Menu

Subscribe Now

Unlimited access >

Menu

Installing an Indoor vs. Installing an Outdoor vs. Riding in a flat pasture

Around The Farm
#1

I’ve been house shopping and one of my “Nice to Haves” was an indoor arena. Anyways, found a house in a good location, on a good piece of land but no indoor (or outdoor for that matter). The house was under budget, so there is money to add on.

I have an outdoor ring with decent all weather footing at my current home right now, so as long as there isn’t ice, I can and will ride in most weather conditions. I’m just trying to get a sense of what to expect.

For those who have installed their own indoors vs outdoors, how does the price compare? I was thinking I could do a fair bit of riding in the pastures as they are reasonably flat, but I wonder if the weather will keep me from riding much in the wet season without dedicated footing, since I wouldn’t want to tear up my paddocks.

I’ve gotten some very generic quotes to install an indoor, but I have no idea what to expect for a standard sized dressage outdoor ring. Any thoughts on permitting for an outdoor… or if I built an outdoor now if I could maybe convert it to an indoor down the road?

I could of course reach out to a local contractor for more info, but I just want to decide whether or not this house could be a good match for us first.

Thanks!

#2

Indoor arena is well over $100,000

Proper outdoor with built up substrate and drainage as needed is going to be $50 000

A naturally well drained pasture with sand is a cheaper option for outdoor.

It would be hard to really school in most pastures I’ve seen which are rough and weedy and long.

Many people end up on their own land with no riding arena or trails access and basically stop riding and take up property maintenance for a hobby :slight_smile:

From what I’ve heard an indoor arena does not add to residential resale value.

Also check the zoning to see if it’s allowed.

I would also go larger than the dressage competition arena size. It’s very claustrophobic to school in that especially once you are doing canter and flying changed.

Obviously people use whatever they have but just because you compete in a certain size arena doesn’t mean that’s optimal for all your schooling. You will never regret larger.

7 Likes
#3

I think it really depends on your goals. If you are competitive and wish to ride year ‘round in my area you need an indoor. If semi-competitive and happy to take off a few months outdoor is great. After getting some quotes I decided I could board my competition horse(s) for basically my natural lifetime for the cost of putting up an indoor big (wide) enough to jump anything meaningful (all in $300K with the amount of dirt work I would need and fiber footing pre pandemic supply shock). And, I don’t have to drag the ring. I also enjoy the comaraderie of the boarding barn. I found a well constructed outdoor about 1/4 the price of an indoor. Covering an outdoor later on isn’t ideal, bit easier to make it a covered but for me that’s not realistic weather wise. Good luck on the property. I love having my retirees at home.

3 Likes
#4

This is what I did. I installed a 200x100 outdoor area. 15 years later, I put the 200x80 over the outdoor. I did this to save on excavation, etc. However, I admit that I did miss riding in the outdoor, as indoor riding in the summer can be very hot.

As for pricing, it really depends on where you are located and how much excavation is involved. Same goes for township restrictions. My township is very picky, and I don’t recall having to satisfy any requests from them for the outdoor. The indoor did require jumping through some hoops.

Building the indoor was the best decision I’ve ever made. Just wish I had done it sooner.

#5

Consider a covered arena, cheaper than a fully enclosed one.
That is what we did.

1 Like
#6

THIS!
Local guy put up a clearspan without getting a permit & county forced him to take it down.
IIRC, they also spitefully denied the permit applied for afterwards.

I put in a 60X120 indoor & rarely used it when I brought horses home.
Preferring to ride on my acreage that had flat, grassy areas.
Then I got my ginormous (17’3) WB - who was “reactive” outdoors & was glad to have the indoor.

Mine was built same time as the barn, almost 18yrs ago, so I can’t address affordability today.
But I had to apply for 2 variances:
1 for total sf
1 for height (rafters @ 14’)

#7

and get the information in writing and do not use an official’s verbal OK

When we built our barn we checked with the local authorities to obtain the requirements for set backs from the property lines and structure’s height/construction material requirements. Nothing he said was correct.

We had the building under roof when we were issued a stop work order by the city.

Even after exceeding the stated setbacks we found out we were actually still too close to the side property line as the official gave us the setback requirements for the wrong zoning area.

I had to apply for a variance and pay for the opportunity to obtain a variance. During my hearing I stated we took the word of the city’s official then added 50% to his stated setback…and if you do not approve my request my next step will be to follow my attorney’s advise to sue the city.

This was nearly 35 years ago, since then the city has changed the setbacks for our zoning twice reducing the setbacks each time to now it is 1/3rd of what we built our barn.

2 Likes
#8

A lot depends on the natural grading/soil at the property. I have mine at home and had a paddock that the previous owner noted could work as an outdoor by just throwing down sand. I did some minor grading to fix tire ruts they’d put in it somehow, and removed any remaining topsoil. It has a natural gradual grade from one short side to the other and drains wonderfully. I put down sand and figured I’d be out a few thousand in sand if it didn’t work, but it works wonderfully for me. I can’t ride in it on days when it’s too hard/icy to ride, but found in my area, if temps were that low, the uninsulated indoors also had somewhat hard/frozen footing and are cold enough I’d not do hard work - I don’t like to work the horses hard if temps are in the 20s. A heated indoor would be a major difference, but for my level, there’s no way to justify that cost (as others note, 6 figure minimum). So for under $5K, I have a riding option almost year round, and I have a large pole barn at the short side where I mounted lights (good enough for flatwork), which is honestly a bigger issue than footing for year round riding if you work.

I have a slightly wider than large dressage court, and I do small jumps for cross-training, and I’m not schooling changes, so not a problem for me. I also have good pastures for riding if the arena feels claustrophobic. Winter is not a time to set major goals since I don’t have a heated indoor, but I don’t mind the lull in the year. I still normally ride 3-4 days a week almost year round. And I ride more at home than I did boarding - the time to tend the property is less than commuting/chatting at the barn:) I can haul out for lessons, and if I were seriously pursuing higher goals, agree with others that I could board the competition horse for a few months for less than the cost of an indoor, but I’ve not felt the need to do that yet.

2 Likes
#9

I think what will make a huge difference in what is a must have (indoor versus outdoor) depends on where in the country you are.

Where I live, no indoor means no riding for several months, unless you are willing to go walking in the snow.

2 Likes
#10

Costs vary SO much based on where you live, and what soil and slope you’re starting with.

I had a 100x180 arena built for <$20k, with fencing around that extra, and one long side was already fenced, as it’s within the pasture perimeter.

That included digging out the uphill side, moving the footing to the lower side (which meant there was no need to bring soil in for the sub-base) and grading the uphill side for appropriate drainage around the arena.

I had the base brought in and rode on that for a few months before having it compacted and the top footing put on. So, that part spread out the cost a little bit.

If you have a sandy area and all you really need is some basic grading and some footing added, that’s way cheaper.

The guy who did it isn’t an “arena guy”. He’s a commercial road grader who does things like this on the side, and had done arenas before. Often, if you can find people who do these types of things for a living as part of a bigger company but also do side jobs on their own, and you don’t mind it taking longer, you can get it done more cheaply.

I also contracted the footing materials on my own, so there wasn’t anyone’s overhead and profit additions.

Riding in a pasture is so valuable to cross-training the proprioception aspect of fitness. But yes, it does limit the work when the ground is either too hard, or too wet.

If you have an older horse, they really need to stay in work, even if it’s just lighter for a season, so having somewhere to safely do even just walking work is beneficial.

I agree that building the outdoor now, then covering it later if you really need to, is going to be the most cost-efficient. You may decide you never need to cover it.

2 Likes
#11

So much of this depends on where you are in the country and what your ground is like already.

We recently spent about 10k putting in a nice 80x180 outdoor arena.
My husband did all of the machine work except the initial grading, we sourced the fabric through the construction company he works for, and hired a local farmer to haul the rock for us when he was available. No fencing, but did border 3/4 of it with free used utility poles.

Live in Missouri and was able to ride about 4 days/week last winter minus one two-week cold snap where it was consistently below 20. And honestly only a heated indoor would have tempted me at that point.

A nice outdoor is way easier to afford and will enable you to keep riding unless it’s actively raining or frozen solid.

#12

Indoors are well over $100k now. The $100k quotes are extremely outdated.

You are looking at $300k for an indoor once all is said and done.

$40k for a good outdoor.

#13

I got a quote for 125k for a 130x65 metal indoor arena, but that didn’t include footing, grading, plumbing, electrical etc. I wouldn’t be surprised if it ended up coming in closer to $300k.

#14

I assume the $300k price in the middle sentence is actually for in indoor, not an outdoor, correct?

#15

HA yes…Ill fix that :stuck_out_tongue: thanks

#16

$250-300k is about right for an indoor with all the bells and whistles, but significantly cheaper can be had if you don’t need all the best footing, can DIY some of the finishing/kickboards, etc.

But I will say it is the best investment I ever made in my riding. It added 5-6 months a year I can ride, and I had a nice outdoor before. If it is in budget, you will NOT regret the indoor if you live in snow country. It is essential to year-round development. I won’t say riding, because you can ride in snow, but I found I made very little useful progress doing that. Now my horses come out of winter ready to go up a level, instead of spending half the show season getting back to where we were the end of last year.

I do give them some time off in winter, but not 5 MONTHS more or less like before. A week here and there to chill.

I added large sliders to mine for very little extra $$, so in nice weather I can open the indoor up for large parts of 3 sides. It helps to have the breeze in summer. It is never hotter inside than out (and mine is not insulated). The shade is really nice too! I wanted to have some outdoor feel as I put the indoor over my old outdoor (only spot flat enough).

4 Likes
#17

Thanks for this input! Very helpful. I think I will go for the indoor if I can. I’ll see if I can’t wait a year or so just for the pricing on the materials to go down (though at this point who even knows if they ever will) but I’m glad to find someone who feels it was worth it to justify the cost!

#18

Its definitely worth the cost IF you ride a lot. If not, you can board out for the winter significantly cheaper.

For me, its a huge blessing to have an indoor.

#19

A covered arena or fully enclosed indoor are absolutely worth it.

Justifying the cost, probably not so much.
You could say the same from owning horses and a horse farm.

Go for it if you can, as large as you can manage for your purpose.
No one ever said they were sorry they built too big. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

As for prices, some of the steel that was so high, some more than double two years ago, has been coming down.
We have been buying some for considerably less than when prices took off so fast and high.

1 Like

Get your Digital Subscription here - only $21.95 / year

Subscribe here
See gift options

Sign up to our monthly newsletter!

By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.

Copyright © 2023 The Chronicle of the Horse