boarders to rake the area where their horses have rolled. I have spruce boards for kick boards and have three boards with holes that happened when a horse that was ridden kicked out. At some point I will replace those boards.

When it is cold in the winter I allow my own horses have a good run before I get on them. When the footing is hard and frozen outside they aren’t able to run the sillies off. I prefer they do that without me on their backs.

[thatmoody]

Many horses paw before they roll, and that DEFINITELY damages the base. Because you can’t always tell who is going to paw (our pony just plops down and goes to it) it makes sense to have a rule of no rolling.

I would be thrilled with the no turnout and free lunging rule (our barn doesn’t allow lunging in the arena, period - there is a separate area for that outside). It means you are committed to preserving your good footing, and I TRULY appreciate that in a barn after boarding at some places with truly horrid footing because of it. I was TIRED of riding in the trenches that were created where other horses blasted around the arena - I chose our current facility mostly BECAUSE they have strict rules. I don’t care if you drag after or not - those soft spots are going to remain in your base.

[Sparky_Boy]

I discourage it strongly. We do sometimes use it for quick turnout in bad weather while stalls are cleaned.

[bcannon]

I completely understand not wanting your arena messed up, it sounds beautiful! However, I love free lunging my horses, and unfortunately, you can’t get the same effect in a paddock, and I wouldn’t free lunge on grass. Perhaps you could get a roundpen (metal panels or wooden) installed for your boarders to free lunge or turn out in?

[pluvinel]

Lunging…both free lunging and on a lunge line…is part of the basic training of a horse. Every professionally run establishment I have been at understands this and allows it. These are typically barns that start young horses, stallions and expect discipline and proper behavior from horses.

Of course the owner is responsible for mirrors…but most of the horses have been worked in the indoor, with mirrors, and know what they are.

As stated in posts above, free lunging allows a horse to stretch its legs when conditions are such that turnout is impossible. The counter to that is that the horse also needs to be sufficiently under control not to go berserk in the indoor…thus the comment of “professionally run” barns.

Free lunging also allows a horse to develop its own balance…I love to set up a jumping chute in the winter and school jumps in a free school.

[sid]

Agree with this. My mirrors have thick plywood covers on hinges that are hooked to cover them if a horse is being free lunged.

I’ve held numerous inspections and the horse going free is often what the inspectors also want to see – and of course, the stallions, being free-jumped through the chute.

Mirrors should be covered. One time when Jim Kofford was doing a clinic here he told me of a terrible accident when a horse being free lunged jumped into the mirror, thinking it was a way out. Died from a broken neck.

I have a footing fetish and for almost 30 years, I’ve never had free lunging in the indoor be a problem.

[butiwantedapony]

I’m not sure why turn-out or free lunging should be damaging to the footing unless you have CRAZED couped up horses being let loose in there? None of my horses would do more than walk around a bit, then stand at the gate or munch on hay if turned out in there, and if free lunging that is controlled?

That being said - I completely agree the windows and mirrors are a safety hazard and I would not allow loose horses in the arena for that reason.

Your property - your rules. You will resent your boarders if you start changing your rules to accommodate them - and that is no way for a BO to feel about her boarders!

[2tempe]

Though it was common when I lived up north, I know of a young (4ish) horse that got playing in the indoor, hit the mirrors kicking out w/ a hoof and got herself quite cut up when they flew everywhere in a million pieces. Not to mention the mess for the BO to deal with.
Here in the south we don’t allow turnout or free lunging in main, covered arena. We have both a round pen and smaller arena for that. Lunging on a line is sometimes allowed in the covered arena if its pouring, if its a quiet horse on rehab of some sort or other special situations

[Linda]

Our homeowners association has 7 arenas plus 3 round pens. We have a lot of riders so none of the arenas are allowed for turnouts or lunging. . We have a lovely indoor that used to be ok to lunge with a line. But no more. We have lovely footing in there and when it was being used for lunging, it was uneven. Since we have the 3 round pens, that works for me for turnouts. Plus, my horse gets cranked up if another horse is being a bit wild on the line. So Im happy not to have to deal with that when Im riding.

[Schazade84]

OP it sounds to me like you have sufficient space set up for turn out or free lunge opportunities. I would stick to your guns on this. When I was a border I hated barns that used the indoor as a turn out space. The idea of having to chase down and catch someone else’s horse/s every time I wanted to ride was not appealing to me. I gravitated to barns that kept the indoor as a properly maintained work space. BOs would occasionally make exception for horses being rehabbed, or extreme weather, and this didn’t bother me.

[Ibex]

I’m not sure how you survived winter with a youngster in the Vancouver area without being able to free lunge LOL. They need a chance to buck and stretch, and I do NOT want to encourage that on the lunge line. (For non-PNWers…Our paddocks are as a rule tiny due to the perpetual mud etc in the winter - there’s only so much you can drain or cover in crusher dust!)

With an adult horse… meh… I do it sometimes, but if they’re well broke to the lunge and can toss in a few stretchy hops/happy feet moments while still being relatively obedient (ie moving forward on the circle and not being stupid about it) I tend to look the other way LOL.

[saultgirl]

It’s been allowed everywhere I’ve boarded. Here in Northern Ontario, they get a little nuts mid-winter and sometimes the larger barns can’t turn out in bad weather (because the gates are buried in snow, the paths haven’t been plowed, or it’s just dangerously cold to be sending people in&out,etc).

I have found people riding around the track damage the base more often than a horse running around, because a lot of places don’t maintain the rings well enough.

[half_pass1]

So that means no free jumping either? I think that is also a great exercise for horses, especially the younger ones, during winter. We cover our mirrors very simply and cheaply with curtains.

[trubandloki]

I am a firm believer in your barn your rules so if this is important to you then stick with it.

I personally have never boarded at a barn that did not free lunging or supervised turn out in the indoor. We have too many months of ice and snow here. It would get impossible if the indoor could not be used for anything but quiet perfectly controlled activities.

[Lucassb]

I would find your rule totally reasonable and would have no problems complying with it, particularly as you have other space (paddocks etc) where the horses can stretch their legs and get the yahoos out when needed.

I was once at a barn that used their indoor for turnout in inclement weather and also often out of laziness when the stalls were being cleaned - the grooms didn’t want to walk “all the way out to the paddocks” (which were actually quite close to the barn) so they chucked the horses in the indoor and called it good.

The footing there degraded very rapidly under that treatment and I didn’t stay long.

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

Your barn your rules.

That said, I think if you experience a week of ice it would be nice to allow people to turnout–supervised–during special circumstances. I do like to free jump (like a few times a year when evaluating horses).

I totally agree with not letting people just turn horses out in the indoor and leave them. At the barn I’m boarding at for a few months, starting in Sept., the BO was telling me some boarders like leave their horse loose in the outdoor while others are riding! Eeek! I don’t care if those horses are pasture-mates or not, I definitely don’t want to have to deal with that, or someone who wants to use the outdoor as turnout (they have 40 acres for the pasture horses, so I don’t see why they need to come in to run around). I will be gone by January, so hopefully it doesn’t turn into something I have to deal with.

[Mozart]

Unsupervised turnout no. Free lunging, yes. I free jump my horses so I take that into account from a safety perspective, the viewing room window has a grill in front of it. I don’t (yet) have mirrors. When I do they will be positioned or protected in such a way to prevent an accident. If your window or mirrors are accessible I would not allow it either.

[Gloria]

No turnout in the arena. Period.

If you want to spend tens of thousands to fix the base of your arena, just so you can make $50 in profit each month out of a potential boarder, well, let her.

Honestly, I think you dodged a bullet, when this rule became her deal breaker.

[Dramapony_misty]

No turnout…that’s what the paddocks are for. Seriously.

Free lunging? Eh. I find it really hard to believe that there is anything that would achieve that couldn’t be achieved on a long (like 50’) lunge line. Anytime a horse is off of a line, it is not 100% in control and I would worry about those mirrors.

As a potential boarder, I would have no problem with your rules.

[RedmondDressage]

I have never boarded at a barn that allowed free lunging or turnout in their indoor. Horrible for the footing and you’re right to protect your investment with that rule. That is what paddocks/fields are for.