Value of a small indoor riding arena

[meaty_ogre]

I have a small farmette where I keep most of my horses. For most of my purposes, it is close to perfect. I have my facility set up to maximize turnout space and to minimize the amount of work for myself. My biggest, and really only complaint, is that I am not able to ride or work horses during the winter months or when there is excessive rain. Over the years I have often considered building a small indoor.

The indoor would have to be small because I do not have a huge budget and don’t want to give up a lot of turnout space or take away from my outdoor riding area. I prefer to ride outside whenever possible, but it would be nice to have the option when it’s raining or when the footing is too wet, frozen, etc. If I’m spending the money to build an indoor, it’s going to have lights and good footing so I’ve factored that into the available budget. No point in building one that can’t be used because the ground is frozen or it’s too dark.

I’ve boarded at 2 places with small indoors. I know they can be tricky, but I no longer jump, and over the years I’ve learned to be creative in making exercises that can be done within the small space. Both of the small indoors were about the same size (60’ wide by 80’ long). Both were cramped but I found them workable and actually was able to get quite a bit done at both places. I’d be the only one using the indoor so I don’t have to worry about traffic. I don’t jump any more, so that’s not a concern either. I do some long-lining, and a confined area can often be helpful with that.

I really feel for my purposes, the pros outweigh the cons, but I wonder if anyone in a similar situation built a small indoor and regretted it? Obviously if money and space were no option I’d go with larger, but my goals are to have a place to ride when weather is very bad, and an option for keeping horses fit by longing or long-lining during the off-season. I’d like to go with a 60’ x 96’. Footing and lights have been factored in, as well as available space.

[Guilherme]

Where are you located? If your local climate is temperate a cover might be a better alternative than an indoor. The Good News is that in the summer you’re out of the Sun and get the benefit of any breeze without the expense of fans or other “air movers.” The Bad News is that in the winter you’re out of the Sun and don’t have any protection from the wind.

A cover is not necessarily any cheaper to build but is much easier, an cheaper, to operate and maintain.

G.

[trubandloki]

For personal use I think a 60’x90’ indoor is plenty of room.

[GoForAGallop]

I think 60’ is going to be tight, although maybe not if you don’t have a lot of young horses. I know that I rode in a 60x120 indoor when my mare was 4 and 5, and everything happened FAST, and those curves were sharp at a young horse canter. (And she was, on the whole, a sleek, relatively-well balanced young TB…the big baby warmbloods really struggled). We were much happier out in the 100x200 outdoor.

I’d at least try getting to 80’, even if you have to cut the length. The nice thing about indoors is that they are relatively easy to add length to…so if you can get the width you want, you can always budget for more length in a few years.

[tua37516]

[QUOTE=GoForAGallop;7921613]
I think 60’ is going to be tight, although maybe not if you don’t have a lot of young horses. I know that I rode in a 60x120 indoor when my mare was 4 and 5, and everything happened FAST, and those curves were sharp at a young horse canter. (And she was, on the whole, a sleek, relatively-well balanced young TB…the big baby warmbloods really struggled). We were much happier out in the 100x200 outdoor.

I’d at least try getting to 80’, even if you have to cut the length. The nice thing about indoors is that they are relatively easy to add length to…so if you can get the width you want, you can always budget for more length in a few years.[/QUOTE]

I will agree, width is WAY more important than length. I would also suggest that you consider the width in the event that the property ever be re-purposed or resold.

[SmartAlex]

Our indoor is 50x50. We use it for winter turnout. It opens onto three outdoor areas and is basically our default sacrifice area. We clean it daily and keep up on the footing as if it were a dedicated riding arena. It is essentially longeing size. I ride in there when footing or wind drive me inside. It is completely adequate for keeping a horse exercised. 60x60 would be preferable. 60x90 would be an absolute luxury. I wouldn’t regret it for a moment.

[arlosmine]

Cover half of your outdoor arena, and you have the best of both worlds without using up any more space than you already have.

No wall between the two spaces, you can use the whole thing, or not…depending on the day

[cherham]

60 x 120 used to be the standard size for an indoor riding arena. Many of us grew up with that size and managed to ride with 5 other horses or even more for regular riding lessons (over fences) and even schooling shows with 20 plus in the flat divisions. You make it work…I have ridden in a 40 x 60 as well…over many years in the winter months. 2 horses max in that size to jump but again it worked. You will be just fine…

[HungarianHippo]

My first thought was to cover part of the outdoor as well.

What about just a partial cover around the perimeter of the existing arena, where the track is protected but the interior is open? A cantilevered design would keep poles out of your riding path. I know I’ve seen pics of riding schools that have this, but for now the only image I can come up with is a carport.

[MissAriel]

A standard dressage arena is 20m wide, or about 65’, so I think 60’ would be fine for keeping horses in work. I have had plenty of dressage lessons that worked me and horsey plenty without ever leaving our 20m circle!

[CHT]

Are you looking for value of use or resale value?

For use, 60 by 60 or larger would be useful for occasional riding or turn out. Anything bigger would be great!

For resale, consider having big doors so it could be repurposed for other uses such as vehicle storage or construction material storage etc.

[AmarachAcres]

A stable near us has a coverall over half their arena. In the summer they have one long fantastic arena that can also be sectioned off into two, and in winter they have the covered arena with walls on two sides. Looks really nice.

[Bluey]

Bar way up North, where your arena will be outright frozen if not enclosed and heated, you could just cover your existing arena, without walls, or only one, maybe on the North side and wind screens on the others you get weather from, rain, snow and wind.

This way you can ride “outdoors” as much as indoors and go outside down trails for the rest of your true outside riding.

[jawa]

The indoor I took riding lessons in when I was a teen was 60x120. There were usually 9 lesson students riding at one time and sometimes a boarder or two as well.

The instructor who owned it felt that you wouldn’t want to go much smaller than 60x90 for regular use. He wanted to have a true straight away for some of the work instead of a constant circle.

Maybe you could build a covered space rather than a true indoor. Of course that would depend on your climate.

[cutter99]

I rode with a cutting trainer whose indoor was 42’ X 60’. It worked for us- we could warm up between 4-6 horses and work a mechanical cow, goats, or a smaller number of steers (about 6-8). It was much better than not being able to work at all during PA winters!

[trubandloki]

[QUOTE=arlosmine;7921699]
Cover half of your outdoor arena, and you have the best of both worlds without using up any more space than you already have.

No wall between the two spaces, you can use the whole thing, or not…depending on the day[/QUOTE]

Living in NY I chuckle at this idea. It does seem like the best of both worlds for areas where your problem is too much rain. I just can not see it working where winters include lots of wind driven snow.
Indoors are not heated (very often) in my neck of the woods but they most certainly need walls on all sides.

[Flash44]

Do you currently have an outdoor ring with footing, or are you just riding in a field/paddock? I’ve ridden in some pretty small indoors, and only have a small outdoor at home. I haul out for a lesson about once a week, and have managed to stay very competitive and successful despite having only a small ring at home (including jumping). I wish I had a small indoor!!! I am no longer jumping either, and find my ring is much larger without the jumps in it. I’d go as big as you can afford, since no one ever complains about their ring being too big.

[imaginique]

I’ve boarded at a couple of places that had arenas that were 60 x 80. We didn’t have problems. It’s a whole lot better than nothing!! In fact, I didn’t know any better. Those were the only two indoors I’d been in. If you are the only one riding in it there will no problems. If you have more than three horses it might get a little tight, but again, better than nothing.

[peedin]

I rode for 25 years in an arena that is 50 x 100. 16.2hh horse with a long stride and we did just fine. We didn’t jump, did dressage so I don’t know how that size would work for fences. Two horses could ride comfortably, adding a third was a bit tricky. But if you are riding by yourself, the size you are considering should be fine.

[meaty_ogre]

I have a grass dressage sized riding area that is not used for turnout (it has been graded, planted and is irrigated). It is rideable in all but the wettest or frozen weather. I don’t ride on it when it’s really muddy in order to maintain it. I also have a pasture that we till under 2-4 times a year in order to keep as a dry lot for the fat pony and the mini horse. It is rideable only in the best conditions (clay-laden soil, gets very hard in between tillings). I also have a fenced paddock where I ride and where my daughter rides (to keep her and the pony contained), as well as trails around the property. Our farmette is approximately 5.5 acres, but we own the surrounding land as well. It is planted in crops though. A portion of the 5.5 acres is the house and the yard which are off limits (had to make some concession to keep hubby happy! LOL).

I would like to put the indoor directly behind the current barn, so that I can tack up and get into the indoor with minimal exposure to the elements when it is cold or raining. It would be possible to leave one side open (the side that would be facing the barn), but due to the wind I need at least 3 sides. Most likely I’d just have sliding doors on each side that I could leave open or shut.

In pricing this out, I’ve found that 60’ wide is the magic number. Going up to just 65’ increases the expense significantly. I don’t want to sacrifice the lights or the footing to go larger. Also, I have a small barn and a small property, so I want the building to not look out of place. I would love to have a 100x200 indoor for personal use, but I think it would be overkill even if it was in the budget.

I’m very lucky that I already own an arena drag, and the sitework is already done. I have an electrician in the family who will do the wiring and the lights, so all of those things do save a little bit of money.

I don’t have any young horses at the moment. My current mount is a western pleasure horse, so even in the smallest rings, the corners don’t come up fast. Nothing comes up fast! LOL A small indoor would be fine for my daughter on her pony, and would actually help in keeping her confined.

I’ve paid to board at places over the years in order to keep my horse in work, and with the available financing, I can build a small indoor for the amount that it has cost me to do that. Of course it will cost me that for many, many years. We have no intentions of selling the property so resale value isn’t a concern. If I ever stopped riding, my husband and brother in law would have the indoor full of farm implements before my saddle even had a chance to collect dust.

So, the purpose of the indoor would be to give me:
-an area to work in when it’s raining or after rain when the footing elsewhere is unsuitable
-a lighted area to work in when it’s dark (after work, after the kids go to bed…)
-a small confined area for long-lining or longing the horses for fitness
-a contained area to keep mini-MO and her pony for riding

It would have really come in handy the year that we rented an expensive bounce house for my daughter’s birthday only to have an out of season nor’easter render it unusable. We could have moved the party to the indoor!