20X40 Menage big enougth?

amatex

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Hi,
In the near future im planning to put a sandschool in, and currently only have the funds for a 20x40 school.
There will be only one pony in there at a time. and under 15hh. I mostly school but occasionally pop over a small course of jumps.
will 20x40 be big enougth? Thanks
 
I don't see it being a problem if you are jumping something 15h and under.Obviously you wouldn't get a full course of 12 jumps out there but no reason why you shouldn't be able to do a small one. It would be maybe a little different with a big gangly youngster in there but unless you ever plan on getting something huge then you should be just fine
 
I looked at doing 25x45/50 and it doubled in price. I would put a 20x40 menage in to keep me ticking over for a year but not sure how easy and do able that would be just to add a little extension on!!
 
I think 20 by 40 is ok. Yes bigger is always better! But you can still do a fair bit in a 20 by 40 school. My current yard has one this size (alledgedly, I do think it's a bit smaller!) and though I often wish it was a bit bigger so I can practise my extended trots/canters more it is perfectly fine for most activities and i do jump in it sometimes, not so much courses but more gridwork and individual jumps. When the ground is good I go and ride in the big field instead which is much more fun! As long as you have hacking available, so you have some variety and aren't just schooling in a small space everyday then yes it should be fine. Maybe put it somewhere where there is room to expand it incase you're feeling richer in future!
 
well for me a small school would be better than no school allthough something bigge would be better for jumping courses and long canters etc
 
it is easy enough to get a school extended, my yo has had two of ours extended recently and it was a dawdle, i say go for the 20x40 then make it bigger as and when you can afford it i would much rather have a school thats a dressage arena size than no school at all
 
I put a 40x20 in, like you that was all I could afford. With hindsight I would have got a loan & put a 60x20 in! I am now looking at extending it to 60m & the 20m extension will cost as much as the 40m school did to install 8 yrs ago! 40m is ok for flatwork schooling but not if you compete at dressage as most tests are 60m (esp FSM) & if you want to jump school with poles & a small grid / course, 40x20m isn't really suitable - I know I've tried it & yes we have to do it as that's all I've got but it is restrictive.
 
You won't be able to get a course of more than three in there - one down each side and one diagonally in the middle.

I think you can fit quite a lot more than that in - the riding school where I learned to ride held jumping competitions in a 20x40m school - from memory there were at least 10 jumps in each course, although sometimes you did one jump twice from different directions.

I think that 20x40m is fine for a school - I would rather have that than make myself poor trying to buy a bigger one.
 
I have a 20 x 40 and can fit a lot of fences in, you just have to be creative. One thing you can do is use narrow poles 8/9 foot instead of 12 so you fit a lot more in, I can get a decent sized (1m +) course in this way.
 
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