Arena poll.

[Enfys]

I thought I'd ask you kind people for opinions please.
Just planning my sand school/arena whatever you like to call them and I am dithering where to put it. Thankyou.

 

[lillie]

i wouldnt like it near the stables as he'd be easily distracted & i would prefer it sheltered by the trees wouldnt be too big as it would probaby make it worse!

 

[luckilotti]

would prefer near the barn door so that should you need it for turnout, its easily accessible - ie if the concrete is slippy, or a horse isnt 100% sound but can be turned out in paddock etc - plus should you have one that needs to be in due to lami or something - it may be easier to make it so that during the day, said horse/pony can easily wonder between stable and paddock.

would def prefer sheltered by trees - we have an outdoor thats very open and its never used in the wind - but we are lucky and have an indoor so just use that instead. problem you could have is leaves in the paddock - could make it slippy and make surface a mess??

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

It's always better to locate it away from paddocks, carparks in fact anywhere where there can be distractions. School where it's quiet & the horse can concentrate & listen to you.

 

[nijinsky]

I would say put your arena where ever your drainage is best. You can always put a load of conifer trees around your arena to form a windbreak, they are fairly cheap to buy & grow real quick and I wouldn't put it too far away from your stables, you don't want to be walking through x,y,z to get to your arena.

 

[Lill]

Ours is opposite the stable block which is an ideal place. Not soooo sure bout whether sheltered or in the open. Ours is in the open which is great in the Summer as you get the breeze if its really hot but in the Winter you get the biting wind. But then if you had trees round it you'd get shelter from the wind in the winter and shade from the sun in the Summer and also less distractions as there'd be a border.....mmm....? But you'd also get bits of tree in the arena! Not sure on that one!

 

[not_with_it]

Our arena has trees along one long side and to be honest it can sometimes be a real pain. It makes the horses very spooky in the wind, especially when the wind is blowing into the trees. As daft as it sounds I cant ride my mare if the wind is blowing into the trees as shes a lunatic down the tree side!
Also when it rains the water from the trees drips onto the track so make sure you have very good drainage. You do occasionally get twigs and branches fall off but these can easily be removed

 

[miller]

Ours is straight behind stables with a thick conifer hedge between in open aspect of field.

From your choices I would go for as neas as possible and in the open field - personally I find it more helpful for horse to get used to working where there are distractions - helps when they go out and about.

Mine used to find the birds flying in/out of the conifer hedger distracting - he's got over that now but next doors washing is always a good excuse for a spook when it's windy

 

[evsj]

If I had the choice I would put it somewhere out in the open so I could learn how to cope with my horse when she did get distracted!

 

[Tia]

No I wouldn't have it right outside the barn or near the pasture fields. Mine are well away from the pasture fields and barn. They are in a sheltered part of the field at the back of our house; down in a dip, almost the lowest part of our entire farm; keeps the wind down and when the sun is shining it is warmer down there in the winter. I wanted them close to the house so that I could keep an eye on my daughter when she is out schooling or backing the youngsters. I feel it is safer if they are all near the house, not just for my daughter but for any of my liveries who may run into a bit of trouble.

 

[emma69]

Going with answer e) none of the above! I would have the arena someone visible from the living room / kitchen if possible to you can keep an eye on things - recalling what I was like as a teenage girl, and what we decided to do at the bottom of the back fields... I would be a spoil sport - guess your daughter can blame me!

 

[icklechlo]

i would say away from the stables, therefore away from distraction, and also you have a short walk there and back for cooling down purposes, nice to have a bit of change rather than just 'stable-school-stable' and also sheltered by trees, im not too keen on windy schools, and paddocks at either side could be awkward for napping purposes, depends what other horses are turned out and how good they are etc!

 

[Enfys]

Thank you, everyone, for your thoughts, you've given me plenty to mull over.


[ QUOTE ]
Going with answer e) none of the above! I would have the arena someone visible from the living room / kitchen if possible to you can keep an eye on things - recalling what I was like as a teenage girl, and what we decided to do at the bottom of the back fields... I would be a spoil sport - guess your daughter can blame me!

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh rats Emma, I can't do that! I like that little paddock

You do have an excellent point though.I do have two perfect sized paddocks outside the kitchen window but one is right on the roadside (heavy traffic, about ohhhhhhh two cars a day!) and I don't really want to surface it, on the other hand it would be perfect for their winter paddock.
You and Tia do have an excellent point though, the paddock down the track has just been discovered....yesterday!...I got fed up with hacking the scrub down bit by bit and set fire to it, viola! About an acre of lovely sheltered ground. Well drained, flat, but out of view of the house

Ah well, saves fencing that bit.

Back to plan D then, the middle field, but that needs draining

I've ruled out putting an arena in the field behind the barn,

it's totally open and sooooooo windy.

I know..........sell the horses, then I wouldn't have to think about this! Who would think that positioning an arena would be so full of

s!!!!!!!!

 

[Nari]

From painful experience I would NOT go for surrounded by trees! Jim has coped well with arenas surrounded by paddocks but found an arena with trees along one side terrifying if anything was happening the other side of them. He really couldn't seem to get his head around it & ended up bolting into a quarry wall one evening when someone let a horse loose the other side of the trees - I still can't believe neither of us was seriously injured because we both hit the wall & he had to jump to avoid landing on me! However a school surrounded on three sides by turnout paddock caused us very few problems even if horses were playing - I think he's fine with things he can see properly but not with things that he can't see well enough to identiry.

One of my favourite schools has large earth banks on two sides - they provide excellent shelter from the wind & Jim can't catches glimpses of movement so isn't spooked

 

[emma69]

The one round the back sounds great for a summer jumping field then if it is naturally self draining, no need to fence etc. The one that needs to be drained presumably wouldn't be any good as is either for grazing or riding, so it is logical to use that

 

[PLAYBOY]

My view i would rather ride in a windy school rather than having horse galloping around aside me and nosie ppl from the yard watching which often makes you feel uncomfortable but if you have somewhere shelterd to put it then bonus x