Fantasize with me about a SMALL indoor arena

[Cindyg]

Here’s my situation: I’m old. My horse is small and lazy. My idea of a big day is to get on and walk around for five minutes. Zero chance of my jumping, riding a real dressage pattern, working cattle, or competing. Only my horse and me would be in the arena (plus my donkey will be wandering around loose).

On the other hand, my horse is not handy. He needs a lot of room to make a turn. He can’t canter under saddle in a 60-foot round pen. He can trot (under saddle) in a 60-foot circle, but it’s hard to keep him off the fence.

Even though I don’t ride a lot, I spend a lot of time outside with them. I’m in Texas, so if I could, I’d want shade, but no walls. Oh, I have a small property. Only 1.5 acres, so a full-sized arena would be completely disproportional.

What’s the smallest covered area that would be useful for walk, slow trot, groundwork, and hanging out?

And height? I understand 16 feet is minimum. Would that feel claustrophobic? (I’m not sure I’ve ever seen an arena roof that low; but smallest is best.)

[CHT]

I think our arena has a 16 or 18 foot ceiling, and it doesn’t seem low to me. I think the problem might be more that heat rises, so for somewhere hot, a higher ceiling might be cooler.

Size…is resale a consideration? Very old quonset style arenas seem to be 60 by 120 around here, but they seem small to me. Something that is more square might be a better use of your space (70 by 100, or 80 by 100). If you make it in a way it can be lengthened, then it would appeal to more people upon resale.

Test out sizes by marking the space out and riding in it.

[Mango20]

I’m doing a dog training class in a very small indoor which measures 50’ x 95’ on Google Maps. It would work okay for walk/trot at least. If I were in your situation, I’d consider doing a barn with a covered track around the stalls. That way it’s only one building on your property. You could only ride in one shape, though.

[wsmoak]

Check out these round structures that are usually for ‘hot walkers’ … https://www.facebook.com/KraftHorseWalkers/

I’m sure they could do an arena of whatever size you want under it.

It looks like they are metal and bolt together … this one has stalls, a round barn, neat! https://www.facebook.com/twinwoodequ…type=3&theater

So if property resale is an issue it could probably be disassembled.

[enjoytheride]

My indoor arena is 80X80. Its fine for WTC in the winter keeping my horse fit. It was here when I bought the farm and I imagine the builders also felt the same way, indoors are only for bad weather. It has stalls on one end to make the building 80X120 Sadly there are support beams otherwise I’d tear the stalls out and make it the entire space.

[Cindyg]

A covered round pen is certainly a good option.

I have to have the roof replaced on my square barn (24x24), and I was thinking of somehow expanding from there, using the same roofline.

And, Mango, a covered track around the barn? Like covered sidewalks? Have you ever seen that done?

[GraceLikeRain]

@Cindyg

A covered round pen is certainly a good option.

I have to have the roof replaced on my square barn (24x24), and I was thinking of somehow expanding from there, using the same roofline.

And, Mango, a covered track around the barn? Like covered sidewalks? Have you ever seen that done?

I’ve seen two barns double the length of the barn to make essentially a square “round pen” space. In both they did not fence the area so it feels a bit more open.

Saddlebred barns sometimes have an aisle down the middle or side of the stalls for riding.

Doing something attached to the barn may also have nice resale value to someone who wants to store a tractor, trailer, etc. in the covered space.

[Cindyg]

Yeah, now that you mentioned it, I’ve seen saddlebred people do that. I think I might have even had that in the back of my mind when I wondered if I could squish something covered into this roofing project.

[PeteyPie]

Here is an old covered exercise barn at the Christian Brothers Academy, formerly Whitney Greentree Stables

https://www.cbalincroftnj.org/news/a-look-back-in-time-the-cba-round-barn/

[PeteyPie]

…and another track from Lazy Lane Farm in Upperville, VA

plus, just for the fun of it, an article from the Daily Racing Form about Hansel who lived there:
https://www.drf.com/news/25-years-la…ying-attention

[kande04]

I started out with a 60 X 60’ barn and then expanded it to a 60 X 144 (24’ for hay storage). The 60 X 60 was fine and the 60 X 120 was better, but I could have lived with the 60 X 60. I just needed an area with lights and decent footing so I could ride before work in the winter when it was just too dark and icy to be able to do it outside.

I could have lived with a 40 or 50’ wide space, but decided to go with the 60’ because adding on length was then an option, but adding on width really wasn’t because of the manufactured trusses.

The walls are 14’ and that works just fine for me.

The big advantage to the indoor, I think, is that it expanded my riding years, because if I didn’t have it I doubt I’d still be riding in my 70’s because getting started again in the spring would be so much harder after getting so out of shape in the winter.

[furlong47]

I rode occasionally in a very small indoor round pen type setup when I was a teen. It was only about 50 feet in diameter but had a very high ceiling. You could walk and trot in there comfortably and canter a bit on a smaller horse or pony, but there was obviously nothing else to do but go in constant circles. At that barn we mostly rode out in huge fields, so this was just a last ditch bad weather option. The circular room was later renovated into a wedding facility!

You might just want to try out areas of different size, or just go out and ride in the smallest area you feel comfortable with and then measure the area after.

[RedHorses]

I found 17.5m X 30m quite rideable for solo flatwork, though small. It was difficult with two riders and little more than exercise time with three. When the leaking roof left an ice hump at one end the 30m was more like 28m.

[moonlitoaksranch]

We have fast growing trees outside an 80 x 60 area. Every year, I have more shade for longer periods during the day. I avoid the middle of the day. It’s lunchtime then, anyway.

[MsM]

I have seen a number of places that repurposed buildings that are not clearspan to use as an indoor. The height was at least adequate (though a person at one of the lower-ceilinged ones joked that she could grab a rafter and avoid falling if she got bucked off too high!) The support poles were manageable to work around and were usually brightly painted. I recall that one place drilled holes in some to use as jump standards - but I wondered about weakening the support!

[streamline]

Our friend has a 55x110 indoor arena. His wife rides dressage, on big Oldenburg draft crosses, he’s put on a few cattle clinics in there. We’ve played cowboy polo and tag with 5 horses as well. The corners obviously feel super short but it’s comfortable

[kande04]

I may have mentioned this before, but my 17hh Trakehner, who I started as a foal, has never had any trouble cantering in my small indoor, while my 13 to 15hh horses have had a lot more.

Part of that may be because I started the Trak as a foal and was a lot more careful to build skills slowly and carefully, although it could be that he’s just a lot more athletic? But when it comes to being able to maintain balance at the canter, I don’t think size matters anywhere near as much as training progression and/or athletic ability.

[BAC]

@PeteyPie

…and another track from Lazy Lane Farm in Upperville, VA

plus, just for the fun of it, an article from the Daily Racing Form about Hansel who lived there:
https://www.drf.com/news/25-years-la…ying-attention

As a child I had lessons in a barn similar to that picture from Lazy Lane Farm, but it was rectangular in shape. There was a double row of stalls in the middle, and two of the four outside walls (one long wall and one short wall) had stalls facing into the riding lane. It was good use of the space and allowed riding in inclement weather and it was fun.

[Bluey]

The trouble with tracks on the outside of the stalls is that you can’t have runs off the stalls.

Runs off stalls are great for horses, not shut in a stall at all in them and makes cleaning stalls much easier for most horses.

Especially where is hot, a closed in stall in the middle of the barn would end up being stuffy, no matter how open the aisle.

Also may consider an all purpose building, so it is a bigger asset when selling, as it will fit many other buyers if the structure can have other uses.

[SharonA]

While I take the role of enabler very seriously, I wonder if the cost of a covered facility is worth it, if you’re just puttering around for 5 or 15 or 30 minutes. For the cost and the hassle of construction, maybe it would make more sense to just put up several attractive, simple shade structures so you can more comfortably enjoy hanging out with your horse. Or, since you’re already updating the barn, maybe renovate it to have more ventilation and more “sit and hang out together” spaces. If you want to get in your 5 or 10 minute ride, maybe that could be done in the morning or evening, when it’s not so intensely hot.