I thought 14’ was pretty standard for an indoor, but some companies are telling me 15’ or 16’ for jumping. I doubt I’ll ever jump much over 4’…if I even get that high. So, how high is yours and do you ever wish it was higher? Oh, and is the ceiling insulated–if not, does it “rain” in there?
I know someone who thought the same about jump heights, too. Circumstances changed and some pretty big jumpers came in. 6’ jump + 1’ clearance + 3’ horse + 2’ rider ate up the space pretty fast. Also factor in any drop in hanging your lights. 1’ of drop and that big jump, you have just a foot of clearance for a rider.
It was insulated, and it did “Rain”. However, the arena and the stalls were under one roof, so there were a LOT of bodies breathing out water vapor.
Standard here is minimum of 16’ for riding arenas and 18’ for roping.
Ours is clear span, so 26’ in the middle and 18’ on the eaves.
You can’t have enough height, but you sure don’t want to go over a basic minimum, that for riding arenas, at least here, seems to be 16’.
A couple more feet heigh should not be but a blimp on your overall cost and well worth it.
We put up 14’, but don’t ever plan to jump. I’m 45 and my mom is 67 so our jumping days are over. Our horses are 15’2" and 15’3".
16’, no problems roping or jumping.
My indoor is 16’ at the eaves. I do not jump but students/boarders are sometimes interested in jumping. If in the future you decide to sell your farm the indoor will be more desirable to a wider range of riders if you are at least 16’.
Just finishing our new indoor now. 16 feet recommended. Contractor mentioned in over 30 years of building arenas he has only built one indoor in all that time that was 18 feet.
There is one local, private roping training barn here that the owner built himself and made it 15’.
He wishes he had made it 16’, said that one foot difference sure would have helped, he thinks.
Not that you can’t rope on 14’ or 15’, but is not what you want to have, to train or compete, if you can make it at least 16’.
I don’t remember any indoors in Europe that had low ceilings, not any at all.
You may want to ask your architect or builder again, but for a bit more, I would go at least 16’.
That height will also help best if and when you have to get dump trucks in there with material.
Also, if for any reason you ever need to sell or rent out the inside storage space, anyone with agricultural equipment will need AT LEAST 16’ clearance. My farmer customers are all building 20’ now, as the size of tractors and combines has grown so much.
Really, the extra height costs almost nothing. You can always make it longer, but wider and taller are impossible after the fact.
I believe the indoor at our barn is 16’…
Our is 17 feet. but there is probably 6-8" of footing added after it was built.
We are at 14 feet at the eave at about 22 feet at the center. Unless you’re running 18 hand WBs over 5 foot fences our height is good enough. Adding more height means more steel which means more cost for you and more profit for the contractor.
G.
[QUOTE=Guilherme;7783298]
We are at 14 feet at the eave at about 22 feet at the center. Unless you’re running 18 hand WBs over 5 foot fences our height is good enough. Adding more height means more steel which means more cost for you and more profit for the contractor.
G.[/QUOTE]
Unless they are using trusses, not clear span like you seem to have, that gives you a higher middle.
With trusses, that bit of extra height to the walls doesn’t cost but a blip more.
I imagine I will have trusses. Anyone else care to weigh in, especially on the “indoor rain” issue. Does good ventilation prevent it, or is insulation the way to go?
